Inspirational-Business-Leadres-To-Watch-2020

www.thetycoonmedia.com

VOL. 102 | OCTOBER 2020

Special Feature

Eduard Shaepman

Founder & CEO

Tribes Inspiring Workplaces

Exclusive Interview With

Sandeep Kochhar

Founder - Blewminds Consulting

Lisa

Sohanpal

Resilience Personified.

INSPIRATIONAL

BUSINESS

LEADERS

TO WATCH

2020

GAIN

+

RETAIN

more clients

using digital strategy and social media

We help companies acquire new clients faster and keep the clients

they already have with an easy-to-follow, repeatable and scalable

approach.

Contact us today, and start crushing your sales and markeng goals.

ASSIST YOU TODAY

Phone: 323.972.3566 Website: www.AssistYouToday.com Email: Contact@AssistYouToday.com

3 stepsto

LinkedIn success

1

Build a strong personal brand

Write your profile from your client’s perspecve

Distribute content that adds value

Use keywords in your profile that will get you found

2

Engage

Connect with your offline network

Like/comment/share your connecons’ content

Talk to your connecons periodically to stay top-of-mind

3

Reach out (in a personalized way)

Find your target audience

Conduct research

Send personalized invitaons to connect

Follow-up

To learn how to use these steps to gain and retain clients, contact:

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Message

from

EDITOR

An Inspirational Leader is someone

who inspires ordinary people to achieve

extraordinary feats. who enthuse a sense of

purpose in his team and helps team

members to manifest their best selves at

play.

One of the key qualities of the business

leadership is resilience in the face of

adversity.

The leader sometimes should take a back

step, analyze the risk, create a long term

planning enthuse his vision in his followers,

and guide them through the path

The year 2020 proved as a testing time for

the business leaders across the world. Covid

-19 virus which first found in Wuhan rapidly

engulfed the world like wildfire and within 3

October 2020


to 4 months the engines of major economies came to halt and the world found itself in

lockdown.

According to the latest report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global

economy is expected to shrink by over 3 percent in 2020 – the steepest slowdown since the

Great Depression of the 1930s. This Lead to rampant unemployment, loss of wages,

shutting down of a business, Steep fall of share markets across the world, etc. But as Brian

Tracy said The true test of leadership is how well you function in times of crisis.

Through this special edition of the Tycoon Magazine, we are presenting to you the story

such exemplary leaders who not only managed to weather this storm successfully but

showed the world That with meticulous planning, courage, resilience, and tenacity one

can win over any crisis situation.

Featuring on the cover of this special issue is Lisa Sohanpal CEO of The Nom Noms

world food. Lisa is on the mission to eradicate malnutrition and change the way our

younger generations eat. Nom Noms World Food, the new brand of healthy world cuisine

has launched its multi-award-winning two-course meals for kids and grown-ups on 7th

August 2015 into SELFRIDGES Food Hall and online with OCADO, inspired from exotic

locations and authentic dishes from around the world. Just heat and serve in 2 minutes!

In Special Feature section featuring – Eduard Shaepman - the founder of Tribes

Inspiring Workplaces.

Tribes Inspiring Workplaces offers inspiring offices, meeting, and conference rooms, and

flexible workplaces, anywhere you go, equipped with the high-tech material you need, and

providing all amenities which simplify your business life.

This issue contains a special interview of Sandeep Kochhar the founder of Blewminds

consulting.

BlewMinds works on blowing minds out through transformation, self-reflection, opening

oneself to incredible arenas of change adaptability, & inner mastery. They are committed

to enabling businesses & individuals to harness the power within & dance the delicate

balance of retaining one’s own authenticity for better impact whilst managing others'

perceptions by making oneself more aware of deepest strengths & unconquered fears.

Besides this, we have cherry-picked the stories of inspiring leaders across the world who

are making a positive impact on the business world with their revolutionary ideas.

Happy Reading !!!

Kevin Williams

Kevin Williams

20

Brad Burton

Changing the face of business

networking, and bringing it

into a more appropriate and

modern way for modern

businesses and owners.

Cover Story

Lisa Sohanpal

CEO - Nom Noms World Food

Eduard

Schaepman

A Chief Entertainment

Officer

Dimas Gimeno

A man of action and a true believer

in teamwork and the value of work

and merit

22

26

Gary

Chipman

Founder / Managing

Member | GLC Energy

Consulting LLC

28

Contents

Gavin Crump

A Crearious entrepreneur

30

38

Marc Cirera

Building teams for a

better world

Gunter Fischer

A cucurious entrepreneur

changing world with swarm AI

32

40

Mark Myers

Regrowing all the

Fallen Trees

Jonaed Iqbal

Empowering youth with real

education

34

42

Dr. Mukesh Aghi

Transparent, passionate, and

humble leader

Paolo Rizzi

A passionate and pragmatic Leader

Revolutionizing earned wage access in

44

Mexico

Robert Knop

Helping companies avoid

becoming the next Sears

50

Sandeep

Kochhar

A failure ant who

never gives up

54

Robert Ancill

Always creating and

always learning

48

Tony Malz

Helping billions of people

achieving their dreams

56

Vincent

Champain

An entrepreneur who leads

large organisations in

Transformations

58

The

TYCOON

Team

Magazine

Chief Editor - Kevin Williams

Assistant Editor - Abigail Brown

Sales Head - James Collins

Sales Manager - Alan Smith

Digital Marketing Head - John Miller

Distribution Head - Stacy Davis

Art&Design - Pamela Taylor

Assistant Designer - Tony Moor

Contact us

admin@thetycoonmedia.com

+1 614 467 0981


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www.linkedin.com/company/the-tycoon-media

www.twitter.com/TheTycoonMag

Cover Story

Lisa

Sohanpal

Resilience Personified

Massive supermarket launches, sensational

collaborations and a once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity to compete and win at the 2020

Global Startup World Cup. These were just some of the

grand plans Lisa Sohanpal, co-founder and CEO of Nom

Noms World Food, and her team had on their quest to

revolutionize the world of fast & convenient food.

Yet, like an uncontainable blaze, COVID-19 set fire to those

plans whilst torching through all major industries and the

livelihoods of businesses & the people who depend on

them. For Lisa, it symbolized a critical inflexion point in her

entrepreneurial career – should she take a much-needed

break to see what unfolded in the world whilst spending

time at home with her husband and 3 children? Or should

she bring out the white board, devise a new strategy,

commit to ensuring her supply chain was protected and be

launch- some-day-ready with limited funds to spendin

uncertain, unprecedented future?

INSPIRATIONAL BUSINESS LEADERS TO WATCH 2020

If you picked the last one, you are correct. Except add to the

mix: launching a brand new protective fashion brand, a

social-impact-focused investment group, and an umbrella

company as the parenthesis encompassing all brands,

named after her Father.

The Genesis

Prior to founding Nom Noms World Food, Lisa was in the

Medical Devices industry where she spent 18 years as an

International Director of Medical Devices, managing 47

countries, and traveling around the world all the time – at

the oddest of hours.

Lisa states that she was fortunate to travel to many

destinations through her work in the Middle East, Asia,

Africa, and Europe. During her experience, she saw many

children suffer malnutrition and were constantly fighting for

their lives. They would only go to school because they were

guaranteed a meal and would walk miles to do so. With 3

young children of her own, it was heart-breaking to see.

Coming back to North America and seeing the opposite –

that kids were consuming junk food by the second –which

motivated her further to transform the way our younger

generations eat, so that they can live longer, healthier lives,

whilst helping to change the lives of those in need. Working

with dieticians and food experts, alongside her husband, Dr.

Imrat Sohanpal, Lisa devised recipes for real food, made

free from harmful properties with the invaluable bonus of

not requiring preparation, cooking or washing up

whatsoever. With an ambition to diversify the palate of

consumers around the world, her products strive to re-create

the authentic flavors from their global culinary experiences

and thus, Nom Noms World Food was born.

About Nom Noms World Food

Nom Noms World Food crafts mouth-watering world

cuisine that is ready to heat and eat in seconds. Think

delicious, exotic meals, and high protein hot wraps, fully

cooked and full of flavor - no grocery shopping, no

preparation, and no cooking necessary. All 100% locally

made without any nasties or processing, pre-packaged to

cut human interaction and deliver convenience at its best.

Nom Noms believes that solving world hunger should be as

easy as eating. So for every purchase, they feed hungry

children in need to keep them off the streets and in

school to gain an education.

Using advanced technology innovations, Nom Noms is

disrupting the convenience economy with unprecedented

shelf-life in fresh and frozen, whilst enabling people to

measure their impact end to end. Finally, visual creators

from around the world will design and deliver unique

localized experiences to your mobile device, through their

world-first Experience-Sharing platform.

Challenges faced and Achievements

Nom Noms World Food has received over 42 awards

spanning across product innovation, packaging, concept,

and entrepreneurship. More recently, these include the

prestigious 2019 Telus Pitch Multicultural Business of the

Year award and Winning the Startup World Cup 2020 New

York Regional, putting them in position to now win the

Start-Up World Cup in 2021.

Also, Nom Noms World Food was hand-picked by the

British Royal Family, as a notable brand to be included in

the “Our Royal Baby” commemorative book, to celebrate

the birth of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor.

But the journey was not easy. One of the biggest hurdles

Lisa faced was getting funded, as it is near impossible for

women to break through the unchanged history of funding

challenges. Currently, only 3% of women-owned businesses

get investment – it's mind-boggling and cannot be ignored.

Breaking this barrier was something that she always held

close to her chest, and she wants to educate and inspire

fellow female entrepreneurs to do the same.

Resilient is the word Lisa believes best describes her. With

the number of bizarre things that she had faced has taken

her resilience to a level she didn't even know existed. She

simply doesn't think there is anything she cannot bounce

back from. For those starting up, she recommends working

out contingency plans ahead of time. Always have several

back up options for all areas of your business, always!

To those seeking funding, she says “never give up on your

dreams and continue to work hard to bring your vision to

reality. Keep persevering especially when others doubt you.

No one will Gght for your business more than you and when

the timing is right, doors will not only open, they will have

an elevator to take you straight to your dreams.”.

Source of Motivation

Growing up as the eldest of 4 children in an Indian family

new to pre-multicultural Australia had instilled an undying

sense of responsibility, to challenge cultural norms and to

help the family succeed in an environment seemingly

working against them. Her Father's inspiring story, one

relatable to many immigrant parents, drove Lisa to

empowerment, breaking through glass ceilings throughout

male-dominated working environments, and rising to the

top of her field.

