Technology

BTU #73 - Sarah Travaglio: Army to Asurion, Accenture, and LinkedIn

BTU #73 - Sarah Travaglio: Army to Asurion, Accenture, and LinkedIn

Sarah works at LinkedIn, where she is the Senior Manager, Head of Media Account Management for the Americas. She started out at West Point, after which she served in the Army for five years as a Company Commander and Assistant Battalion Operation Officer. While on active duty she obtained her Masters in Human Relations from the University of Oklahoma, and after her transition from the Army she worked at Asurion in Customer Experience positions, before moving on to Accenture. She then moved to LinkedIn, where she has worked for the last three years.

BTU #69 - Alex Martin: Marine to Global Entrepreneur at AC Global Risk

[smart_track_player url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/beyondtheuniform/alex_martin.mp3" title="BTU #69 - Alex Martin: Marine to Global Entrepreneur at AC Global Risk" color="#F1F1F1" background="#A8DB32" social_linkedin="true" ]

“At this point, I don't think I really could have a boundary [between professional and personal life]. It's not about a forty-hour work week, and being able to accomplish everything in forty hours; I get that. It's about constantly thinking about the product, thinking about the customers we have and the customers we want, where we're going to go and what the next steps are. I just can't turn it off: I dream about it, I think about it every minute, and there is no separation. Maybe that's unhealthy and a bad thing, but at this point if no one is as fanatically excited and obsessed with the product we're trying to create than the founders then I don't think it can work at this stage." – Alex Martin

Alex Martin is the CEO & Co-Founder of AC Global Risk, a company that creates solutions to transform how companies & governments vet, screen and assess internal and external human-based risk. Alex started out at the Naval Academy and served in the Marine Corps for seven years as a Infantry & Ground Reconnaissance Officer. After his transition from the Marines he founded Skye Maritime - maritime security services to commercial shipping - as well as the Kenya Team Leader for the non-profit, Nuru International. Alex is currently a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves.

The top three reasons to listen to this episode are:

  1. Service - Alex has continued to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves, he worked in Kenya with the organization Nuru helping local farmers grow their income, and his own company - AC Global Risk - has a service element as well. He’s a great role model for keeping service an active component in his life, and talks about how to serve as a for-profit venture
  2. Startups - Alex started his first company straight of the Marine Corps and it failed. He learned from it, and is on his second company, AC Global Risk. He is very honest and balanced in this interview about failure, about mistakes, and how these are essential for entrepreneurs
  3. Stanford Ignite - Alex goes in depth on the Stanford Ignite program as well as many other really valuable resources for those of you interested in startups

Our Sponsor

Audible is offering one FREE audio book to Beyond the Uniform listeners. You can claim this offer here, and see a list of books recommended by my guests at BeyondTheUniform.io/books

Selected Links

Show Notes

  • 2:08 - Alex's background
  • 2:50 - Alex's decision to transition from the Marine Corps to a civilian career
  • 3:39 - Alex's experience being part of the Reserves and how it has impacted his civilian career
  • 5:32 - Alex's experience as part of the Stanford Ignite program and how this impacted his entrepreneurial experience
  • 7:49 - An overview of Stanford Ignite as a program for veterans
  • 10:22 - Alex's experience at Nuru International
  • 15:15 - The genesis of Alex's second company, AC Global Risk
  • 17:40- An overview of AC Global Risk
  • 19:21  - What Alex's day-to-day life looks like as the CEO of AC Global Risk
  • 21:11 - Alex's lifestyle as an entrepreneur married to another entrepreneur
  • 24:27 - How long it took Alex to be able to pay himself as salary while he was starting his own company
  • 28:43 - Alex's biggest mistake in starting his own company and what he learned from it
  • 33:03 - Alex's team size at AC Global Risk and what his team looks like
  • 34:22 - Advice for any veteran thinking of starting their own company
  • 35:36 - Resources Alex would recommend to any veteran thinking of starting their own company
  • 37:53 - Advice for veterans seeking to raising capital for their own company, and the fundraising experience
  • 43:40 - Habits that Alex had to break when he left the military in order to be successful in his civilian career
  • 45:55 - Other mistakes that Alex made since departing the military and what he learned from them
  • 48:47 - Final words of wisdom for veterans of the Armed Forces

BTU #67 Don Faul: A Leading Veteran in Silicon Valley (Facebook, Google, Pinterest, and more)

