Looking Beyond With Michael Sikand

In #111, futurists learn from Bennett Byerley (CFO) and André Monterio (CTO), co-founders of Verb Energy, an innovative CPG startup that produces delicious and nutritious energy bars that combine the substance of real food with the buzz of caffeine. What's most fascinating about Verb is not that it is 100% e-commerce or that the company's products are sold through subscription, but how the founders have built radically human relationships with their customers by managing the business almost entirely through SMS text-messaging. In this episode, Bennett and André discuss how the idea started when they were coffee-addicted students at Yale University, why they thought they could launch into the crowded snack bar market, how tthe chose text-message as a platform to build a business on, and their career advice to other builders. 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 #110 futurists learn about a career in entertainment with Haley Kellogg, whose job is to cast reality TV shows! Haley is currently a casting associate producer at Fremantle working to cast ABC's "To Tell The Truth," and in the past she's helped cast and produce shows like Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove on CBS, Quibi's "Sexology with Shan Boodram", HBO Max's "Karma", and more. In this episode, Haley discusss how she has began her career in entertainment, what it means to be in casting, and her career advice to young people looking to break into entertainment. 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 #109, listeners hear from media executive Dan Robbins, VP of Ad Marketing & Partner Solutions at Roku, whose job sits squarely in the future of media and advertising as Roku becomes the operating system for modern-day TV. Roku began as the "dongle" you plugged into your TV to make it "smart," getting access to a wide variety of streaming services, and it also integrates with various TV manafacturers and is now producing audio products to enhance your pandemic-friendly home viewing experience. What fascinates me about Roku and Dan's job specifically, is how the $50B streaming company is transitioning from a hardware/software business and becoming a services business, selling ads to the closest thing to a cable audience in 2021 (and with way more data). The company is now developing its own content since the Roku channel, which is a mainstay on all connected-TVs, is being watched by tens of millions of people a month. This is explains why the company acquired the content of now defunct media startup, Quibi, to provide free, ad-supported content, the rationale of which Dan touches on in this episode. The interesting part to me is how brands that live and breathe TV ads that go out to massive, undefined audiences are now turning to Roku to acheieve the same messaging. The genius at Roku is how consumers pay for the product twice, and the company has been extremely intelligent as it thrives in a hyper-competitive and ever-evolving media landscape, seizing upon multiple lines of revenue to become the future of TV. 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

NEW SERIES! Listener of the Week is a new 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 the inaugual episode in this series and #108, listeners hear from Peter Aldapa, a college student from Santa Barbara and 19-year-old entrepreneur, about how he's building a brand called Unmatched, which is fueled by his desire to be the hardest worker in the room...to be truly unmatched as a young leader. Book a your slot to be Listener of the Week: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1E42XO3jIQE3_rGuOqtlh7IYuFBTW7v-b0dH6R5QM_iI/edit?usp=sharing Check out Peter's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id1516530243 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 #107, futurists learn from Michael Marra, Founder & CEO of Entre, and Ryan Solomon, Digital Marketing Manager at Entre, about their 20,000+ user strong social networking startup built exclusively for entrepreneurs. Entre helps connect entrepreneurs to each other and the right resources to start and grow their businesses through a web interface, mobile app, and live events. Entre has raised over 60K to date on their crowdfunding campaign, and their scrappy digital marketing presence, most notably on TikTok (25K+ followers) has earned the platform tens of thousands of users. Building community seems to be the trend of this pandemic/remote era, and it's extremely difficult. I'm excited for you to listen in and learn about how Michael and Ryan have built a destination for the modern entrepreneur, integrating so many moving parts into a hollisitc movement that sits dead center in the future of work. I would highly recommend the Entre platform to any builder who seeks a supportive community and a hub of content + opportunity. Join Entre: https://joinentre.com/ 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 #106, futurists learn about careers in marketing with Alexander Ferenczi, a 25-year-old marketing whiz, who has been deeply immersed in the world of agencies, media buying, and digital advertising since graduating from Babson College in 2018. His first gig out of college was at Gary Vee's legendary marketing agency, VaynerMedia, where he was trained in the art of modern media buying and modern-day advertising, and claims he learned more in three months there than during four years of business school. After leaving VaynerMedia, Alex led social strategy at JetFuel Studio, and he just made the decison to pursue entrepreneurship by launching his own agency, Advocaczi. In this interview, Alex provides kickass insights and perspective on any young person looking to be successful in a marketing career, or any industry for that matter. This interview took place live on Clubhouse, so follow me @michaelsikand to tune into upcoming Our Future recordings on the platform, with the ability to ask questions to me or my audience members after the episode wraps up. Connect with Alex on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-ferenczi/ 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 #105, futurists learn about the business of sports with pro soccer exec Matt Goodman, Chief Commercial Officer & COO of New York City Football Club: the big apple's high-caliber MLS team. Matt is a true sports veteran, and prior to signing on with the NYCFC, he was Senior Vice President at the NBA, and before that VP of Corporate Partnerships at the Cleveland Browns. When COVID-19 shocked the sporrts world, Matt and the team were forced to innovate, and the result has been creative campaigns devoted to virtual fan experience and small business, and of course increased attention to the soccer team's e-sports division. On this episode, Matt brings us years of wisdom, working across baseball, basketball, football, and now soccer, and shares winning career advice for anyone that wants to work in sports. GIVEAWAY INSTRUCTIONS: To be entered to win an NYCFC jersey and hat, all you have to do is subscribe to Our Future Newsletter by entering your email at https://www.ourfuturehq.com/, and winners will be announced on 2/3 across all our channels. ENTER GIVEAWAY by subscribing to our email newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/ Book a Time to Get Interviewed as Listener of the Week: calendly.com/michaelsikand Follow us on IG: https://www.instagram.com/ourfuturehq/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ourfuturehq