“No one would want to do business with Dad because of his

ethnicity, so he got creative and changed his name to Bob

Berkly to get through to them over the phone. Once they

met him, they were 'rudely' surprised that he was a

sensational businessman, and when he got through the door,

it was a done deal. Most would say he changed for the

environment, but we (his children) saw it as a masterclass

in adapting to your environment to succeed. And well,

'adapt or die, as they say!”, described Lisa.

and dining habits. Consumers are cooking more, and more

often with more mouths to feed, which is taking up more

time. Plans to travel and experience different cultures have

halted indefinitely. People cannot go out to eat an authentic

meal and instead must try to make it at home. Grocery store

visits should only happen if essential and ingredient

availability has become a game of chance.

The desire to enjoy world cuisine remains high yet caution

prevails when ordering through limited restaurants

available. That too has become more of a luxury in today's

economic climate, and consumers are choosing not to take

that chance, due to the element of human interaction on

made-to-order food.

Fast-forwarding to 2020, this tenacity to do whatever it

takes, stood with her after years of external doubt. She

draws on years in resilience and finding solutions to some

of the most unfathomable of problems, and adapted to the

environment as her Dad would, finding creative ways to

fund her business whilst being driven to create brands that

would change the fortunes and the future of the world's

most impoverished.

The birth of the Berkly Group is a testament to the values

she holds true to this day, which now has two brands under

its belt – Nom Noms and miix technologies (a wellnessfocused

protective fashion brand) – to further her vision in

make serious, long-lasting change.

Future perspective

As for Nom Noms; the biggest goal right now is to give

access to their food for millions of people around the world,

and they are excited to be launching and partnering with the

likes of Walmart, Emirates Flight Catering, Costco and

more. They are ambitious and with all these products sold,

they hope to donate 10,000,000 meals to children in need.

More products sold means more mouths fed, and that

motivates her to grow the business to astronomical heights.

They have a vision for technology to disrupt the future of

food, and are in the process of enabling consumers to

measure and track their impact to the children in need, be

rewarded for it, and create content connecting them to local

experiences from global curators.

Comments on the current industry scenario

When The Tycoon Magazine contacted and asked Lisa

about her perspective on the current scenario and Impact of

COVID 19 on ready food industry she said,

“The current Economic and COVID-19 health situation

globally has led people to drastically change their grocery

What remains true from before all of this happened is that

food brands need to cater to what we call, the convenience

economy. So to succeed in today's Food & FMCG

landscape, brands need to fine-tune their empathy skills and

deliver experiences that bring the lost joys of good food,

social interaction and travel, back home.

Traditional methods of distribution cannot cater to

consumer's needs fast enough, so brands need to be agile

and be accessible in more ways than one. Ultimately, new

lifestyles are here to stay, and brands need to be more

creative and forward-thinking with regards to how to

leverage the current landscape of food.”

Advice to budding entrepreneurs

Lisa advises those who are entering into the world of

entrepreneurship to learn not only how to stay the course

but create their own along the way, whilst being guided by a

blend of logic and gut feel.

“Mind matters, but your gut knows you better, trust it.

There's nothing worse than having regrets of giving up on

your vision too early. It will take time, the days will seem

extra-long and there will be many sleepless nights. Believe

that the answers are out there waiting, believe in that life

will surprise you again and again. Believe that the journey

is the destination, believe you are the greatest project you

will ever work on, believe that you can and will make it

happen.”

Her story is truly an inspirational one, as with her sheer

aspiration to destroy malnutrition, hunger and transform the

way our younger generations eat, she is creating a positive

impact on the world and revolutionizing convenience food,

one Nom Noms at a time.

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Listing Organization Description

Brad Burton

Dimas Gimeno

Eduard

Schaepman

4Networking

Skintelligence

Tribes Inspiring

Workplaces

4Networking is the only truly joined-up

national business network in the UK

bringing people from the world

together! - www.4nonline.biz

SKT is a Companies Ecosystem,

pursuing to disrupt the Retail

Business, through technology

innovation. www.sktretailtech.com

Tribes Inspiring Workplaces offers

inspiring offices, meeting and

conference rooms and flexible

workplaces. www.tribes.world

Gary Chipman

GLC Energy

Consulting LLC

A Petroleum Consulting Firm

www.glcenergyconsulting.com

Gavin Crump

Gunter Fischer

Jonaed Iqbal

Marc Cirera

Mark Myers

18

October 2020

BIM Guru

Brainalyzed

NoDegree

Companies for Good

Myers Counseling

Group

Leading edge BIM Consulting for the

Australian AEC industry -

www.bimguru.com.au

Enterprise AI platform that makes

artificial swarm intelligence accessible

for everyone. - www.brainalyzed.com

The NoDegree Podcast helps those

without degrees figure out the

opportunities that are available to

them. - NoDegree.com

Helps businesses organise successful

team-building activities, support their

communities, protect the planet and

make their organisations more

sustainable - www. companiesforgood.ae

Provide comprehensive mental health

and substance abuse services for

individuals, families, and couples.

www.myerscounseling.com


Listing Organization Description

Mukesh Aghi

Paolo Rizi

Robert Ancill

Robert Knop

Sandeep Kochhar

Tony Malz

Vincent Champain

US-India Strategic

Partnership Forum

minu

The Next Idea

Assist You Today

BlewMinds

Join Sizigi

Framatome

Committed to creating the most

powerful strategic partnership

between the U.S. and India.

www.usispf.org

minu offeris Mexican

employees,access to their already

worked salary when they need it,

instead of having to wait for payroll.

www.minu.mx

The Next Idea is one of America’s

leading restaurant and leisure

management and consulting group.

www.thenextidea.net

Assist You Today, helps

organisations gain + retain clients in

the new digital age.

www.AssistYouToday.com

Storytelling Firm working in areas of

Marketing (branding, digital) Human

Resources (leadership, exec search)

& Tech -

www.blewminds.com

Sizigi offers a richer interview

experience, higher employer

branding, and smarter hiring

decisions.

www.joinsizigi.com

Framatome is a major international

player in the nuclear energy market

recognized for its innovative solutions

and value-added technologies for

designing, building, maintaining, and

advancing the global nuclear fleet.

19

October 2020

www.framatome.com


Brad Burton

“Changing the face of business networking, and

bringing it into a more appropriate and modern way

for modern businesses and owners”

Brad Burton, a man transforming the

industry, narrated his story in the most

intriguing way ever — “1973, born, Sanford, Dad

left, primary school, BMX bikes, role playing

games, computer games, class clown, no

qualifications, shop boy, girls, chalet cleaner,

nightclubbing, pothead, more girls, games

journalist, became a Dad, shot at, moved to

Somerset, depressed, dole, more weed, shop

manager, blagged CV head of marketing, dole,

Director, Oxford sucked, dole, 3 days away from

bankruptcy, Dad again, depressed, maisonette

above a chippy, married, employed, shove job up

arse, self-employed, depression, skint, skint,

skint, whinging wife, Dad again, 4Networking,

stopped smoking weed, bluffing, struggling,

speaking, author, still skint, skint, skint, Dad yet

again, 5,000+ events a year, uh oh, UK's #1

motivational business speaker, bought dream

Range Rover, still waiting to be found out, sold

dream Range Rover, author again, people are

buying them, scratches head, stabbed in the

back. Twice. Burned out, near divorce, crisis

averted, just, snapped up by top publisher for

3rd book, still waiting to be found out, Dad

again, a daughter this time - uh oh, Audi driver,

buzzing, blue tick, blue tick, more 5 stars on

Amazon, still UK's #1 motivational business

speaker. Time to quit? Now What? 4th book, no

longer skint, no longer depressed, actually now

quite balanced and happy. Wife still whinging.”

www.4Nonline.biz is the UK’s largest online

business network. Well, it was, prior to lockdown,

the UK’s largest joined up business

20

October 2020

networking organization, running over 5000

meetings across the UK each year. Then Covid

came along at which point they had to change

the whole business model overnight, converting

the real world network to an online one. They're

glad to say if they hadn’t pulled this off, the

business would have been kaput!

Struggles and successes

Lock down changed everything, while other real

life networking organizations made the decision

to “wait to see what happens” they made the

decision to change what happens…

Immediately they got a plan in place that

allowed them to move fast and transition into a

workable online solution to allow their

thousands of members to continue to grow their

network and business.

They changed the face of business networking,

they innovated their format, technology and

more importantly instilled a culture which

endures 14 years on, 50% social, 50% business

and it still works. Back in 2006 when they

started the organization this was considered ‘off

key’ by many. As he said at the time, you’ll never

be the market leader copying the market leader.

From his personal perspective, he has written 4

best selling books, and became the UK’s #1

Motivational Business Speaker, headlining for

global brands and organizations like Bentley,

Xero, JCB, Snap On tools, given where he

started off this is a massive personal

achievement.

Describing himself in one sentence


“Doing it my way,” perfectly describes his

going against all odds.

Future goals and advice to the budding

entrepreneurs

When asked about his future goals, he

said. “I’ve got an amazing and trusted

management team who handle the day

to day, and for the first time In the

companies history we have our first

ever female MD, who has a

wonderful and more rounded

approach which is exactly what is

needed as we head into the next

14 years. I’ll go as far as

believing 4Networking

Online will become the

Netflix of Networking, you

heard it first.”

To the emerging

entrepreneurs, he said

“That you can’t skip the

steps,it’s going to take

you 4x longer than what

your business plan for

the bank states.”

21

October 2020


Dimas Gimeno

“A man of action and a true believer in

teamwork and the value of work and merit”

Dimas Gimeno, a passionate and focused

advocate of retail transformation. Founder and

Chairman of Skintelligence Investments; a

retail & tech business platform built to help

retailers harness disruptive innovation, adapt,

and grow in a rapidly changing economic and

social landscape. From 2014 to 2018, he served

as President and CEO of El Corte Ingles, a

leading department store group headquartered

in Spain. Drawing from his experience as a retail

practitioner and the knowledge he has acquired

in the last 2 years, he has identified what he

believes is the more pressing needs and

requirements for the retail industry to the gather

the storm and grow stronger, better and more

human-centred. They detected that there was an

opportunity to fuel positive energy through

generating smart investment, building bridges,

feeding hungry companies and the big,

stagnating incumbents and fostering

knowledge, innovation and applied research. In

that vein he is creating an ecosystem at the

intersection of tech and retail where diverse and

complementary elements will cooperate in

mutually beneficial ventures.


Retail is by definition a complex business, as in

essence it boils down to people interacting with

people in a marketplace, thus involving

economic, social, psychological and cultural

elements. As to the challenges he has faced he

would stress resistance to change, fragmentation

of the industry and a somehow understandable

mistrust among peers who do not see the

opportunities offered by cooperation and silo

themselves in a shortsighted competition

mindset.