BTU #67 Don Faul: A Leading Veteran in Silicon Valley (Facebook, Google, Pinterest, and more)

Don is the CEO at Athos, a company that offers a wearable technology that is fully integrated in workout clothing, and can track your muscle groups, heart rate, breathing level and more. They have raised over $50M in funding since their founding 4 years ago. Don started out at the Naval Academy, after which he served for five years as an Marine Corps as part of the Force Recon. After his transition out of the Marines, he went to Stanford Business School, after which he joined Google in 206 as a Manager of Online Sales and Operations. Two years later, he joined Facebook as the VP of Online Operations, and four years after that Pinterest as the Head of Operations. He serves on the Board of Nuru international, which listeners may remember from Episode #68 with Nuru’s founder, Jake Harriman.

BTU #65 - Mark Frank: Army to Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Four Companies

BTU #65 - Mark Frank: Army to Serial Entrepreneur and Founder of Four Companies

Mark Frank is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sondermind, a startup that is focused on making mental health services more accessible and accepted for everyone. He started out West Point and served as an Logistics Officer in the Army for five years. After the Army, Mark earned both his MBA and Masters of Engineering Management at Northwestern University. After grad school, he an Associate Investment Banker at Morgan Stanley for two years before serving as Founder & CEO at Next Oncology. After six years at Next Oncology, he sold the company in a deal that brought a 12X return to investors. In addition to founding Sondermind and Next Oncology, Mark has also started SafeImageMD and TermScout, as well as served as the Managing Director of the investment company, Goldwing Capital.

BTU #57 - Alex Pedersen: Air Force to Google to Employee #5 at a Startup

BTU #57 - Alex Pedersen: Air Force to Google to Employee #5 at a Startup

Alex Pedersen is the COO of POLCO - an early stage startup that is a political participation platform for local governments. He started out at the Air Force Academy, after which he received his Masters of Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He served for seven years as an Air Force Officer, before transitioning directly to Google where he worked on Strategy, Planning & Analysis.

BTU #55 - Ashley Snyder: Air Force Medical Services corps to Google operations

BTU #55 - Ashley Snyder: Air Force Medical Services corps to Google operations

Ashley Snyder is the Global Process Manager, Finance Operations at Google. She started out at the US Air Force Academy, where she studied Operations Research and was a Distinguished Grad. After the Air Force Academy she went on to MIT, where she earned her Masters in Operations Research, while also serving at Draper Laboratories as a Operations Research Analyst. She then served for five years in the Air Force in a variety of capacities as part of the Medical Services corps, including positions as

BTU #53 - Ben Vickery: Marine Corps Sergeant to Google Finance

BTU #53 - Ben Vickery: Marine Corps Sergeant to Google Finance

Ben Vickery works at Google as a Finance Associate. He is also pursuing his MBA at Berkeley while full time at Google. He started out as Sergeant in the Marine Corps and served for nearly five years, including time as an Afghan Pashto Cryptologic Linguist at 1st Radio Battalion. After the Marines, he went to Columbia University and then on to Google. He also works as an Associate Instructor at Four Block, an organization that equips high potential veterans to achieve great careers at our nation’s top companies.

BTU #47 - Tom Pae: Army to LinkedIn & Slack

BTU #47 - Tom Pae: Army to LinkedIn & Slack

Tom Pae is a Sales Enablement Manager at Slack - one of the fastest growing startups in San Francisco, who has raised $540M in funding. He started out at West Point, and served in the Army for over seven years as an Armor & Military Intelligence Officer. When he left the Army he went to Columbia Business School. After that, he joined LinkedIn - first as a Sales Operations Manager and then as a Senior Learning Technology Strategist. He is married to fellow Army veteran, RaeAnne Pae, who I interviewed in Episode 26.