SATURDAY SPECIAL! In #104, listeners learn from Alex Sikand, a Master's in AI Candidate at Boston University, Founder of Photofix.AI and Silk Labs (AI Startup for Retail & Fashion), who also happens to my brother! This live episode took place in my studio, and Alex and I discuss his young and legendary days as a high school hacker, notoriously breaking through our school's network and getting up to some high-tech tomfoolery, as well as his current projects that revolve around harnessing the power of AI as it relates to image classification and analysis. It's been really exciting to see my brother lock in on some amazing projects, and I couldn't let him go back to Boston without bringing him on the podcast to share his knowledge in one of the hottest and least-understood fields in the business world. If you're interested in careers in AI and ML, reach out to Alex at Alex@Sikand.org. Check out Alex's photo restoration site to reimagine an old photo of a loved one for $1: https://www.photofix.ai/ 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

Wall Street is in the midst of revolution. In #103, futurists run the numbers with Drexel University students, Michael Warshowsky, Gav Blaxberg, and Ben Kestenbaum, co-founders of Wolf Financial, a new viral social investing app that's blowing up in the midst of an investment revolution. To give a quick recap, internet cyber bulls have banded together to spite the "man in the suit", making hedge funds bleed on their short positions in companies like GameStop and AMC Theatres, by aggressively buying the stock. All the crazy news you've heard this week comes down to a core fact in that we're seeing millions of everyday investors enter the stock market, and the founders of Wolf are building the one stop shop app for these newly-minted investors to network with eachother and research the best investments. Their core focus is making investment research more digestible, and their app, which you can download now, is an incredible mixture of Twitter and SeekingAlpha! This was a crazy conversation with the founders of what I beleive to be the next big social network. Don't miss out. Join Wolf Financial: https://apps.apple.com/bz/app/wolf-financial/id1518313068 and follow me @ourfuture_ceo 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 #102, futurists tune into a conversation with Matt Ladis, who's worked in the music industry since cold-emailing a music executive after he graduated from Michigan and landed his dream job in the industry. As a music business manager and accountant, Matt helps some of the most well-known artists and entertainers manage their finances, and he's currently in the process of launching his own business management company - Mad Lettuce (get it, Matt Ladis)! This is a fantastic episode for anyone looking to tap into the mindset necessary to break into your dream job, especially in an industry like music with notoriously high barriers to entry. Get in contact with Matt: Matt@MadLettuce.co Book a Meeting with Michael to Get Featured as Listener of the Week: calendly.com/michaelsikand 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