The Covid19 pandemic offers a unique, albeit

unwanted, opportunity to remove at least some

of those stumbling blocks and move decisively

22 Octobert 2020

towards swift, deep and momentous retail

transformation without losing sight of the need

to place the human being ever more at the

center of retail.The retail landscape is in full

swing. Although retail transformation has been

ongoing for a while, the Covid19 pandemic has

accelerated the process exponentially. Changing

industry trends, new consumer habits and

innovation will be more visible and

consequential than ever. Change is happening

and they need to seize the opportunity to surf

the wave. Those who opt for idly waiting for the

storm to pass are unlikely to survive.

He learnt from experience and he feels very

proud about his work at El Corte Ingles, where

he was able to put into practice some of the

initiatives and innovative badly needed.

However, he doesn’t like to dwell in the past.

He’s today fully focused on his new ventures and

plans for the future with Skintelligence. He

hopes that, sooner than later, he would be able

to make progress and achieve some of the

ambitious goals he has set for himself.

Source of motivation : The time spent with

his uncle, predecessor and mentor, Isidoro

Alvarez, one of the most prominent

entrepreneurs in Spain during the last century,

left behind an indelible impression and shaped

his career. He also draws inspiration and

motivation from the intelligence and

determination he sees in people in all walks of

life as they cope with life challenges.


His will to make things happen and

curiosity have also been driving

forces throughout his life and

learning process.

Future goals and advice to the

youth

When asked about their future goals,

they told the Tycoon Media, that they

want to “be a proactive player and

shape the conversation about retail.”

They “expect their retail ecosystem to

be a global reference tool for retailers

of all sizes and levels of development

and become a leading force in retail

transformation in the next decade.”

They “aim to be ready and willing to

jump to the next level, approach the

challenge with a focus on the

solution, not just on the problem to

solve. Identify the obstacles and

never fear innovation.”

His advice to the emerging

entrepreneurs is “ I would encourage

them to listen carefully to seasoned

professionals. Innovative solutions

cannot be implemented in a lab, they

should be efficient in the real world

and for that practitioners are a

unique source of information and

valuable knowledge.”

23

Octobert 2020


ENTREPREN

How

Does

Actually F

Often times we write about the entrepreneurial journey based on the systematic approaches to

entrepreneurship, i.e. figuring out your client base, process flow, your marketing plan and how to

scale. However, less often we talk about how entrepreneurship feels, aside from the common notion

held by many, that entrepreneurship is not for the weak. So, how does entrepreneurship actually feel?

Entrepreneurship has its ebbs and flows of emotions (Sokol, 2020). One day you will feel on top of the

world after landing a contract with a contentious bidding process. For just a moment, you may truly

believe you are King Midas with a golden touch and maybe even dance a happy dance in front of the

mirror. Within just a days’ time, you’ll start thinking about whether or not you should be using the

same time and effort you use towards your entrepreneurial ventures, towards finding a traditional, 9-

5, full-time job. Sometimes you can become overwhelmed with the level of responsibility required for

not only owning a business but also managing it. Even when you hire staff, as the owner, you will

forever have management responsibilities. Owning a small business may seem overwhelming as you

try to juggle between balancing your client load or customers while handling the administrative day to

day functions of the business, such as financial management, legal requirements, buying and

purchasing and keeping things organized. These things add additional stressors for many

entrepreneurs. Another feeling, guilt. We may not say this to our families, but, if your business is not a

family owned business, you may feel guilt ridden by having to borrow from family time in order to

build your enterprise. When a family owned business, you may feel burdened by not allowing your

family enough reprieve, down time or family time (Davis, 2020). At last the worst emotion yet, the

feeling of wanting to just throw the towel in and give up. This feeling normally comes from both

frustration and fear. Your feelings of frustration and fear may arise from things not always going as

planned and having to mitigate loss of time and resources as well as the extraordinary amount of

pressure of having your entire livelihood be based solely on your business and maintaining its success.

If you’ve felt any of the above. You are not alone. This is what entrepreneurship feels like, especially

within the first few years. However, if you stay the course, the majority of your negative feelings will

soon begin to wane and be replaced by positive feelings such as proud, successful, accomplished,

strong, able, capable, and to your family, maybe even heroic. So, what are a few things entrepreneurs

24

October 2020


EURSHIP

eel ?

can remember to do in order to power through?

Remember the Pareto principal and the 80/20 rule. 20% of your output is related to 80% of your

input. If you feel like you are working very hard to see results, you are, be gentle with yourself.

Self-care, schedule some time to take care of yourself. Not just your physical well-being, but your

emotional well being as well.

Know who is in your support system and lean on them. Your support system should include at least

one mentor or coach, you may also consider an advisory board (Davis, 2020). Choose someone who

you have a good relationship with, who can be empathetic and actively listen.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are successful business. Be as patient as can be, this is hard, I

know. However, the more patient you are the less frustrated you will be.

Whatever you do, don’t give up, see it through until the end. What is the end? In my book, retirement.

However, this may not be everyone’s end goal. Whatever the goal is that you have set for yourself as

an entrepreneur, make it there. What if you are taking a giant loss and the business doesn’t seem

viable? Know that at least 90% of businesses fail (Norton, 2020). Consider the three -year rule. Year

one is foundation (you lose money), year two (you break even), year three you should begin to see a

livable profit. If at year three your business does not break a profit, only then should you consider

changing course. This decision being based solely on risk verse gain through strategic and logical

evaluation verse emotions.

To reiterate a shared common expression of many entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship is not for the

weak, but with a relentless drive and will to succeed, in time your emotional investment will be

rewarded.

Authour - Dr. Niama T. Malachi

25

October 2020


Eduard Schaepman

A Chief Entertainment Officer

Eduard Schaepman, a Dutch real estate

entrepreneur and the founder of Tribes

Inspiring Workplaces. started his career as a

marketing manager at Mees & Hope and

Robeco. Between 1997 and 2013, he held various

management and board positions at large

multinationals such as Fortis Group and

euroShell. In 2013, he became the CEO of the

Chalet Group, which under his leadership grew

into one of the largest private real estate

investors in the Netherlands. In 2015 he

launched his own innovative office concept:

Tribes Inspiring Workplaces. Tribes now

offers flexible and inspiring workplaces, offices,

meeting rooms and business addresses at

locations in the Netherlands, Brussels and

Germany. Within a short period of time, this

concept will be global, offering a large network

of inspiring meeting places.

Tribes is more than just a great place to work.

It’s a modern fireplace, where you can meet likeminded

professionals who come from all places

over the world. You can also boost your

creativity, by all the stories, hidden treasures

and amazing design in the locations. All the

Tribes locations have a different design, based

on one of the nomadic tribes from all over the

world. So everywhere you go, you’ll find

different colours, materials and most of all,

stories from which they – the business nomads

who just need a laptop, WiFi and mobile phone

to work - all can learn. For example, the Kazakh

(in the location in Rotterdam), have invented

‘drones’ ages ago. With their Golden Eagles they

could scan the entire area for intruders and

prey. They knew the importance of an ‘eagle-eye’

view to do their business - hunting, which you

need as an entrepreneur just as much.


The biggest challenge they have to face in this

industry is to explain to the building owner how

26 October 2020

much more value you can add to a building as an

office operator. They don’t see the opportunities

for substantial value creation and are not open

to the less traditional business – in their eyes.

Only now, when the consumer ‘pushes’ for short

term contracts instead of the traditional longterm

ones, the building owner seems to realize

that he/she needs to move with the times to

survive. They are used to work with a property/

building manager, who is system oriented,

instead of client-oriented, which can result in

much more value. As an operator, they always

are looking for ways to satisfy the client, and

thus generate more value.

His own major achievement is creating the

Tribes concept. He said “ Who would have

thought that such a – crazy – idea would be such

a success. I mean, all those nomadic tribes are

amazing, but a CEO modelling in its own

commercial prints?! But the Dutch newspapers

went crazy and headlines all over it. Our

members also really love it, so it’s quite a

personal accomplishment. Tribes’ major

achievement is getting one of the biggest

American private equity firms as a shareholder

on board. “


Future goals and advice

He says that his and the Tribes’ goal is the

same which being the most unique and

exclusive operator in the world. In the last

years, he said he’s realized it’s not about

quantity but about quality, and that’s what

they want to realize. The number of

locations will not be the most like global

networkers, but they’ll offer the best

services and quality.

His words of wisdom for the emerging

entrepreneurs are “ Always stay close to

yourself and be passionate about what you

do. And I always follow these rules:

1. Trust yourself

2. Break the rules, not the law

3. Don’t be afraid for failure

4. Stay away from naysayers

5. Work like hell

6. Give something back!

27

Octobert 2020


Gary L. Chipman

Founder / Managing Member | GLC

Energy Consulting LLC

Gary L. Chipman, started his career back in

1987. At that time, he was a Marketing Manager

for a group out of Dallas Texas. He had been

moved to Midland Texas to open an office there

and set up. Weeks had passed and he met up

with a guy named Robert Wingfield who had

asked him to come to work for a Wireline

Company that did Logging and Perforating. He

made the leap and continued in the Wireline

Business till 2013. Continuing in the Service

industry he 1became an Independent

Completions Consultant and opened his own

Completion Firm in 2013. To date they have

opened their own Composite Frac Plug Division

and provide a premium service and product.

Founded in 2013, GLC Energy Consulting LLC.

has been providing oil and gas companies with

professional consulting services. With a handson

approach, GLC Energy Consulting has been

successful in complete on-site well organization

services including daily tracking and reporting,

major well repair services, and on-site hydraulic

fracturing processes.

GLC Energy Consulting LLC provides highly

skilled Completions Consultants, Flow Back

Operators, Drilling Consultants and Engineers.

Just here this month April 2020, they have

entered the Composite Frac/Bridge Plug market.

They conduct their own R&D on several projects

to bring Upstream Customers the best-on-themarket

Frac Plugs.

Energy. They stay on top of technology trends

and keep their fingers on the R&D pulse in the

industry to anticipate and stay ahead of major

trends. The priorities of the industry around

profitability and safety have remained top of

mind for us, and allowed us to forge

connections, anticipate issues and provide

valuable foresight to their customers.

Growing their business is his mission and he will

be at that helm to steer it in the best direction

with the help of great employees and great

customers. Their Frac Plug Division had a vision

to design Frac Plugs with proprietary composite

materials. This allows for higher performance

and consistent quality over typical filament

wound composites which most frac plugs use. In

addition, the material properties are designed to

be easily drilled out and into manageable pieces.

They are also working on a proprietary lower

slip design, and combined with the higher

performance composite we envision being able

to produce composite FracPlugs that go well

beyond the standard pressure ratings!

Forward thinking sets the bar when it comes to

tractability and quality control. They pride

themselves on developing products that leave no

room for questions or chances.


The Upstream and Downstream in the oil

business has always been a challenge. They must

change with the market time after time to keep

up with those challenges. Adaptability and

flexibility are skills that they value at GLC

28

October 2020


Source of motivation

Family has always been his motivation and the

customers they serve. As a business, they take

full responsibility for the service and our

products. They are uniquely positioned to

provide operationally tested service and

products that save our customers headaches,

knowing that they are bringing a field-tested,

expertise-fueled solution to a particular

problem.