BTU #44 - Sam Bond: Bain, Coca-Cola, and General Manager at Lyft

“When I left Bain I reached out to a variety of folks… to explore what was out there. I kept in touch with those folks, and made a point to regularly get back in touch with people and see what they’re up to. It was after a meeting like that - we grabbed coffee and didn’t think much of it at the time, but he called me a few weeks later to let me know that Lyft was starting up in Atlanta. It was basically a lightening bolt that made me aware. It appeared and it appeared because I made contacts and maintained them." – Sam Bond

Sam Bond is a General Manager at Lyft - a company most listeners have probably used for their app which makes it simple for you to find a ride whenever you need one. Although only four years old, Lyft has raised $2B in funding, and has nearly 6k employees listed on LinkedIn. Sam started out at Princeton University and then served as an officer in the Marine Corps for 4 years. After his service, he attended the University of Virginia - Darden Graduate School of Business. He worked in consulting at Bain & Company as a Consultant and then Case Team Leader. He also worked at the Coca-Cola Company - first as a Director Supply Chain Strategy and then as a Group Director of Strategy and Portfolio Management.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • An overview of the General Manager position at Lyft
  • Indications that a veteran may enjoy the role of General Manager, and indications that it might not be a good fit for them
  • What it's like to work at an explosively growing startup (and the pros and cons of joining a company on an exponential growth path)
  • An overview of entry level positions at Coca-Cola for a newly transitioned veteran
  • How Sam looks back on his journey to a role of General Manager
  • And much, much more…

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Links

  • The ride sharing service, Lyft

Show Notes

  • 2:23 - Sam's background
  • 3:27 - An overview of the General Manager position at Lyft
  • 7:27 - Sam's day-to-day life at Lyft
  • 11:58 - Indications that a veteran may enjoy the role of General Manager, and indications that it might not be a good fit for them
  • 15:00 - What it's like to work at an explosively growing startup (and the pros and cons of joining a company on an exponential growth path)
  • 19:20 - Sam's decision to leave the Marine Corps
  • 22:05 - Sam's view on an MBA and how essential it is to a veteran aspiring to a General Manager role
  • 24:04 - How Sam decided to enter Management Consulting at Bain & Company
  • 26:25 - Some of the skills that Sam learned at Bain that have helped him in his role as General Manager
  • 29:45 - How Sam's lifestyle changed between a Consultant to a Case Team Leader
  • 31:50 - After three years, how Sam transitioned from Bain & Company to Coca-Cola
  • 34:50 - An overview of Sam's roles at Coca-Cola
  • 38:20 - An overview of entry level positions at Coca-Cola for a newly transitioned veteran
  • 41:10 - How Sam transitioned from Coca-Cola to Lyft
  • 47:32 - How Sam looks back on his journey to a role of General Manager
  • 50:00 - How leadership outside of the military differs from leadership within the military
  • 52:20 - Final words of wisdom from Sam

BTU #43 - Todd Pringle: General Manager at Stitcher, and a history of Product Management

“Many Product Managers - most of them, actually - don't have anyone directly working for them. They work with everybody and yet are the owner - and that's a really interesting role. One of the things that I found useful in the military that I translated was: I found - personally - that getting things done, even in the military where it is more hierarchical, that treating people as peers and as experts in their area; that motivating them to get things done without using your direct authority over them was the best way to get things done. And that skill set really translates well to Product Management. " – Todd Pringle

Todd Pringle General Manager and Vice President of Product at Stitcher - the podcasting app that many of you are use to listen to this podcast, and was acquired by Midroll. Todd started out at UCLA, after which he served in the Navy for 4 years as part of the Supply Corps. After his transition out of the military, Todd attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business. After this he held a variety of Product Management roles - at Netscape and AOL in the early 2000s, and then eBay, AirPlay and then a company called Yoono. Todd also holds two US Patents

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • An overview of the role of General Manager & VP of Product
  • How the role of Product Manager has changed over the last 15 years
  • How Todd would approach the Product Manager role if he were starting over again today
  • Indications that you may enjoy Product Management, and signs you might dislike it
  • An overview of Todd's career in Product Management since business school
  • Advice on the decision between joining a startup vs. a more established company
  • Things you can do right now to start building a skill set to be a Product Manager
  • And much, much more…

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Links

  • Todd's Company - Stitcher - is my favorite app for listening to podcasts

Show Notes

  • 2:24 - Todd's background
  • 3:26 - An overview of the role of General Manager & VP of Product
  • 5:39 - The General Manger role on a day-to-day basis
  • 7:12 - What drew Todd to the Product Manager role after business school
  • 11:00 - How the role of Product Manager has changed over the last 15 years
  • 12:45 - How Todd would approach the Product Manager role if he were starting over again today
  • 15:12 - Indications that you may enjoy Product Management, and signs you might dislike it
  • 17:40 - How leadership has differed outside of the military vs. inside the military
  • 19:15 - An overview of Todd's career in Product Management since business school
  • 24:18 - Advice on the decision between joining a startup vs. a more established company
  • 27:52 - Things you can do right now to start building a skill set to be a Product Manager
  • 29:55 - Habits that have helped - and hurt - veterans in the civilian world
  • 33:29 - How to know when to move on from one company - or role - to the next
  • 36:36 - How Todd approached the Reserves
  • 39:09 - An overview of Todd's company, Stitcher
  • 43:11 - Some of Todd's favorite podcasts
  • 44:53 - Final words of wisdom from Todd

