Looking Beyond With Michael Sikand

In #131, futurists learn from University of Michigan sophomore, Rahul Khatti, Co-Founder & CEO of Uniflow, a student engagement software seeking to transform the way students find organizations and communities on campus that best fit their personal and professional goals. When club recruiting went fully-virtual at Michigan in the fall, Rahul and the team created a prototpye in less than a month and landed a pilot program with Michigan Ross. Since that time, the company has secured contracts with five businesss schools, including USC Marshall and Penn State Smeal, and is now targeting High Schools to help students find opportunities at not only the local, but also national level to gain access to better co-curricular activities. Get 50% off Verb Energy's Starter Pack: https://www.verbenergy.com/ourfuture Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2htIc3-njRI5BKTJ2QqNfA Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

NEW SERIES: Our Future in Social Impact. We're launching a new interview vertical focused on young entrepreneurs in the social impact space with guest co-host Jess Schmitt, co-founder of Electric Potential. In #130 and the inaugural episode of this series, listeners learn from 23-year-old CEO Mary Hadley, CEO at MakerGirl, a nonprofit with the mission of educating the next generation of female makers to be unstoppable forces that say “Yes!” to the challenges of tomorrow. MakerGirl does this through STEM education sessions led by University women and men, educating girls on how to 3D print and CAD, focusing on girls aged 7-10. In this interview you'll learn about how Mary went from chemistry major to nonprofit CEO, the importance of STEM education, and why you should consider working at a startup out of school. Don't miss this inspiring episode! Get 50% off Verb Energy's Starter Pack: https://www.verbenergy.com/ourfuture Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2htIc3-njRI5BKTJ2QqNfA Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

In #129, futurists tune into an epic interview with Mike Evans, the co-founder of GrubHub and founder of Fixer.com. A few years after graduating M.I.T., Mike didn’t understand why there wasn't an aggregated list of restaurants nearby that delivered to you. So on a bus ride home from his job as a software developer, he coded up the GrubHub MVP, and went out to sell it, restaurant by restaurant. Mike had a blast scaling GrubHub from an MVP to a $3 billion company and he shares some incredible stories about lean startup methodology, selling your first customers, understanding competititon, and why the Gig economy is severely flawed. Exiting the business after its 2014 IPO, Mike is now the founder of Fixer.com, which trains and employs tradespeople (electricians, plumbers) and hires them out to homeowners. If you like what Mike has to say, check out his new book, “Hangry” which documents his journey building GrubHub and his insights on the Gig Economy. This one was insane, don't miss it. Get 50% off Verb Energy's Starter Pack: https://www.verbenergy.com/ourfuture Pre-Order Mike's Book: https://www.mikeevans.com Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2htIc3-njRI5BKTJ2QqNfA Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

In #128, futurists get their mind blown by Colorado high-school student and finance wizard, Jack Fox, founder of Foxy Capital LLC. At age 16, Jack has started a hedge fund with an initial raise of $250,000 from some of the most successful investors in the world, which after 6 months is surging over 30% in returns. This young genius started investing when he was 11 years old, and got addicted to the world of finance before he was out of sixth grade, blasting through Benjamin Graham's "The Intelligent Investor" and all of Warren Buffet's writing. While most kids were getting excited about going to see the newest Disney movie, Jack was buying stock in the company because he was optimistic about the company's future. It's absoltuley unreal what Jack is doing at such a young age and he's a decade ahead of his peers, but he needs to get more sleep. On this podcast, Jack discusses managing a fund while in high school, his ethos on investing, some of his favorite stocks, and his advice to anyone that wants to start investing. Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter for career advice and industry insights at https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

In #127, futurists learn from Marc Baghadjian, Co-Founder and CEO at Lolly, the new Gen-Z dating app combining TikTok and Tinder. As a cross between those two platforms, Lolly asks users to upload short videos to their profiles for potential matches to scroll through in a vertical feed that feels strongly reminiscent of TikTok. So far, Marc and the team have raised over $2M, from investors like Former Ticketmaster CEO John Pleasants, Former Apple CEO John Sculley, SV Angel, So-Fi cofounder Daniel Macklin, Wired Ventures cofounder Jane Metcalfe, former SV Angel General Partner Kevin Carter, Correlation Ventures and Next Coast Ventures. On this podcast, Marc drops some crazy entrepreneurial wisdom and details his plan to build the next great dating app, covering how he secured investors, why he saw a disconnect with Tinder, his advice to othher young entrepreneurs. Don't miss this wild episode with the next big 21-year-old entrepreneur. Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter for career advice and industry insights at https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