Future goals and advice

GLC Energy Consulting is committed to

contributing to the oil & gas industry in

operationally meaningful ways. They are

operators building proprietary tools for

operators. They know the field, they

understand the pain points and they see the

opportunities for better ways of working -

with better products, more efficiently and

safely. They will continue to research,

design and bring to market products that

address the concerns that operators have

in the field, issues that are keeping

managers up at night. There are decades of

experience behind GLC Energy that will

continue to power this company and its

vision for decades to come. Their industry

needs innvative solutions that are custom-built

for current and emerging problems. At GLC,

operational experience intersects with cuttingedge

science and development to provide pinpointed

solutions that work.

Gary’s advice for the younger

generation is “Keep up a

steady pace, never

give up on your

dreams, failure is

a big part of

learning. Ignore

all the

negativity and

noise and

always be

proud of

yourself

even if

nobody

else will.”

Gavin Crump

A Crearious entrepreneur

Gavin Crump, the Founder and Consultant of

BIM (building information modelling) Guru, is

an inspiration to many in his field. He began

working as an as an architectural graduate in

2012 and whilst many years have passed since

then his perseverance remains constant. He

initially began his career by working on a $2

billion hospital project in Adelaide, Australia

and received great initial exposure to

architecture, construction, and BIM.

His inclination towards BIM software

accelerated him through technical, coordinator

and middle management roles and in 2015, to

continue his journey, he went to Sydney to a

BIM management role where he managed

training, content, systems, and projects in the

context of BIM. He moved through various

medium to large scale firms in Sydney and got

some great exposure to various projects and

company types.

Ultimately, he opened his own BIM consulting

business at the start of 2020, and while most

people would expect it to be an unfavorable time

to initiate a business, he made most of this time

and in hindsight, believe that was a prime time

since Market lag gave him time to market and

get the business up to speed, whereas this time

may have become redundant and unproductive

in performing a corporate type role at this time.

About the company

BIM Guru offers five key services: strategy,

modelling/systems, coordination, coding, and

training. Most of its services center themselves

around the Autodesk product collection which is

dominating the BIM landscape in Australia

currently.

BIM Guru draws upon experience at all levels of

BIM - from the trenches up to the boardroom,

which causes his clients to always find a level of

relatability and suitability in his offer and

delivery of solutions.

Gavin has begun releasing templates and

contents via the BIM Guru website shop which

aims to provide a better benchmark for firms

without access to these due to industry silos, as

well as varying rates of BIM adoption.

Struggles and Successes

The journey climbing to the top is never an easy

one, and every entrepreneur must face a

plethora of obstacles along their way to stabilize

their foothold.

The AEC (architecture, engineering,

construction) industry is surprisingly quite slow

to change - they only really embraced digital

workflows on a mainstream scale over the last

15-20 years. For every disruptor out there, there

is at least 100 people working in the opposite

direction, whether for the pursuit nostalgia or

fear of change.

Silos of information and workflows are also a

serious problem that stifle this industry’s

potential. Large scale firms create proprietary

ideas and practices and keep them closed off

from their competition so one ends up with a lot

of redundancy when we look at the bigger

picture.

BIM Guru has only been active for about 3

months now, but in this small period they’ve

delivered solutions for more than 30 unique

clients across the globe – most of them

becoming repeat clients.

30

October 2020


In April, BIM Guru released a project

template for the program Autodesk Revit,

which generated over 100 sales in less than a

week. In future, they have more than 20 packs

of support content queued up to expand the

potential of this product. They also aim to

release some online courses in a few months’

time that will train people in industry relevant

software from a real-world context –

something which many other courses do not

emulate.

Future goals and Words of wisdom to

the budding entrepreneurs

When asked about future business prospects,

he replied that currently his business is a fulltime

focus. Ultimately, his goal is to develop

the business into a platform which he can take

and ‘attach’ to companies in a management/

joint venture capacity in order to reintroduce

his services at a deeper level than which

external consultants are usually offered.

When he was asked to give advice to the

young mind, he said :

“Ultimately I recommend three things…

1. Have the financial backup

personally available

before you begin

2. Have a strong

network of

potential clients

and industry

peers ready

3. Have the will

and

dedication to

work

Gunter Fischer, the CEO and cofounder

of Brainalyzed, worked for more

than 10 years in the renewable energy

sector developing self-learning

controllers for wind turbines. The goal of

this project was to use the time-series

data of the wind turbine sensors to make

the turbines adapt to local site conditions

and improve the energy production

within a given load envelope. They had

the choice of over 300 technical sensors

within the wind turbine and didn't know

how to combine them to solve the task.

Around that time artificial intelligence

leapfrogged from being merely an

academic exercise to offering real

business value.

Since his Ph.D. in technical optimization,

he found it intriguing to pose the

Gunter Fischer

A curious entrepreneur changing world with swarm AI

problem of combining sensors to an optimizer.

That is when the idea of automated evolutionary

AI design occurred to him, and he created

Brainalyzed along with his co-founder Thomas

Kopetsch.

Brainalyzed is the creator of Brainalyzed Insight,

the world's first artificial swarm intelligence

platform, tailored for people without a

background in machine learning, artificial

intelligence, or programming. It enables

industry experts with data and data hypothesis

to build, deploy, and maintain powerful AI

swarms, without the need for coding.

Struggles and Successes

Brainalyzed Insight is a market creator in terms

of the technology that they use. Artificial swarm

intelligence is a modern AI technology that has a

lot of potentials. However, they need to educate

people about this technology in terms of costs

and the value one can derive from it. Though

traditional AI is still popular among the crowds,

he believes that swarm AI is slowly garnering

attention.

Their first important achievement this year was

the release of their prototype in. It was the

culmination of a long process — from the initial

idea via the first project customers, closing their

seed round in summer 2019, building a

dedicated team, solving a pile of technical

challenges to deliver a powerful SaaS-based

Enterprise AI system. He’s proud of what they

have achieved in such a short time, but he also

knows that this is just the first steppingstone

towards an exciting and interesting journey

ahead.

Future goals

The COVID-19 pandemic has landed the team in

one of the most challenging economic times

after the Second World War. The situation has

been a huge obstacle for the team. However,

they are confident that the technology of

artificial swarm intelligence is far superior to

what is available in the market at the moment.

Right now, they are focused on converting PoCs

to subscriptions in order to demonstrate growth,

despite the pandemic.

In the long run, Gunter wants to use the training

data of the hundreds of thousands of training

they conduct to improve the process with an AI

model itself. For this, they plan to use the

statistical properties of each input and the

prediction targets to suggest a good model initial

configuration and then further optimize it using

their custom-built genetic algorithm.

Advice for the emerging entrepreneurs

His piece of advice for young entrepreneurs who

want to make it big is “Entrepreneurship is not

a science; it is an attitude that you need to have

to survive the lowest lows and enjoy the highest

highs in the marathon of building a company

from scratch. You should not be afraid to step

in the dark and to fail sometimes. That is only a

natural process.”

33

October 2020


Jonaed Iqbal

Empowering youth with

real education

“I am fighting against people who

feel paying $100k plus for an

education is justified.”

34

Octobert 2020

In a world of Ivies and top-notch

universities, where students are in a

constant rat race to take

underwhelming classes and pay

hefty fees for what is supposed to be

a basic human right, Jonaed Iqbal

made his mark. Ironically, he

founded NoDegree while pursuing

his graduate studies at Columbia

University.

Starting a project like NoDegree

wasn't a walk in the park for Jonaed,

though. He knew that to help those

without college degrees find

meaningful jobs that pay well and

remove the stigma attached to them,

he’d have to work and save to invest

in his idea. He worked tirelessly for

four years and saved up enough to

accomplish this goal. Then in 2018,

he cashed out all his years of hard

work and, as they say, there was no

looking back.

Jonaed managed the founding stage

of NoDegree as a one-man army.

He learned everything, from

marketing his project on social

media to search engine


optimization, on the go. He then officially

established it with his savings and three

partners.

From a small initiative, NoDegree has evolved to

a trusted platform for career advice and

counselling on LinkedIn. The most recent

resource is the NoDegree podcast, which

involves interviewing people without college

degrees who have achieved huge success in their

careers.

About the Company

NoDegree helps those who do not possess

degrees but have the perseverance and

determination to find meaningful lives and race

towards a better future. They provide career

guidance resources like resume writing and

interview coaching. The goal is to help people

level up their careers. NoDegree also streams

content, writes blogs, and hosts podcasts on

various platforms that people can listen to, free

of cost.

NoDegree is also a recruiting company, but they

do it much differently than others. They take

time to know their candidates first and allow

employers to post jobs on their website.

Overcoming the Obstacles

Jonaed's leadership is commendable. He

believes in always creating, and always learning.

When asked about his source of motivation, he

said “I hate it when qualified people are denied

opportunity or looked down upon because they

don’t have a piece of paper that probably

couldn’t accurately represent them in the first

place.” This speaks a lot about his aim for the

greater good, and that he believes the job must

go to the most deserving candidate, which isn’t

always the one with the degree.

Jonaed has faced many challenges throughout

his journey. He is trying to challenge large

institutions with years of expertise and a name

attached to them. He is shaking not just rigid

beliefs but mindsets, ways of life, and all who

feel that it is necessary to spend large amounts

of money on a degree. He is fighting employers

who have an exhaustive list of degree

requirements in their job postings. He is fighting

the difference between those whose education

stopped at a degree and those who are

determined life-long learners. NoDegree

advocates for the latter.

The academic industry is ever-changing. A lot of

tech companies now do not require college

degrees to get recruited. However, there is a lot

that they still have to combat, because at the end

of the day, companies and organizations are

overflowed with people from top-ranked

universities. So those without degrees are

definitely at a disadvantage. Most companies do

not even conduct interviews if the candidate

doesn’t meet their academic qualification.

Achievements and Future Goals

NoDegree has held a plethora of workshops to

help those without college degrees understand

how they can set themselves apart from others.

They have successfully helped more than 100

people land interviews at several well-known

companies. Even amidst COVID-19, there’s no

stopping NoDegree’s momentum. They have

held virtual career fairs with speakers from

companies like Tesla, Microsoft, Google, Etsy,

just to name a few.

But it doesn’t end there, Jonaed's bigger plan for

the future is to compete with institutions of

higher learning. He wants NoDegree to become

so successful that colleges actually have to lower

their tuition fees or increase what they have to

offer.

Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs

“Read, learn as much as you can,

network, and get a mentor. I am where I

am today because of the things I have

learned from other people. So many

people have connected me with the right

people and that has allowed me to grow.

I make sure to help those around me as

much as I can and as a result, people help

me. I will get to where I want to in the

future because of the information and

help I get from people I probably have not

met yet.”