BTU #41 - Steven Muller: Submarines to Finance to Google, setting your path

BTU #41 - Steven Muller: Submarines to Finance to Google, setting your path

Steven Muller works at Google as a Global Strategic Business Development for Google Play. He started out at the Naval Academy,after which he served in the Navy for four years with the Submarine Force as part of the USS West Virginia. After transitioning out of the Navy he worked for 5 years in the Finance Industry: first at Barclays Capital as their Associate Director - Head of Derivative Client Valuations, North America; then at Deutsche Bank as a Vice President. He then transitioned to Google, where was a Finance Manger for 4 years before his current role. Steven holds an MBA from the Duke Fuqua School of Business and a Master’s Degree of Engineering Management from Old Dominion University

BTU #64 - Anthony Garcia: Army to Founder of Guide-On, an Essential Veteran Resource

BTU #64 - Anthony Garcia: Army to Founder of Guide-On, an Essential Veteran Resource

Anthony Garcia is CEO and co-founder at GuideOn -a military veteran talent acquisition platform. He started out at St. Mary's University, after which he served in the Army for eight years as a Medical Service Corps Officer and Medical Evacuation Pilot. After transitioning out of the Army, he received his MBA at Cornell University. Since then he has worked as a General Manager at SRI International and the CEO and co-founder of Adjacent Applications. He started GuideOn in late 2014, and has raised funding from Mike Maple’s VC firm - Floodgate, one of the most respected investors in Silicon Valley.

BTU #45 - John Fenwick: Launching a Satellite Startup and Selling to Google for $500M

BTU #45 - John Fenwick: Launching a Satellite Startup and Selling to Google for $500M

John Fenwick is Head of Spacecraft Operations at Google. He started out at the Air Force Academy, after which he served for 8 years in the Air Force as a Physicist & Space Acquisitions Officer. He holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from MIT and an MBA from Stanford Business School. After business school, John co-founded Skybox Imaging and served as their Vice President of Flight Programs. Skybox provides commercial, high-resolution satellite imagery and high-definition video and analytics services. Skybox raised over $91M in funding prior to being acquired by Google for $500M, as reported by the WSJ. Skybox is now known as Terra Bella within Google.

BTU #37 - David Cho: Starting a Cosmetics eCommerce company while in the Army

“I'm in the beauty industry. I'm this ex-combat arms officer who knows way too much about cosmetics now. I think it's really funny. For me, timing really worked out. When we started Soko Glam, I was an Executive Aide to a General Officer. Although my time was really sporadic, for the most part I was in garrison. So I had a lot of time to research and take night classes, research certain things and go out and network. That would be my piece of advice - when you're still in really take the time to meet people and  figure out what you want to do. Do as much reading as possible but you gotta go out there and meet people." – David Cho

David Cho is the Co-Founder and CEO of Soko Glam - an eCommerce beauty shop and lifestyle brand with the best selection of Korean Beauty products and content. Dave started out at West Point, and served as a Combat Arms Officer for over 8 years. After his transition from the Army, David attended Columbia Business School, during which he worked at Facebook as a Global Accounts Intern. In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • How Dave started an e-commerce beauty company while on active duty in the Army
  • What it's like to have your wife as your co-founder
  • Resources Dave would recommend to any aspiring veteran entrepreneur
  • WhatWhat Dave wished he had known when he first started his company, Soko Glam
  • And much, much more…

