

Looking Beyond With Michael Sikand
Michael Sikand
Looking Beyond With Michael Sikand is a time capsule for Michael's early years of building his brand, Our Future, through a series of high-energy interviews he conducted with business executives and startup founders as a 20-year-old University of Michigan student. Michael ended up pivoting to becoming a short video content creator and built Our Future into a media company he sold to Morning Brew at age 22. In 2022, Michael was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list in media.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 12, 2020 • 9min
#72 Our Future Careers in Fashion: Léa Schmitt, Incoming Buying Intern at Bloomingdale's
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. In Episode 72, listeners hear from Léa Schmitt, an Incoming Buying Intern at Bloomingdales, about recruiting into the fashion industry, what kinds of questions to expect when interviewing with brands, and her networking advice to students interested in the industry.
Add Léa on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/l%C3%A9a-schmitt/
Subscrib to Our Future Newsletter for more resources and advice: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/newsletter

Nov 10, 2020 • 17min
#71 Nadia Masri, Founder & CEO of Perksy on the Future of Consumer Insights
In Episode 71, listeners hear from Nadia Masri, Founder & CEO of Perksy and a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient, about how she revolutionized consumer insights by building a mobile first platform young people actually wanted to use, the long and calculated process of making her idea into a reality, and her career advice to young people–which is that entrepreneurship isn't the only path.
Check out Perksy: https://www.getperksy.com/
Nadia's Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiagenevievemasri/

Nov 6, 2020 • 20min
#70 Greg Schwartz, COO & Co-Founder of StockX on Building a Billion Dollar Business
In Episode 70, listeners hear from Greg Schwartz, COO and Co-Founder of StockX, the billion dollar startup unicorn that revolutionized e-commerce by bringing stock market mechanics to sneaker resale market. Greg explains the company's inception and early pivot from his future-focused social media platform (UpTwo), the mechanics that make the company the "stock market of things," and shares exciting and valuable insights on entrepreneurship and building a billion dollar business.
Check out StockX: https://stockx.com/
Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/

Nov 5, 2020 • 10min
#69 Our Future Careers in Finance: Kaitlyn Karban, Incoming Institutional Equity Summer Analyst at Morgan Stanley
In Episode 69, listeners hear from Kaitlyn Karban, a student at University of Michigan Ross School of Business and Incoming Institutional Equity Summer Analyst at Morgan Stanley, about her recruiting journey into finance, the unique nature and challenges of working in sales and trading (S&T), and her advice to students interested in recruiting Wall Street.
Connect with Kaitie on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kkarban/
Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/

Nov 4, 2020 • 17min
#68 Dave Habiger, CEO of J.D. Power, Director at GrubHub & Chicago Federal Reserve, 2011 EY Entrepreneur of the Year
In Episode 68, listeners hear from Dave Habiger, President & CEO of JD Power, the multi-billion dollar consumer insights machine for the auto industry. Dave has led an incredible adventure in business, leading entertainment tech company Sonic Solutions from 1993 until its IPO and its subsequent ~$1B sale in 2011, and he also serves as a Director on several boards, including GrubHub and the Chicago Federal Reserve. In this episode, Dave discusses his time at Sonic Solutions facilitating "Hollywood to Home" as the entertainment industry became more technologically advanced, as well as his insights on food delivery, the future of the automotive industry, and his advice to young leaders.
Learn more about Dave Habiger on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Habiger
Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/

Oct 29, 2020 • 9min
#67 Our Future Careers in Consulting: Emily Inestroza, Analyst at Deloitte Consulting
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. In today's episode you hear from Emily Inestroza, a graduate of USC Marshall and an Analyst at Deloitte Consulting, about her recruiting journey into the big four, why she realized accounting wasn't the right path, her experience at both a non-target and target school, how she crushed her consulting interview, and her networking advice to young professionals.
Connect with Emily on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyinestroza/
Subscribe to Our Future newsletter to get exclusive industry insights and career advice from the brightest minds in business at www.ourfuturehq.com!

Oct 27, 2020 • 19min
#66 David Brandon, Former CEO of Domino's Pizza & Toys R Us
In Episode 65, listeners hear from David Brandon, Chairman of the Board at Domino's Pizza and Former CEO of Valassis Communications, Domino's Pizza, and Toys R Us, as well as former Athletic Director at the University of Michigan. David serves on the board of several companies including PetSmart, DTE Energy, Herman Miller.
Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: www.ourfuturehq.com

Oct 24, 2020 • 10min
#65 Saturday Special: Why Quibi Failed
As a short-form content creator and a media entrepreneur, I was fascinated and excited by Quibi founders Jeff Katzenberg and Meg Whitman's concept of bite-sized, TV-quality content delivered to your smartphone and nowhere else. Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard that Quibi is shutting down after failing to sell itself to another streaming service, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to do a saturday special breaking down a major news story. So I called up my fellow wannabe media mogul Simran Sandhu, Host of the Five Minute Drill, to talk about it. Simmy's podcast is daily news show delivering you the day's major stories, ad-free in a concise, energetic style perfect for young people.
Go and listen to Simmy's podcast! The Five Minute Drill - https://open.spotify.com/show/3d2nwbwDqNPdXrldf2WOuW?si=yOVWXZ-9QDCNo7PMuJ6WuA

Oct 23, 2020 • 19min
#64 Patrick Lahey, Co-Founder of Triton Submarines
In Episode 64, listeners hear from Patrick Lahey, Co-Founder and President of Triton Submarines, the company behind the world's finest, safest, and most luxurious submersibles, which have recorded the deepest oceanic dives in history as well as the stunning footage you have seen in nature documentaries, such as the first ever live sighting of a Giant Squid in its natural habitat. Patrick shares incredible career advice, business wisdom, and the amazing story of starting a submarine startup that ended up selling its vehicles to the likes of Ray Dalio.
Learn more about Triton Subs: https://tritonsubs.com
Subscribe to Our Future Newsletter: https://www.ourfuturehq.com/

Oct 22, 2020 • 14min
#63 Our Future Careers in Finance: Allie Reyes, Incoming Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs
Our Future Careers is a new mini-series where students who have landed their dream jobs share the tips, tricks, and strategies so you can do the same. In today's episode you hear from Allie Reyes, a sophomore at University of New Hampshire and an incoming investment banking summer analyst at Goldman Sachs, about the importance of a strong personal story, ways to build relationships without the commonality of target school alumni networks, and her advice to students interested in recruiting finance.
Connect with Allie on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alliereyes/
Subscribe to Our Future newsletter to get exclusive industry insights and career advice from the brightest minds in business at www.ourfuturehq.com!