Jonaed Iqbal is a true inspiration. His story

shows that if you have a goal, with perseverance,

nothing can stop you.

Changes in the Industry

35

Octobert 2020


The world is in crisis.

Billionslive in poverty, climate

change ishappening and

pollution is trashing the planet.

Solving these issues requires

people and money.

Businesseshave plenty of both.

But,until now, there’s been no

easy way for companies to

contribute.

Working with charities has been

hard to organise.

Doing your own activities is timeconsuming

and difficult.

And there’sa lot of bureaucracy.

You could just donate money,

but you’d miss out on a valuable

team building opportunity…

We set up Companies for Good

to make it easy for businesses

and their people to do good how,

when and where they want to.

Whether you want to help society

or the planet,land or sea,local or

global communities,we make it

happen and we make it fun.

We call this ‘good – on demand’.

And over 200 of the world’s

biggest brands have already

taken part.

Team

activities

for a better

world

Join the good movement:

companiesforgood.ae

Marc Cirera

Building teams for a better world

In this world of profit-making, capitalism and

rising industrialization, where companies are

working day and night to take their number

graphs to greater heights, Marc Cirera, CEO

and founder of Companies for good is

running a social enterprise to help companies

make their mark by not just growing

economically but by taking responsible actions

towards the greater good.

Cirera is a business ethics and sustainability

specialist with a clear vision, and a world where

companies operate in a more sustainable and

responsible way. They essentially help businesses

and their employees do good, for the planet and

the communities, ‘good-on demand’ as they call

it.

Companies for Good works in an unconventional

manner since May 2017 by organising team

activities like tree planting, making toys for

refugees, beach clean-ups, women

empowerment seminars, etc. which focus on the

corporate social responsibility that is more often

than not forgotten in this fast paced world. All

these activities are run in collaboration with

various non-government organisations and other

community organisations that also have the

same goal as them. They have till now provided a

fun hassle free way to great brands worldwide

like Airbnb, Amazon, Unilever, Pfizer, Standard

Chartered, Gucci, Philips, BCG, DHL, Mubadala,

Sanofi, Henkel, Kellogg’s, Ford, and many more

to give back to the society.

Inception

A born entrepreneur, he was introduced into the

business world by his grandfather who was a selfmade

businessman. He set up his first business in

hospitality while studying Economics and

Business Administration in Barcelona. After

running it for four years, he sold it and used the

profits to pursue Master’s in Business Ethics in

Sydney. He didn’t sacrifice his education for

business, after graduating, he moved to London

to work at a communications consultancy.

During his time there, he helped multinational

companies, such as Rolls-Royce, ABB, Nivea and

Cargill become stronger by putting ethics, values

and sustainability at the heart of their

organisations.

He then landed in Dubai in 2015 to work as a

sustainability specialist at Chalhoub Group until

October 2018. While working there, he donut

Companies for good in May 2017 and has been

fully dedicated to it since November 2018. He

told in an interview “I founded Companies for

Good because I believe businesses have the

potential to solve some of the world’s most

pressing issues. And I wanted to help them do

good.”

Overcoming the obstacles

It is not easy as it seems, and ever since the onset

of Covid 19 worldwide, the pandemic has caused

various obstacles in the industry, the scenario

has changed so much due to lack of gatherings

globally, they’re now witnessing a demand for

virtual events, and that’s the way to go according

to them in the time to come. They are now

coming up with digital solutions (such as the

online escape room named Escape Climate

Change) as their commitment to doing good

doesn’t stop at all, covid or no covid.

Other than that, they face two types of

challenges, one being more conceptual and

behavioural, and other being rather more

pragmatic. As Cirera puts it: “Regarding the

former, a recurring challenge we face is the

concept of responsibility dilution. When we lose

sight of who is responsible for what, it can be

38

Octobert 2020


dangerous – most of us are worried

about global warming, yet we drive my

cars on a daily basis. This makes us rely

on others to be the change we want to

see, which will never work as each of us

should be playing our part.

The other challenge is that many

people think that corporate

volunteering initiatives should be

free of charge. They want to do

good, which is a great thing, and

they’re already giving away

their time – why should they

have to give their money

away too? We wrote an article

to answer this point – https://

companiesforgood.ae/thegood-blog/why-should-i-pay."

Advice to the budding

entrepreneurs

“It’s a cliché, but ensuring your

idea solves a real problem is key

to success. I cannot stress that

enough. I talk to many people

that want to begin their venture

with an idea they love, but they

aren’t sure if others will find

useful. You can build the best

product ever, but it will be

worthless if people aren’t willing to

pay for it.

Joining forces with the right people to

form a strong team is also very

important.

And finally, and most importantly, you’d

better feel passion for what you’re trying

to set up. It will be tough and bumpy

journey. Unless you’re fully committed

to making it work, you won’t."

39

October 2020

Mark Myers

Regrowing all the Fallen Trees

Mark Myers, founder of The Myers

Counseling Group and the man behind

transformation of many deteriorating lives into

healthy, fulfilling ones through over twenty

years of handwork, consistency, empathy or as

he believes sums it up in a word ‘focused.’

His focused approach towards creating problem

solving strategies centered around behavior and

thought, along with the power of

communication and coping mechanisms has

paved the way for many substance abused, illhealth,

or just regular individuals with mental

health issues become better living men.

Since time immemorial mental health has

always been overlooked, considered as a mere

mood swing, but with time, it has been paid

attention and because of consistent effort by

people like Myers, a drastic change is

conspicuous and as he says “the industry has

seen tremendous changes over the years.

Therapy is more goal-directed now. Empirical

data, science, and utilization of medical

interventions are more widely accepted and

used currently. I see the health industry

understanding the importance of collaboration

of services. Society is more accepting of

individuals seeking out professional help.”

The Myers Counseling group combines varied

backgrounds, giving you access to an

unparalleled depth of knowledge about

healthcare and therapy, a perspective that you

won't find in other groups, comprised of a bestin-class

team of experts in search and

consulting, as well as those that have built and

led healthcare organizations, providing

healthcare at the patient level, working in global

health, have experience in multiple functions in

40

October 2020

other industries, and devote their free time to

not-for-profit healthcare initiatives.

The Inception

Myers Counseling Group started in August 1999.

The shifting of office to Crystal Lake, which was

closer to their home allowed the team, greater

flexibility and time commitment to their work.

Their staunch philosophy has not changed since

they started helping the humans around and

they manage to work remotely, provide them

emotional, moral and all the resources in their

capacity and as he said “We support them

through their journey in recovery.”

Individuals from all geographical areas seek out

services at Myers Counseling Group, the telehealth

services are one of their most used, for

the clients in the state of Illinois, they take

immense pride in being community based and

simultaneously maintaining family values too.

He strongly puts faith in maintaining these

standards while sustaining the individual focus

of the client. He believes in “investing time,

energy, and commitment to improving the

quality of life.” Mark brings his commitment to

serving clients not only from his community but

other communities as well which talks a lot

about his character as a counsellor.

The Journey and Major Achievements

The journey of Myers counseling group to one of

the leading counseling groups wasn’t a regular

one, Myers like most of young adults ended up

in field, doing the job which wasn’t exactly

satisfying but his zeal for social work led him to

Private practice with the help of unconditional

support from his wife, Janet Myers, who also coauthored

with him in his latest publication:

Falling Trees, Color Blind Scientists, and


Addiction: A Complete Guide to Addiction for

Substance Abusers and Their Families, a book

meant to delve deeper into the how’s, why’s, and

what’s of addiction, the devastation it brings to the

families of the abused, and how to deal with it in a

sustained manner. Myers believes this initiative

helped him contribute in the greater good of the

society and he also considers it an

achievement to cherish. Moreover, he also

wishes to write further books and is also

hoping to expand podcasts and videos to

offer additional support and guidance to

those who could benefit from it.

Obstacles

Quite unusual is his source of motivation,

which isn’t a person or a thing, or an

experience from the repressed childhood,

but his value system which enables him to

take informed decisions, endure through this

difficult, ever changing business. He told The

Tycoon Magazine That most of his revenue

comes from insurance, and insurance industry

is dynamic, which prevents him from creating

long term therapeutic marks in the counseling

industry.

Advice to the budding Entrepreneurs

When asked for his advice, and insight for the

budding entrepreneurs, he said “It is not easy

being in your own business. Not everyone will

have the temperament and patience to have your

own business. It is essential to have a sound

support system. My family’s support (which

was huge) has been helpful. I have also

received advice from many

different professionals, both in

and outside of my

profession. This advice has

been tremendously useful

to me. Do not be afraid

of reaching out for help

and direction.”

Hence it is imperative

to reach out for help

and direction,

whether it is an issue

pertaining to your

life, career or your

mental health.

41

October 2020

Dr. Mukesh Aghi

Transparent, passionate, and humble leader

Dr. Mukesh Aghi has over 30 years’

experience leading complex operations at large

global corporations, from enterprise software

maker JD Edwards to IT giants IBM and Steria,

across geographies as diverse as Japan,

Singapore, India, the US, and Europe. He

founded the US-India Strategic Partnership

Forum to cast sight on matters beyond trade

between the two countries— the ties between the

two nations can and should extend to

sustainability, security, innovation, and

entrepreneurship.

As the only independent not-for-profit

institution dedicated to strengthening the

U.S.-India partnership in Washington,

D.C. and in New Delhi, USISPF is the

trusted partner for businesses, non-profit

organizations, the diaspora, and the

government of India and the United

States. USISPF builds,

enables, advocates, facilitates, and

guides partnerships between the two

countries by providing a platform for all

stakeholders to come together in new ways

that will create meaningful opportunities

with the power to change the lives of

citizens in both countries.

USISPF has six areas of work:

Business Policy Advocacy

USISPF assists its member companies in

engaging with federal and state governments on

policy advocacy to strengthen the economic and

commercial partnership between the two

countries.

Connecting businesses and governments

USISPF provides its member companies a

platform to work together and to track

opportunities at the state and federal level.

USISPF also drives deeper collaboration by

facilitating introductions between government

entities and businesses.

42

October 2020

Strategic Engagement

USISPF helps business, government, and other

stakeholders engage in public-private

partnerships that strengthen the U.S.-India

strategic partnership such as that in the allimportant

Indo-Pacific region. It works to

deepen the role of both nations in tackling

global and regional challenges through themebased

research and knowledge sharing.

Legislative Affairs

USISPF facilitates engagement between its

member companies and the legislative branches

in both countries through frequent structured

dialogues with U.S. Members of Congress and

with Members of Parliament in India.

Inclusive Development

USISPF helps all stakeholders work

collaboratively towards inclusive development.

It helps companies identify opportunities to

aggregate their CSR investment with

government, non-profit, and private sector

partners, to bridge the gap between corporate

initiatives and government priorities.