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Links

Show Notes

  • 2:19 - Dave's background
  • 2:53 - An overview of Dave's company, Soko Glam
  • 4:48 - Finding a co-founder, and what it's like to be married to them
  • 11:11 - What Dave's like as a Co-Founder & CEO looks like on a day-to-day basis
  • 13:16 - What Dave's lifestyle looks like as an entrepreneur
  • 16:33 - What it was like to start Soko Glam while on active duty in the Army
  • 19:19 - Resources Dave would recommend when you're preparing to start your company
  • 23:30 - Whether or not to consider business school when starting your own company
  • 29:07 - How Dave's wife, Charlotte, continued to work on Soko Glam while Dave was at business school
  • 29:37 - What Dave wished he had known when he first started his company, Soko Glam
  • 32:32 - Some of the best advice Dave received when making the transition from the Army
  • 38:15 - Some consistent misconceptions that Dave sees veterans make when he is mentoring veterans going through the transition to civilian life
  • 41:30 - How to better know if you'd like a large company or start your own company
  • 43:20 - The bad habits that Dave needed to break when he left the military
  • 46:30 - The biggest surprises Dave experienced in his transition to civilian life
  • 49:20 - Dave's final words of wisdom

BTU #33: Brit Yonge - Navy to High Tech at Palantir Technologies

“Just being totally honest - you really are far behind. It's a better assumption that you're behind that you're ahead. It's not like  everyone else who didn't spend time in the military is out there playing Lincoln Logs. They've got a job and they're developing skills and they're learning. I went into my transition with the assumption that I was nine years behind every pedigreed person out there. And I feel that attitude helped drive my hunger to play a very intense game of catch up." – Brit Yonge

Brit Yonge is the Chief of Staff to the CTO at Palantir Technologies, a Palo Alto based technology company that has raised over $2B in funding, and was co-founded by silicon valley legend, Peter Thiel. Brit started out at the Naval Academy and served as an officer in the Navy for 5 years, where he served in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) supporting Special Operations Forces (SOF) in kinetic and non-kinetic operations. Brit transitioned from the military directly to Palantir Technologies, first as a Deployment Strategist and then as their Head of Asia ex Japan, where he lead Palantir's Asia HQ, and now as the Chief of Staff to the CTO.

 

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • How Brit, while living on a friend’s couch in San Diego, used the motivation of “one conversation a day” to search for his first job out of the military
  • How Brit would explain Silicon Valley and the ethos of startups to someone on active duty
  • How persistence and serendipity helped him land his first job (because he didn’t go through the front door)
  • How you can use interviews to better understand a company’s values and how well it aligns with your own
  • How leadership outside of the military differs from leadership in the military
  • And much, much more…

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

 

  • Viktor Frankl's Man's Search For Meaning essay: https://www.sonoma.edu/users/s/shawth/mans%20Search

Show Notes

  • 2:09 - Brit’s background
  • 2:57 - How Brit decided to leave the Navy
  • 4:32 - How Brit approached the Reserves and why he ultimately decided to not pursue the Reserves
  • 5:01 - The most surpassing aspects of Brit’s transition to a civilian career
  • 8:31 - How Brit, while living on a friend’s couch in the Bay Area, used the motivation of “one conversation a day” to search for his first job out of the military
  • 10:49 - How Brit would explain Silicon Valley and the ethos of startups to someone on active duty
  • 13:49 - How Brit found Palantir through his understanding of their product (and how to use the products you like to help in your job search)
  • 18:28 - How persistence and serendipity helped him land his first job (because he didn’t go through the front door)
  • 20:22 - How you can use interviews to better understand a company’s values and how well it aligns with your own
  • 22:12 - In the first couple of years out of the Navy, how Brit felt ahead and behind his civilian counterparts
  • 26:04 - The day-to-day life in a high-tech company in Silicon Valley
  • 30:47 - How leadership outside of the military differs from leadership in the military
  • 35:29 - How to prepare for a transition to the civilian world
  • 43:54- Final words of advice

BTU 26: RaeAnne Pae - Army to Facebook and Business Development

“I had been given good advice that it didn't matter the first job I did as long as I was learning from it and seeking out opportunities in the first job to be able to figure out what I wanted to do next. And so I went into it with the mindset that I would pick  everyone's brains who I worked with even if not on my team and build these relationships so i could figure out what the next step was." – RaeAnne Pae

RaeAnne Pae is a Client Solution Manager at Facebook, where she helps Financial Technology marketers grow their audience and business through Facebook. RaeAnne started out at doing ROTC at Morehead State University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology. After that she served for over 7 years in the Army as an Intelligence Officer, where she was awarded the Bronze Star - the military’s fourth-highest individual military award - not once but twice: first for Combat operations in Iraq while assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division; second for combat operations in southern Afghanistan with assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division. When RaeAnne transitioned to a civilian career she started out at the NYSE as an Event Marketing Specialist. She then worked as a Sales & Business Development member first at Tradecraft and then at Addy before joining Facebook.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • Tradecraft and how to get an MBA equivalent experience in 3 months
  • How RaeAnne's transition straight to industry compared with her husband's transition to business school
  • Advice for those applying to Facebook and common veteran paths
  • Two concrete examples of explaining in a veteran background to a Facebook interviewer
  • And much, much more…

