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RECENT ARTICLES
A leader’s job is to create the environment and the context where people can actually do the most, accomplish the most, and teams can be the most impactful.
We never plan for a crisis. When we are in the midst of one, it feels like an endless mountain to climb.
“…It’s both physical and spiritual. The essence is to try and feel what the poor feel without food and try to be a better person by reflecting on our actions and thoughts. Try to be nice to each other, avoid bad/angry thoughts, etc.” — B. Drissi (personal friend) As I write this article, we are 19 days
It’s been two years since I have been at the helm of a fast-growing #insurtech startup. I have since moved on to new adventures. But, I have kept up with the pulse of the industry by serving as an advisor and coach to newbie CEOs who are among a class of innovators. In my role,
“Crunch, crunch, crunch,” was the sound my gait made as I marched along a distant barren landscape. Here, there were no demanding customers, no competition putting pressure on me. There were no employees anxiously seeking consensus and no investors asking endless questions about our sales forecast. Absent were the industry publications offering views of the
I believe that the life story of everyone on Earth is not just a linear fairy tale with a straightforward beginning and end. Instead, it is a mosaic of mini-stories that come together to create a masterpiece like the work of Antoni Gaudi. When I opened my copy of Michelle Obama’s book Becoming, I half
“Four votes for John,” said one of my four co-founders. It was 1997, and we were deciding who among us would be the titular head of our first venture. It was a simple ceremony, no cryptic puffs of smoke through an old chimney. While I was happy to have won the election — I wanted to win — I
“Resisting pain only increases its intensity.” — Chogyam Trungpa I am 47 years old and I have made a lot of mistakes in my life — both professional and personal ones. I hope I make many more. It’s true. I have hired the wrong people on my management team. I have taken too long to fire people after I realized
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Sales is an integral part of any business, but rarely associated with the CEO’s role.
Walking away from a promising career at Lockheed to attend MIT was definitely not in the original plan. But for Dip Patel, it was only the beginning.
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I have been the CEO of Soluna for the past year (2018) and what a great year it was! If you read one of my earlier articles on Soluna’s blog, “My Next Adventure”, you may recall that I knew very little about Blockchain when I first started this journey. However, like many of you, I
What’s in a name? Well, a lot. Choosing the right name for your new company can go a long way in putting it on the map. I recently became CEO of a new blockchain computing company. One of my first tasks was to rename the company. Here is a brief story about how we
If you are not up on the world of podcasts, then you are right where I was about a year ago. I tried the podcast app on my iPhone a few times but just couldn’t get into it. I could never find a channel with something I wanted to hear. Also, as a CEO, I
My strategic accounts sales team met me in our NY office for a final briefing before our big meeting. After my usual grilling questions, I packed up my laptop and some choice tools for the job. I loaded a pair of red Vic Firth Drumsticks in my briefcase and taped up a box of a
I was fortunate enough to attend the first HYPERGROWTH conference hosted by Drift at the beginning of October 2017. 24 hours later, I was still resonating with the energy from the event. I thought I’d share my experience and learnings. Enjoy! The Scene The sold-out event took place at the top of 60 State Street,
Reading is a breath of fresh air for the mind of a busy CEO.