Education, Innovation &

Entrepreneurship

USISPF believes education, innovation, and

entrepreneurship are key to fuelling job creation

in both India and the US With this in mind,

USISPF works with its members and partners to

create an environment with a robust IP

framework, to support cutting-edge innovation.

Additionally, its Startup Connect Program

provides an institutional support system for

Indian entrepreneurs who are exploring

opportunities in the US market.


USISPF is a niche organization, backed by a

powerful board comprising of CEOs of Fortune


500 companies that works with a laser focus on deepening partnership between the United States and

India. USISPF explores market opportunities for its member companies in India to highlight the

immense potential that India has for investors as well as for Indian companies that are eyeing the US

market.

USISPF covers every aspect of US-India relationship on a daily basis— from energy, defense, Pharma,

and digital economy. They have connections at the highest levels of governments in India and the

United States— their annual thought leadership summits have brought together Democrats and

Republicans – Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Jared Kushner, Wilbur Ross, India Caucus members to name a

few.

Future goals and advice to emerging entrepreneurs

USISPF forges solid partnerships with non-profits, start-ups, and education institutions. USISPF

estimates that U.S.-India bilateral trade is likely to grow from $143 billion to $238 billion by 2025.

This growth will occur if trade grows by 7.5% each year, as has been the trend for the last 7 years. The

estimate also projects that, by 2025, bilateral trade could range between $283 billion to $327 billion,

at an annual average growth rate of 10%-12.5% (as witnessed in 2017 and 2018). The assessment

underscores pathways for growth and economic opportunity in our bilateral ties by highlighting

current trends. Sectors such as defense trade, commercial aircrafts, oil and LNG, coal, machinery and

electronics are areas of potential growth in U.S. investments and commerce into India. Similarly,

Indian industry has an opportunity to promote the automotive, pharmaceuticals, seafood, IT and

travel services to the U.S. market.

Dr. Aghi’s advice for emerging entrepreneurs is pretty straightforward, “Stay focused and be nimble.”

43

October 2020


Paolo Rizzi Cofounder and the CTO of an

amazing project called minu. Has over 20 years

of professional experience in software

engineering, product development combined with

entrepreneurial spirit that led him to create

successful start-ups in 7 countries between

Europe and America, including business failures,

which gave him great lessons about how to take

today better organizational decisions.

He is a pioneer in the e-

Commerce industry began

his journey at the age of

mere 19 years when he

Co-founded his first

company which at its

peak came to be

listed on the Italian

Stock Exchange.

Additionally, in

1999 he introduced

the world’s first

mobile auction

platform for feature

phones and his

ecommerce

technology was

successfully

implemented by

such clients as A.C.

Milan and the

Vatican. He was

invited to Mexico in

2012 to develop a fraud

prevention system for

banks using ML for

prediction models. In 2013 he

was a cofounder of a social

44


Paolo Rizzi

A passionate and pragmatic Leader

Revolutionizing earned wage access in Mexico

entrepreneurship whose mission was to provide key

potential solutions for millions of Mexicans who

commute to and from work daily, this platform was

the first worldwide in geolocates the supply and

demand of employment opportunities throughout

Mexico. After few years of working in the corporate

environment, he decided to join the minu venture

with the vision of becoming a key component in the

solution of a new challenge of great social impact

that ultimately will improve the financial health of

millions of Mexicans.

About Minu

minu is an employee financial wellness company. It

solves employee’s lack of liquidity between

paychecks and reduces the level of indebtedness by

offering them instant and 24/7 access to their earned

wages when the employees need them, without

having to wait for payday. As a business model, they

apply fixed commission of 39 pesos per withdrawal

(it is neither credit nor loan), providing employees

the peace of mind that the money will be available

24/7 and instantly deposited to their payroll account

or card.

minu was born as in Mexico the 75 percent of

workers live from paycheck to paycheck and have no

savings, and 71 percent are stressed about their

financial climate waiting anxiously for their payday.

33 percent regularly get a loan to cover their

recurring expenses, 73 percent have requested a loan

from banks or relatives, which involves uncertainty

in response time and deficiencies, creating a vicious

circle due to an eternal debt with high bank rates.

Challenges

Paolo states that nowadays the software created for

all the devices that surround us impact radically our

45

October 2020

lives, the huge amount of data generated and

exchanged on a daily basis, has allowed

entrepreneurs to create extraordinary companies that

in conjunction with the Internet generates interesting

challenges,

He mentioned three of them.

I Data security

According to Paolo as a company minu need to take

care and protect the data of their users, which

contains personal and transactional information,

making all this very attractive for cyber attackers.

Maintaining the highest standards in terms of cyber

security is a great challenge for all technology

companies, especially when like minu, the services

you offer are Fintech related.

II Scalability

With the Internet, the possibility of being able to

reach millions of users brings with it the great

challenge of being able to scale the computing and

storage power of their systems. From the early days

of minu, this problem was very clear to him, it

allowed today to have a very elegant solution, which

is evolving continuously, where the exponential

growth of users does not represent a major concern

for their tech architecture.

III Talent

Paolo always likes to say that companies are made of

people, as last but not least, another very important

challenge is to find the best talent in order to plan,

execute and bring to life a product with an excellent

quality and prove its market fit.

In general, it has been very difficult to find very

talented team members, the search and selection


process can take weeks of work and dedication that

does not ensure the expected result, developing an

attractive compensation package is complex and

expensive, but today after a year and half of activities

minu is team of 40+ people, very talented, who have

managed to create a unique product in its market

niche in Mexico. They keep looking for the best

talent and this will probably always be one of their

biggest challenges.

Major achievements

“Being able to do what I really love and I`m

passionate about, is one of my major achievements, I

had the opportunity of creating startups over 7

different countries and today being with minu

contributing improving the financial health of

millions of Mexicans it's simply amazing!” Said

Paolo

In minu his experience helped in building one of the

best tech teams in a matter of weeks, having a

beautiful and scalable product in less than a month

and half, which allowed them to prove their market

fit and still maintain the flag of first movers in offer

this service of salary on demand.

Future Perspective

Paolo loves sharing experience with others through

mentorships, he try to help young entrepreneurs in

understanding how to shape their ideas in order to go

to market. One of his goals is being able to focus his

career in helping companies and individuals succeed.

As a company, he sees minu as one of the first

movements that made it possible to see what today is

known as salary day, everyday! (Salary on demand)

Comments on current industry scenario.

When The Tycoon Magazine contacted and asked

him about his opinion on current industy scenario

Paolo States that.

“Fintechs and all the startup world in México in

those last 5 years has been growing a lot, if we only

think that just 15 years ago in Mexico the

entrepreneurial ecosystem had no much visibility

from foreigner VC's, Angel Investors, Incubators, etc.

which made it very hard to raise moneys! Today

things changed a lot. minu achieved to close in its

first Q of activities a seed round of 6M USD from

VC's and Angels, many of our close friends of the

industry have been closing serie A, B and C of bigger

amounts that catalyzed an immediate interest from

VC's on a global scale which thanks to human talent,

46

October 2020

financing, performance and market reach converted

CDMX in an ideal place to host startup ecosystems

with high potential. During 2019 the Fintech sector

has already overcome the barrier of 400 startups,

Mexicans are great early adopters of those

innovative platforms as fintechs are seen as an

opportunity to reduce operating costs and maximize

efficiency over traditional banking. The Interbank

Electronic Payment System (SPEI), which is the

payment infrastructure of Banco de México has been

incredibly helpful as bank transfers are performed

within 30 seconds after the operation is confirmed.

Due to the Covid-19 the first semester of 2020 has

slowed down most of the economy, we know that the

impact of the pandemic will vary from country to

country and it will most likely increase poverty and

inequalities at a global scale, with minu we have the

mission of improving the financial health of millions

of Mexicans with the hope that employees can benefit

of our services in those difficult moments.”

Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs

Paolo Said that Being an entrepreneur and having the

opportunity to be actively involved in the startups

ecosystem, sharing stories, meeting incredible people

with bizarre ideas that will probably turn into great

ventures, represents a journey full of learning,

sacrifices, failures and great joys, it is a journey

where there will always be something to do! finding

the correct balance is the greatest recommendation I

can give, we must learn to live the journey and not

only think about the final destination, learn to listen

to people, motivate them and cultivate your passions.


October 2020


Robert Ancill

Always creating and always learning

Robert Ancill, the CEO of the Next Idea

group is a leading figure in the hospitality and

interior design industries. An authority of

emerging food trends, food service and design,

Robert is well known as one of America’s

leading Global Food and Restaurant

Consultants. His principles stand staunch as

pillars of creativity, first class client service, and

integrity. Robert built the Next Idea from a one

client agency to well-known international

boutique consulting group with a broad range of

small, medium and large clients and an enviable

project portfolio. The company split in 2016 and

operates consulting services under The Next

Idea, www.thenextidea.net and interior design

TNI Design, www.tnidesign.com.

Since 2002 The Next Idea Group has grown

into a well-known consulting and design brand

with multiple service companies covering

design, consulting and business services.

It is essentially a consulting agency specializing

in high energy, innovative international

restaurant concept development, interior design

and architecture, re-positioning, food trend

research forecasting, marketing and restaurant

franchising.

Leadership

Robert’s leadership has done a commendable

job, he believes in the strength of creativity and

always learning. When asked about his source of

motivation, he said “I think its just about the

enjoyment in seeing a customer enjoy something

I had a hand in creating – there is really nothing

more gratifying”. Robert has faced many

challenges through his journey. He believes that

Creative services is a business that is open to

interpretation, and subjected to multiple

opinions, therefore by presenting projects that

are often subjective in nature, provides the

unenviable challenge of engaging most, if not all,

at the same time.

Business Model

The Next Idea Group [TNI] is based in Los

Angeles and works across the world, specializing

in concept creation, development and

management everything from research, strategy,

brand and product development, franchising,

design, systems, operations, and

communication.

TNI has developed restaurant concepts in: USA,

Dubai & Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kuwait, Australia,

Philippines, Pakistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Saudi

Arabia, Bahrain, Taiwan, Lebanon, Afghanistan,

Nigeria, Mexico, China, Qatar, Oman, UK,

Bangladesh, and India.

TNI believes in distinguishing themselves from

their competitors by always beginning with the

end user. The Customer Experience, The

Employee Training Experience, and the Brand

Experience are given the upmost priority when

they approach the project. This has also led

them to open over 750 restaurants across the

US, Middle East, Asia and Europe, and develop

84 concepts.

The TNI team has consulted with some of the

world’s most eminent Chefs, and upscale

restaurant groups, in addition to working with

clients in: entertainment, casual dining, fast

casual dining, hotels, resorts, family

entertainment, and travel. In each project they

have been involved in all areas of the business,

and have delivered programs and plans that

have targeted the elevation of concept

positioning, product and menu, operating

standards, infrastructure, and overall quality.

Impact of Covid-19

The Covid-19 pandemic of course represented

an expansive impediment for most of us, and

has produced extraordinary challenges for

many businesses around the world. Robert

wasn’t holding back about the challenging

impact on The Next Idea Group which forms

one of the concentric circles around the

Hospitality and Restaurant Industry.

48

October 2020


globalrestaurantconsultant.com

Robert states:

“The US restaurant industry reacted extremely

supportively to the government’s requested /

mandated closures. This is because the industry

is inherently an industry of servants

who believe in the collective effort to serve the

community at any cost. Unsurprisingly, the

restaurant and food service industry has

been one of hardest hit from the

shutdown with layoffs and furloughs

expected to reach 5-7 million, a little shy

of half the industry workforce. Even

when the shelter-in-place period

concludes, there can be no expectation

that there will be a miraculous

comeback. “

The virus is here to stay, consequently

the hospitality industry will struggle and

face adversarial conditions in the short

term. However this is an industry of

innovation and persistence, therefore in

time, as it re-aligns itself to the new

markets, it will again thrive.

Robert has also written a book ‘Post

Covid 19 Reboot’

https://www.postcovid19reboot.com/ to

assist business and the industry in the new

precautionary measures required to keep

employees and customers safe, as well as

adapt to the new consumer mindset formed

by the unique events of 202 cauldron0.

Words of Wisdom

When we asked for his advice for entrepreneurs,

his words of wisdom were different than most,

he replied “I am regularly asked this question

and I always struggle to answer given every

entrepreneur has their own story, and set of

values. I think, from my perspective I would

advise to listen to Charles Darwin who said; ‘It

is not the strongest of the species that survives,

nor the most intelligent that survives. It

is the one that is most adaptable to change’

“From my own experience I have learned

from my mistakes and adapted to new

environments and conditions. I

think we are always learning,

therefore my advice is to

always be open minded,

and it really is OK to

be wrong!”

49

October 2020

Robert Knop

Helping companies avoid

becoming the next Sears

Robert Knop, Chief Executive Officer of Assist

you today ( http://assistyoutoday.com/) brings

sales and marketing programs into the 21st

century. What does that mean? Well, think less

cold calling, blast emailing and gut-based

decision-making, and more data driven decisionmaking

and usage of modern tools like digital,

mobile, and social media.

Assist You Today focuses on sales, marketing,

and social media consulting with their four main

areas of focus being strategy, sales enablement/

training, content, and fractional resources.

They've had the “great blessing” as Robert says of

working for Fortune 100s, startups and mom and

pop shops, B2B and B2C companies,agencies and

corporations. In addition,they’ve helped build

marketing and social programs from scratch,

made good programs great and setup great

programs for long-term success, and that unique

background and experience for differentiating

them from peers.


Their journey to excellence was not immediate;

Robert’s first big challenge was finding clients

when he started out with his current business.

He had been hearing for years that peers wished

he worked for his own company (so they could

hire him!). So, when he opened his own shop, he

thought leads would just roll in, but he forgot

that it takes time to build a business case

internally, get on the roadmap and find budget—

his fault he says for not building a pipeline ahead

of time.

Yet every year since launch, Assist You Today

has dramatically grown their business, “which

means we can help more people,” Robert says

“and that’s the biggest achievement I feel I can

50

October 2020

achieve in business — helping as many people

as possible.”

Future goals

“The world is going to change so much in the next

10 years.” Robert states. He believes most of the

US, for example, will spend 90% of their day at

home — working remotely, online learning, and

with delivery of everything. As per Robert, the

key to be successful in this future world is to keep

an open mind, constantly be learning and stay on

top of the latest innovations, and test, learn and

optimize to grow both as a person and as a

business.

His future goal is to simply be happy (“I know it

sounds corny, but it’s true!” he says), and what

makes him happy is doing what he loves: helping

people and spending time with his family (And

the occasional beer while watching a soccer game

on TV). He is doing all of that now, so you could

say he has already accomplished his career goals!

Long-term, he wants to get more involved with

philanthropy. He has worked with many non

profits over the years, wants to work with

more, and be an executive director of a large

charity at some point.

Advice to the budding entrepreneurs

His words of wisdom for the emerging

entrepreneurs are,

“Before you start your business, establish a

large network.


This network is the foundation that you will

utilize to get most of your business, especially

early on.

Also, building a strong personal brand is so

important to success today. A big part of that

is social media, and your profile looks like on

channels like LinkedIn (as looking you up

there or on Google is one of the first things

prospects will do when you reach out).

Thus, you need to write your LinkedIn

profile from the perspective of your

target audience –what would they

want to see that would make them

accept your invitation to connect or

meeting invite – include THAT. Also,

well in advance of starting your

company, distribute value-adding

content to both build a following

and be known as an expert in

your industry.

As you get close to launching

your new company, talk to people

in your industry that you trust

about your business model,

products/services, and pricing.

When I launched, I reached out to

someone who did what I did and

two senior marketing leaders in

roles that I would be targeting. I

walked them through front-to-back

what I was offering, how it worked,

the deliverables and how much it

would cost.

All three offered great advice on all

fronts and really set me up for success

(and two even ended up being clients!) So,

take the time to reach out to your trusted

network and target audience ahead of

time!”

Sandeep Kochhar

A failure ant who never gives up

My strongest belief in life is that, I can be

better tomorrow than I am today. The stories I

write, the opportunity to be able to impact lives,

my inner drive that inspires me to write & my

feelings for wanting to help as many people as I

can in this world, is clearly based on the premise

that I can aid the journey of individuals to be

better versions every single day" in Sandeep’s

words.

Sandeep Kochhar, Destiny’s favourite child was a

young bright student, caught in the compliance

of life, decided to take up Science, then pursued

Engineering & joined a Software Company. He

kept running this logic Vs heart racket for over 15

years till one day something changed within him.

It was like an Aha moment of his inner compass

changing itself. He realized he had had enough,

he understood he had become a sheer money

making machine & was not enjoying what he was

doing. One sunshine fine day, this heartless

running came to a heartening end & he hung his

boots.

A passionate Rumi (a famous philosopher &

poet) fan, Sandeep believes in this Rumi saying

that ‘as you start to walk out on the way, the way

appears’. This adage opened his eyes to a new

perspective which lead him to his current

amazing precious life & he continues to learn,

evolve & discover himself. For the first time in his

life, he decided to follow his heart & move away

from thinking to doing. His initial years of selfdiscovery

once he hung his boots & bid his byes

to the Corporate world, were very hard, he was

yet to find his Mojo & his hardships continued to

plague him. It was as though the universe was

urging him to look within & continue chipping

away.

He tried his hand at a couple of start-ups, which

failed miserably; in the bargain he lost tender 1.5

years & some money. Yet another deep thinking

day, while he was sitting in the Drawing room of

52 October 2020

his home, reflecting on the recent events, a

beautiful positive story of his life began to take

shape in his heart. He learnt the art of

manifestation & willing his dreams.

He says ‘As a kid I always dreamt of being a Story

Teller. Stories fascinated me, enticed me, drew

me to a beautiful world of my own; they took me

to another dimension where everything seemed

possible’. He adds ‘I was at that stage then, when

for once in my life I was simply trying to be

myself, not trying to be anyone else. I think this

realization birthed a new me, a real me. I refused

to be in the rat race anymore’.

He followed DOTS - DO ONE THING SURELY.

Here are 5 simple steps he ardently followed:

1. Do One Thing for an Hour

2. Do One Thing for a Day

3. Do One Thing for a Week

4. Do One Thing for a Month

5. Do One Thing for a Year

He then focused on writing for the next 2.5 years

with all his heart, passion, authenticity &

complete openness. He started with writing

stories on his experiences, banishing all his fears,

his needs for validation & acceptance from the

world. He just wrote for the life of it. He just

wrote his heart out. After writing around 100

stories, he never looked back. He succeeded

immensely as he simply continued to do what he

enjoyed most, writing. He has now crossed

150Million views & is recognised by LinkedIn as

Top Voices 2019: India. He has over 387,000

followers for more than 1500 stories that he has

accomplished now. He is moving on to writing

his very own book now. His dream come true is

BlewMinds Consulting (www.blewminds.com),

which he is living right now.

Sandeep often remembers that magical decisive

moment where, after 15 years of the corporate rat

race, he walked out of a certain abusive meeting


deciding that this is it, he is resigning. Years after

that, he continued to hustle. He just kept going

like the deaf frog trying to climb the tree with

everyone yelling; ‘You will fail, you will fall, don’t

do this’. Through his adversities, breaking myths,

learning not to rest on his past laurels, he learnt

the beautiful belief ‘Think Big but Act Small’.

His dream came true when he started BlewMinds

Consulting along with his CoFounder,

Vishwapriya Kochhar. BlewMinds was simply

born out of a compelling revolutionary need to

enable Organizations & Individuals towards

sustainable growth & progress, by creating

content, weaving heartfelt passionate stories. His

53

October 2020

own career struggles, being written off as a loser,

wanting to aid people to break out of their

baggage, were the main premise on which

BlewMinds’ powerful framework of aiding

individuals & organizations towards

transformation, was rested.

BlewMinds is a full services unique StoryTelling

organization that constantly aims to focus on

learning & experimenting. While this meant

growth, it also meant hardships as they faced a

lot of challenges across the life cycle. Luckily,

they have a great culture, philosophy, learning

agility & a wonderful bunch of people in their


team, all wanting to move towards

transformation, positivity at work & passion to

make it better than the best. They have never run

away from any roadblocks, difficulties or

struggles. They have surged together every single

moment & waded through trying situations.

He says, ‘As a team of multidisciplinary,

intelligent, passionate & good human beings

working together, we aspire to fulfill our purpose

towards transforming people & businesses,

helping others, enabling their progress &

creating equal opportunities. We wish to change

the paradigm that – nice guys finish last’. He

adds, ‘I strongly believe businesses can be

profitable the right way, the humane way & the

fair way too.’ Average age for his organization is

around 24 years today & is more than 50%

women. From hiring in the Diversity space

54 October 2020

enabling LGBTQ+ communities, Sensitivity

Training in areas of unconscious bias, to

Coaching & enabling ‘diverse Individuals’,

Human Resources & Business Consulting,

Sandeep’s enthusiastic Squad breathes it all.

BlewMinds works with their Global & Domestic

clients in creating endless possibilities of growth

by overcoming setbacks & using adversities as

stepping up challenges to rise like the proverbial

phoenix. They strongly believe in the theme of

‘Believe, Be & Beyond’. Started in the year 2016,

today BlewMinds is engaging with over 150

clients, across industries & geographies, with a

spread of intelligent much required services at

different levels & domains. StoryTelling is being

used as a means rather than an end, to provide

solutions to business & individual problems. For


BlewMinds, StoryTelling is a powerful tool for

change, growth & evolution.