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

  • Another interview I did between a husband and wife veteran combo where one went to business school and the other directly to industry are my interviews with Jimmy & Shaunnah interview
  • Tradecraft - 12 week tech immersion program. Tracts include Sales & BD, User Experience, and Growth
  • Another interview that references Coding Academies and other efficient education sources is my interview with Johannes & Maggi on Career Offroading
  • Other programs similar to Tradcraft - GrowthX / Growth Academy

Show Notes

  • 1:31 - RaeAnne's background
  • 4:58 - How RaeAnne approached her decision to leave the Army
  • 8:26 - How RaeAnne and her husband approached the Reserves
  • 10:23 - The most surpsing aspects of RaeAnne's transition to civilian life
  • 13:45 - How RaeAnne approached her initial job search
  • 25:38 - An overview of Tradecraft
  • 35:00 - RaeAnne's second job search and how she improved - great advice to all veterans
  • 44:40 - Advice for those applying to Facebook and common veteran paths
  • 47:00 - RaeAnne explains why her background is applicable at Facebook - this is a great example of how veterans could explain their story in an interview
  • 49:33 - RaeAnne explains how her background relates to sales and relationship building
  • 51:45 - How RaeAnne's journey directly to industry compared with her husband's choice to go to business school

BTU #25: Lee Haney - Marines to Goldman Sachs and Hewlett Packard Enterprise

BTU #25: Lee Haney - Marines to Goldman Sachs and Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Lee Haney works in Business Operations & Strategy for the COO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He graduated in the top 5% of his class at the Naval Academy, and served in the Marine Corps for five years as a Human intelligence Officer, with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. After transitioning out of the military, Lee attended the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, where he graduated with honors. Since getting his MBA, Lee has worked in the Finance Industry with Goldman Sachs as an Investment Banking Associate, before transitioning to HPE. Lee is also the CFO for Service to School, which regular listeners will remember is the non-profit organization that I have a love affair with - they provide FREE service to any veteran to help you get into your ideal college or grad school program

BTU #21: Ian Folau - Tactical advice for starting a company (even while on Active Duty)

“I was able to throw together some website and it was bringing in enough leads that we were able to fill everybody's houses and it just really took off for me. And it was my first venture, and ever since then I was hooked. The idea that I can make more money than my paycheck was exciting for me - the fact that I can provide something that someone will pay even a dollar for motivated me beyond what I could imagine." – Ian Folau

Ian Folau is the Co-Founder & CEO of the New York based startup, GitLinks. However, this wasn't Ian's first startup. Ian started founding companies while still on active duty in the Army, where he started his first of multiple startups. Ian studied Systems Engineering at West Point after which he served in the Army in multiple capacities before returning to West Point as an instructor. After departing the Army, he attended Cornell Tech to obtain his MBA, and during which he co-founded his most recent company.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • Steps you can take right now to start your first company (even if you're on Active Duty)
  • Resources you can use to start learning and growing as an entrepreneur
  • Entrepreneurial mistakes that Ian made and what he learned from them, and the importance of failing fast
  • Advice on how to tease out who might be a better Co-Founder
  • What Ian's day-to-day life looked like when he first founded GitLinks
  • How leadership as an entrepreneur differs from military leadership
  • And much, much more…

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Show Notes

  • 1:39 - Ian’s background
  • 2:40 - Ian's decision to leave the Army
  • 6:26 - Deciding to not pursue the Reserves
  • 7:20 - The most surprising aspect of Ian's transition to civilian life
  • ** 9:39 - Ian does a fantastic job of explaining his background in a way that is relevant to the listener. This comes up time and time again in interviews as a really crucial skill
  • 12:45 - Advice on how to better explain a veterans history to a civilian
  • 15:10 - Ian's experience starting companies while in the Army and how he got started
  • 21:30 - Resources to consider to help in your own entrepreneurial journey
  • 28:11 - Entrepreneurial mistakes that Ian made and what he learned from them, and the importance of failing fast
  • 33:10 - Advice on how to tease out who might be a better Co-Founder
  • 38:52 - Cornell Tech, and how it supports entrepreneurs
  • 40:52 - Advice on applying to Cornell Tech, and other programs to consider
  • 43:10 - An overview on Ian's current company, GitLinks
  • 46:15 - What Ian's day-to-day life looked like when he first founded GitLinks
  • 48:56 - How leadership as an entrepreneur differs from military leadership
  • 51:19 - Actions you can take right now to start an entrepreneurial journey (even while on Active Duty)
  • 53:19 - Final words of wisdom

