Babak Azad left Iran when he was 4 years old to start a new life with his family in America. He studied hard and graduated from MIT and went into corporate. 

He then left to start his own magazine and in his own words - Eat humble pie. It didn't work and he found a role in Beach Boy. He rode the wave of it going from a $100m business to a $1b business. He loved direct response marketing and enjoyed his senior V role.

He became engaged in a high-level mastermind and realised there were cool projects he could work on which were more inspiring than his career role.

So he planned for 16 months an exit and started his own consulting business.

He talks about the support he received from family and friends as he went through the transition.

 

There were lots of great takeaways in the episode, so grab that pen and notepad, and enjoy!

• How a supportive wife is critical to success
• If you fail once doesn't mean you should not try again
• How to gradually migrate to running your own show
• Some great tips on how to optimise your marketing
• Importance of playing to your strengths 
• Why building an agency is not for everyone
• Don't fall into the trap of dipping into your savings
• Double down on what works well and don't be spread too thin
• How to use your calendar to prioritise work 
• Done is better than perfect 

 

Important Links & Mentions From This Episode:

• Babak Azad's LinkedIn profile
• Babak Azad's Twitter profile
• Babak Azad's Blog
• LeaderShape
• Evernote
• Dropbox
• Audible
• https://themoth.org/podcast
• The Moth Podcast
• Risk! Live Show and Podcast