Their services include: Corporate StoryTelling,

Executive & Diversity Hiring, Business Coaching,

Human Resource Consulting, Influencer

Marketing, Brand Communications, Leadership

Consulting, Management Consulting, Public

Relations & Thought Leadership. Their clients

range from established global conglomerates to

Start-ups all over the world. They work in the

B2B, B2C & also the B2E space with close to 100

colleges & universities across India to transform

more than Million lives. Their B2C segment

facilitates individuals towards becoming their

next best versions. They have won several

contracts where leading Consulting companies

were competing.

They strongly give back to the community &

indulge in giving freely to all needy individuals.

Like they say ‘We do not grow, when things are

easy’, BlewMinds grew when they looked at their

fears in the face & embraced approaching

challenges with all gusto. Sandeep Kochhar is

also the recipient of World’s Best Story Teller

Award & has also been a TEDx speaker. He

humbly says ‘The highest achievement in my life

has been my spiritual transformational journey;

awakening from a Techie, numeric/logiccentered

bore to a more Emotionally Intelligent,

spiritually connected Coach, Mentor & avid

Learner; this has helped me in Touching &

Transforming over 1Million lives directly & over

50Million lives indirectly & I hope to continue

counting. BlewMinds is like a butterfly which has

grown out of its cocoon & has started its journey

3.5 years ago. We birth a new self every single day

& die a bit every single day. This ability to flow,

adapt & be easy about ourselves while being

serious about our work, keeps us going’.

STICK: Once I picked something, I was unable to

STICK to it, I would give up soon. There was also

FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. Greed played out.

Sticking to one thing was boring for an

indisciplined me. Progress was slow, I wanted

instant results. A common reason, why most

entrepreneurs give up after failing once.

In the last 4.5 years, he says he learnt his lessons

the hard way. He advocates:

1. PICK what interests you. PICK where your

Strength lies. Start from anywhere & move

forward. We all need a starting point. Drop your

baggage, move an inch every single day, keep

moving, keep going.

2. But then STICK to it even if you fail. DOTS (Do

One Thing Surely), keep learning from every

failure, build your growth path, persevere, what

others think of you does not matter, trust, keep

working on yourself, small baby steps.

Sometimes success may come in disguises you

cannot imagine. Also, the so called wrong

choices, may at times, lead us to our right

choices. It is all about persistence, our desire &

willingness to adapt to the changes around us.

His mantra,

Keep at it, let the world say what it wants to.

Keep at it, let your failures not determine your

course.

Keep at it, let yourself experiment, falter & rise

again.

Keep at it. Let sunshine arrive after sunset.

Keep at it. Let yourself flow, meander, lose & find

your path again.

Keep at it.

When asked what his advice would be to

emerging entrepreneurs, Sandeep narrated his

’PICK & STICK’ Story. In his own words:

PICK: I was confused what to PICK in life,

choices & confusions. There was no clarity. My

mind wanted me to pick all, there was greed.

There was also fear, as to which one to pick. What

if I fail? What if I lose? I wanted to pick the best

of all given choices. It was only later, that I learnt

there is no best choice. It is all meant to be, it is

all contextual.

55

October 2020


Tony Malz

Helping billions of people

achieving their dreams

Sizigi was founded at the end of 2019 and has

already accomplished so much

Tony Malz Founder and CEO of Sizigi was

born and raised in San Diego.

In 2000 He became a first-generation college

graduate ready to conquer the world.

But the journey was not easy. His first job was

working in the stock market during its heyday.

Suddenly, the dotcom bubble burst with so

many people losing everything. Needing a

change, Tony went back to San Diego State

University and received MBA. After receiving his

MBA He was very optimistic that it would be

much easier to find a better job for him this time

around. But, somehow, it took him longer and

he was making the same salary as before.

After that, he was fortunate to have a pretty

successful career at a couple of large software

companies. But then in 2019, he unexpectedly

found himself having to look for a job.

Frustrated with the resume, job application and

interview process, He launched Sizigi to help

billions of people.

About Sizigi

Sizigi is a FREE ePortfolio platform innovating

the hiring process. Professionals and students

are creating digital content, configuring and

streaming custom ePortfolios, and receiving

intelligence on user engagement.

Sizing is offering Companies a richer interview

experience, making smarter hiring decisions,

and executing on their diversity and inclusion

strategies.

Sizigi’s Journey

“It has always been the task of the next

generation to provoke change” - Ludwig

Von Mises

While the demand for digital transformation is

ever increasing, changing consumer behavior

takes time. For example, listening to music

(cassettes >iTunes), watching movies

(VHS>Netflix) and sharing pictures

(film>Instagram).

The good news is that the resume is a pain point

for many. Though Millennials brought changes

to the work environment and marketplace, Gen

Z brings an era of disruption! Since they are

anything but strangers to technology, Gen Z

views it as a necessity for their career. And Sizigi

is quickly becoming their number one tool in the

job application process.

• Sizigi is helping thousands of people create

ePortfolios to stand out from the crowd so

they can get hired

• It was recognized as one of the Best

Companies to Watch in San Diego. Named

alongside so many notable companies

including Sendlane, Measurabl and Cardea.

• Sizigi platform had great success in the

college circuit including with the University

of California, San Diego. This partnership

has led to the development of Project

Emerge, a program powered by Sizigi, the

UCSD Career Center, and local businesses.

This framework is being replicated with

other universities and businesses across the

U.S.

• Sizigi has also partnered with many

businesses in which their feedback has been

tremendous.

Future Goals

56

October 2020


When The Tycoon Magazine contacted

Tony Malz and asked him about

Current industry scenario, his future

goals and aspirations.

He said,

“We have much bigger aspirations than

just replacing the antiquated resume.

My daughter recently expressed a lot of

curiosity about my college and

professional experiences.

Unfortunately, I could only show her

my resume and LinkedIn profile.

The wonderful thing is that Sizigi

provides a platform for everyone to

capture, share and reflect on their

educational and professional

moments. Ultimately, a place where

one can reflect and be proud of how

much they have accomplished over

their lifetime”

2020 has been transformative; COVID-

19, social injustices, record

unemployment and millions of

internships cancelled. These hardships

have driven students, professionals,

universities and companies to seek

change in the traditional paper resume.

As a result, we are seeing tremendous

traction in our platform as it empowers

people and promotes diversity.

His Advice to Budding

Entrepreneurs.

I have learned more over the last year

as an entrepreneur compared to my

two decades as an employee.

1. Listen to your customer’s pain

points, it is fine to pivot.

2. Determine a repeatable sales

motion that can quickly scale.

3. Surround yourself with the

best and most passionate

team. And empower them.

4. It is extremely valuable to have

a wonderful support system of

family and friends.

5. Enjoy the journey

With these five things, unprecedented

greatness can be achieved. .

57

October 2020


Vincent Champain, SEVP, Chief Digital Officer

and member of the Executive Committee, at

Framatome which is an international leader in

nuclear energy. As a company, they are

recognised for their innovative solutions and valueadded

technologies for the global nuclear fleet.

With worldwide expertise and a proven track

record for reliability and performance, their team

designs, services and installs components, fuel and

instrumentation and control systems for nuclear

power plants. They have more than 14,000

employees working every day to help their

customers supply cleaner, safer and more

economical low-carbon energy.

Inception

He is an engineer at heart – a

problem solver who loves to fix

things and resolve technical

challenges. He graduated from

École Polytechnique, France,

with a degree in computer

science and statistics. His

career began in the public

sector holding various

Ministry positions that led

to supporting the Ministry

of Secretary of State in

digital, foresight and

public policy. His passion

for technology and data

analytics is the

foundation of his career.

He finds that his skill to

apply data analytics to


Vincent Champain

An entrepreneur who leads large organisations in

Transformations

address quality and performance challenges

offers the greatest impact to the companies he

serves. He brought these skills to General

Electric (GE) in his role leading GE Digital

Services Europe, and now in his role as Chief

Digital Officer and member of the Executive

Committee of Framatome.

Early in his career, he observed great lean

manufacturing experts as they sought to

minimise waste, maximise productivity and

improve quality. They adopted a “paper-andpencil”

approach, preferring non-technological

solutions to adapt their manufacturing and

operational processes. They thought that

traditional digital technologies were too complex

and rigid, and that they were implemented in a

way that limited the teams’ flexibility to be more

efficient.

Today’s technologies are much more agile and

user centric. There are many opportunities where

digital technologies can be leveraged to improve

performance and make “digital lean” possible.

This requires implementing digital solutions

with a lean mindset and keeping all this in mind,

they aim to continue to grow and reach greater

heights.

Struggles and source of motivation

The nuclear energy industry has incredibly high

quality and technical standards, and it takes

great pride in the safety and security of its people

and operations. As a highly regulated industry,

technological advancements and modernisations

require rigour with no room for error. So when it

comes to digital transformation, there are

opportunities for continuous improvements, but

vigilance in execution and reliability is absolutely

critical.

From his perspective, if you want to do big things

with technology you need to make it as simple as

you can for your customers – even if the

technology itself requires a lot of expertise. They

believe their work should be executed flawlessly

and subsequently ensure added value for their

customers and unparalleled quality in everything

they do.

His motivation stems from his desire to build an

organization that makes a difference.

Transforming operational processes and

integrating digital solutions requires personal

drive, and more importantly, a strong and

dedicated team to make the transformation a

reality.

Future goals and advice to the youth

At Framatome, they maintain a long-term

outlook for every aspect of their business,

weighing the risks and benefits of every decision.

They place safety and customer relationships

first, knowing that their success depends on their

ability to help their customers succeed – both

today and in the future. They prepare for the

future each day by developing the innovations of

tomorrow and encouraging their colleagues to

grow and prosper.

Addressing the demand for digital solutions is

one of their key priorities. Digital solutions are

critical components in their goal to provide highperforming

technologies that support the safe

and competitive operation of nuclear power

plants worldwide.

When asked for his advice, and insight for the

budding entrepreneurs, he said “The word

entrepreneur is a French word derived from

“entre” and “prendre,” which mean “between”

and “catching.” This is what entrepreneurship is

all about. First, seeing opportunities that are

hidden “between” the lines, and then “catching”

those opportunities for continued growth and

development.

59

October 2020


Framatome is an international leader in nuclear energy

recognized for its innovative solutions and value added

technologies for the global nuclear fleet.

With worldwide expertise and a proven track record for

reliability andperformance,thecompanydesigns,services

and installs components, fuel, and instrumentation and

control systems for nuclear power plants.

Its more than 14,000 employees work every day to help

Framatome’s customers supply ever cleaner, safer and

more economical low-carbon energy.

www.framatome.com

Inspirational-Business-Leadres-To-Watch-2020

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