BTU 17: Maggi & Johannes - Career Off-roading

This episode is a break from my normal format - rather than interview a veteran about their civilian career, I interview TWO veterans about their advice based on their work in helping other veterans. This episode is FULL of helpful hints, resources, and recommendations that would benefit any veteran.

In this interview I meet with Johannes Schonberg and Maggi Melina. Johannes enlisted in the navy as a Nuclear Machinist Mate, before attending the Naval Academy with a degree in English. He served as a Surface Warfare Officer in San Diego for five years before transitioning to civilian life. He has done work in Politics and as a consultant, helping companies like T-Mobile and Facebook hire veterans. Maggi Air Force ground radar systems journeyman, deploying to Kuwait. After her transition, she completed her bachelors degree, went to law school, and worked as a lawyer for seven years. After practicing law, she worked in politics, as an electrician, and then as a founder of a startup.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • Practical tips and tools to use as a veteran to help in your networking
  • Coding academies and other efficient resources to help educate you for a specific job
  • What companies like Facebook and T-Mobile look for in veterans
  • And much, much more...

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Show Notes

  • 1:30 Intro and background info Johannes and Maggi
  • 7:12 What people on active duty may not understand about civilian life.
  • 12:30 What is “networking” and advice for veterans about how to get started
  • 17:10 Education - taking a proactive and efficient approach to education, and specific resources to consider
  • 21:00 How a veteran might approach “networking” in a way that is more authentic and natural to them
  • 23:26 A few other resources to consider for education
  • 25:20 Common mistakes that veterans make in their transition to civilian life
  • 29:50 An overview of Code Schools and Coding Academies
  • 34:58 What veterans should know about applying to companies like Facebook and T-Mobile
  • 43:40 Other advice and words of wisdom for veterans

BTU #13 - Taylor Justice: Army to Raising $6M in Funding

“As you start to make this transition, -asking for advice is the smart move. Thinking that you have everything figured out or that you're going to be bothering someone learning about what they're doing that's the fool's road. I would urge people to not be scared of reaching out to people - if you don't, you're hurting yourself." – Taylor Justice

Taylor Justice is the Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer at Unite Us, a start-up that connects citizens with local coordinated services. Based in New York, Unite Us has raised over $6M in venture funding, and over 20 employees. After attending the U.S. Military Academy and serving for over a year as an Infantry Officer in the Army, Taylor was unexpectedly medically discharged from the Army. He faced his transition to civilian life years before he expected it, with no peers or classmates from whom to seek advice. Through a meticulous approach to reaching out to others, Taylor landed his first job in the Medical Devices industry, and then transitioned to the world of tech. While attending Columbia Business School he met his co-founder, and launched Unite Us.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

  • An unexpected departure from the Army, and navigating a career search before his peers
  • Using a systematic email process to gain information and his first job
  • The advantages of client support functional roles and sales roles
  • What it's like to start and grow a startup
  • Advice for other veterans seeking to start their own business
  • Not being afraid to ask advice from anyone and everyone as a means of learning
  • And much, much more…

iTurnes Beyond the UniformStitcher Beyond the Uniform

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Selected Links from the Episode

Show Notes

  • [1:38] Background
  • [2:40] An unexpected separation from the Army
  • [8:40] The most helpful resources in his initial job search
  • [14:07] Advice for structuring an outreach process as part of a job search
  • [15:48] How the military most prepared and least prepared him for an Account Executive and Sales role
  • [18:50] The starting point of founding Unite Us
  • [22:25] Advice on finding and vetting a potential co-founder
  • [24:15] Whether to gain experience prior to starting a company, or do it straight out of the military
  • [29:12] The day-to-day life of starting a company
  • [33:30] Common misconceptions that military personnel have about starting a company
  • [38:25] How military personnel can benefit from Unite Us
  • [44:05] Biggest advice - don't be afraid to ask for help