In #126, futurists learn from Pat Meignan, Founder & CEO of TheArsenale, the world's leading online marketplace for micro industrial and independent builders, as well as a media brand and social medium showcasing the future of mobility. Anything you might see James Bond driving, you can find at TheArsenale–everything from skateboards, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, drones, boats, planes, timepieces and high end art pieces. TheArsenale has offices and showrooms across the world, including in Miami, Macau, and Paris. In this interview, Pat discusses how he built "the most insane garage in the world," his experience flying around China in a classified drone, and his advice to young entrepreneurs. Check out TheArsenale: https://thearsenale.com/pages/shop Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter for career advice and industry insights at https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

In #125, futurists learn from Rahul Rana (@rrana03), is a sophomore at Rutgers University, an associate at Lux Capital (a VC firm specializing in deeptech), and the 20-year-old author extraordinare of new book "Making Moonshots," a deep-dive into the mindsets, philosophies, and strategies that are conducive to building moonshot companies—deeptech + radical solution + solving huge problems. I was lucky enough to speak on a panel with Rahul, and I was struck by something he said: "creating content maximizes serendipity," which I thought was an amazing way to capture the magic of being a content creator and public-facing personality. By writing a book about his passion for deep-tech companies and "moonshot" startups, countless doors opened for Rahul, including countless introductions, meetings, podcast features, and a job offer at his dream company. As a sophomore in college, Rahul is an associate at the venture capital firm that specializes in the very companies he wrote about in his book, and by becoming a creator, Rahul rode straight into his dream position, skipping any kind of traditional application process. This podcast is a fantastic summary of what a "moonshot" company is, features some great conversations about space companies and the cold war, details the process of writing a book + Rahul's new VC gig, and why creating content = the key to exponential growth and opportunity in the business world. You've got to listen. Check out Rahul's book: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Moonshots-Rahul-Rana/dp/163676620X Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter for career advice and industry insights at https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

In #124 of Our Future Careers, listeners hear from Shruti Venkat, a sophomore at Princeton University and an incoming Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs. Shruti has some incredibly impressive experiences in the world of finance under her belt as just a sophomore, and on this electric episode, she shares her career advice for recruiting banking, the interview process, her mindset going into her internship search, and why it's important to believe in yourself and shoot your shot. This interview was a blast, so tune into hear Shruti's elite mindset as one of the most ambitious young professionals to grace our weekly careers series. Don't miss it! Connect with Shruti on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shrutivenkat17/ Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter for career advice and industry insights at https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

Shelby Clark, Founder of Turo, shares the entrepreneurial journey behind creating the world's largest car-sharing marketplace valued at over $1 billion. He discusses decentralizing the Zipcar model, challenges faced, strategies for growth, lessons in scaling, and finding purpose beyond the CEO role.

Listener of the Week is a series where we bring a member of the Our Future audience up to the podcast stage to share with the community how they are building their future, in context of our future. In #122, futurists hear from listener of the week, Michelangelo Valtancoli, a graduate of Cass Business School and the Founder of Almost Founders, an ed-tech startup with the goal of revolutionizing how young student founders learn to be founders. Almost Founders consists of a podcast for aspiring founders, with practical 15-minute topic-specific episodes, as well as free networking events to meet other aspiring founders, free chats with successful founders, member-only internships, and access to a strong network of partners and VCs. When Michelangelo and his co-founder Kourosh Ghaffari Ghazi Said first came to me with their plan to build this company, I was floored by their ambition and drive. Since that time, they've built an extremely vibrant community and some awesome media products that add value to the lives of young builders, don't miss this episode! Check out Almost Founders Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/6EMNZGQ0jbyMJdAQRyFn40?si=3n7xEEBcT7WoKcqYrKFL6w Book your slot to be Listener of the Week: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E42XO3jIQE3_rGuOqtlh7IYuFBTW7v-b0dH6R5QM_iI/edit?usp=sharing Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter for career advice and industry insights at https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq