Disruption / Interruption

Researcher, data scientist, and founder of a FinTech program, Arnav Sheth, started working as an economist with Deloitte Tax on September 15, 2008 (also known as the day Lehman crashed). Since then, Sheth has worked as a tenured professor, startup advisor, and director of a finance program. Now he’s using statistical and machine learning techniques to make predictions about financial markets. 

Key Takeaways 

• STATUS QUO: People believe that mathematical models and machine learning tools will be able to predict everything, including financial markets. 

• Right now, the financial markets are being disrupted by rising interest rates, fears of a recession, COVID supply chain issues, and war. None of these are conducive to smoothly functioning markets. 

• Tiny changes within a big machine have secondary and tertiary effects that change the whole machine. Over time, the entire machine becomes new. 

• The current war affecting the markets is unlike other recent wars we’ve experienced. Ukraine is strategically located, and the world depends on key commodities that come from the country. Every war is different, but this one is a little more disruptive and has precipitated other fears. 

• Most asset managers fail to perform. A small number of people can truly beat the market consistently over long periods of time. 

• The U.S. markets have generally returned around 10-12% depending on how it’s measured—and that’s amazing. Some years it’s up 40%, while some years it’s down 40%, but few people can do better than that. 

• The markets are what they are and imposing our own views on them makes us bad investors. Just because something is successful in one area doesn’t mean it will have the same success in another area. 

• One current question is whether it’s possible to predict where we are in a business cycle. Twenty years ago, Microsoft was a growth stock, while today it’s a value stock. Knowing where we are in the business cycle may help people know what to do with investments. 

• Everybody has a system for beating the market, but they can only do it for a short period in a specific area. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it’s not a profitable opportunity anymore. 

Quote of the Show 

13:36 – “People had this belief that these mathematical models, these machine learning tools are going to predict everything. They’re going to change the world. They’re very powerful tools. We have computational power that we’ve never had before, but it’s not magic because of the human element. We cannot predict the way humans will behave in large groups.” 

Links 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnavsheth/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/arnavsheth 

Website: https://www.arnavsheth.net/ 

Ways to Tune In 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's guest, Daniel Powers Jr., has been a disruptor for over 20 years. With a passion for helping others access music education, Powers has been on a mission to provide students with access to customized, results-driven instruction. As a result of the pandemic, he was forced to pivot from running a brick-and-mortar business to an online one, becoming part of the digital disruption of online education. During this interview, Powers shares how he carved out his own unique space in a crowded online market. 

Key Takeaways 

• To differentiate, it's imperative to be unique. Even in a market such as music instruction, where being unique is difficult, being a disruptor means finding the opportunity to stand out and provide a wholly different experience. 

• With the pandemic came immense change. For those who are willing, this change has turned into an incredible opportunity to pivot business models and create a unique value. 

• Simply relocating a business model to an online version wasn’t enough for Powers and his team. Everyone was moving online, which resulted in turning his business into the same service as every other online music school. From this, Powers saw an opportunity to create his own platform, a key differentiator in a crowded market. 

• Through the unique platform designed for Real Brave Audio, students can now access a whole curriculum custom-made for their goals. Not only that, but this platform has empowered students by documenting their progress, providing a visible path for students to see. 

• The homeschool market has grown immensely in the past few years, with around five million children being homeschooled. This has led Powers to embark on a mission to find those five million students and help them learn music through a powerful platform that delivers real results. 

• A key differentiator for Real Brave Audio has been centralizing the learning process into one platform. While many online education systems require instructors to jump from one technology channel to the next, the Real Brave Audio platform has created a cohesive and all-encompassing experience for both student and teacher. 

• Mirroring his own journey into music, Powers wanted to design a space where students could easily interact with instructors—learning through the process of recording their own practice. This platform is changing how students, young and old, can access the incredible benefits of music. 

Quote of the show: 

14:43 “ ... The road to riches for me is always paved with punches in the face.” 

Links: 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danpowersjr/ 

Company Website: realbraveaudio.com 

Ways to Tune In: 

Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 

Google Play - https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cub21ueWNvbnRlbnQuY29tL2QvcGxheWxpc3QvODE5NjRmY2EtYTQ5OC00NTAyLThjZjktYWI3YzAwMmRiZTM2LzNiZTZiNzJhLWEzODItNDhhNS04MDc5LWFmYTAwMTI2M2FiNi9kZDYzMGE4Mi04ZGI4LTQyMGUtOGNmYi1hZmEwMDEyNjNhZDkvcG9kY2FzdC5yc3M=

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD 

Stitcher - https://www.stitcher.com/show/disruption-interruption 

YouTube - https://youtu.be/pbP9a8YYHJ4 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today's guest has been disrupting markets as a serial entrepreneur and marketing leader for decades. From holding the position of CEO of a cloud contact center for the SMB market to co-founding a marketing agency dedicated to helping B2B SaaS companies accelerate growth, Stijn Hendrikse is a born disruptor. Today, Hendriske is focused on helping small business owners better manage resources, improve customer service, and save money. 

How's he doing it? 

Through the creation of Amy — an AI-powered conversation platform for small businesses. Amy is a unique chatbot solution as it was designed specifically for small businesses. Similar to a pile of Legos, Amy lets small business owners use templates to build incredibly powerful customer service workflows. From answering common questions around the clock to scheduling services seamlessly, Amy's goal is to disrupt the way customer service works. 

Key Takeaways 

• Hendrikse is a believer in starting things rather than waiting around for the perfect time to attempt a new idea. His modus operandi is to get going and build it, which has helped him as a disruptor. While sometimes the things built don't get as much traction as you originally hoped for, in the end, a lot of things stick. 
• It has become especially important for small businesses to hyper-focus on their customer service in the last couple of years. Customer service is the new sales. For those who run a business, big or small, it is far more critical today to please an existing customer base than to attempt to capture new customers. The key is to make customers extremely happy, which will create engaged advocates and, in turn, earn those new customers. 
• In the last two years, with the great resignation, small businesses have been left struggling with hiring, training, and retaining people. This has left small business owners facing a difficult struggle to provide a great customer service experience. This is where Hendriske believes the innovation of his technology solution can help bridge the gap — Amy.us. 
• AI is a popular buzzword that gets thrown around a lot when discussing the technology behind chatbots. However, in order for AI to be effective, the training models behind the AI have to be optimized in a precise way. This is where Hendrikse is using his chatbot technology to change customer service for small businesses, such as locksmiths, breweries, funeral operators, churches, and more. Hendrikse is doing this through a process of templating questions to match these companies' unique needs — something previously not accomplished through enterprise chatbot solutions. 
• To launch Amy, Hendrikse and his team took the time to interview and research hundreds of small businesses to figure out what the majority of questions being asked by customers were. This led to the creation of the templates that power the Amy chatbot. 
• What drove Hendrikse to focus his life work on small businesses? In his words, it's the place where the path from problem to solution is the shortest. With small businesses, there's not a lot of overhead, not a lot of complexity, and not a lot of processes to get in the way. Hendriske loves working amidst that simplicity, where he can immediately see if something's working or not, where he can see if someone's happy, and where it is easy to measure whether or not a customer is coming back. 

Quote of the show: 

3:07 "I start things. I don't wait too long when I have an idea. I like to just get going and build it. And I don't worry about the right timing too much. Don't wait around. And that has helped me a lot. And sometimes you, you build things that don't get maybe as much traction as you originally hoped for. But in the end, a lot of things stick." 

Links: 

• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/stijnhendrikse/ 
• Company Website: kalungi.com/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stijnh1  

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is David Lee, Co-Founder of Ebony Ascent. Through the creation of Ebony Ascent, Lee is disrupting the Black entertainment media industry, breaking down barriers, and opening a brighter future for African American voices to be heard. Authenticity, connection, and meaningful conversations are all at the core of the mission behind Lee’s media company Ebony Ascent. 

This is where David Lee is shaking up the industry. Inspired by a desire to share his own in-depth knowledge of financing and entrepreneurship, Lee started Ebony Ascent as a platform for the African American community to come together to create meaningful content and conversations. Now, led by the inspiring vision of Lee, Ebony Ascent is continuing to grow into a place to discuss important topics ranging from financial security to mental health to the issues Black communities in America are facing today. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Many people feel forced into conformity, which cuts down on authenticity and valuable conversations. Until we are able to communicate in a way that is true to our core culture, we will miss out on significant insights and growth. 

• The vision for Ebony Ascent has always been to cut through the noise and offer a space where the most important topics can be discussed in candid, even raw ways. 

• Culture is much bigger than just race, and there is a critical value to communicating with your culture in the language and ways you understand. When people do not have access to information represented by their own culture, it creates huge limitations. 

• Ebony Ascent is on a powerful journey to allow creators to showcase important stories that mainstream media is not telling. Not only that, but Lee is also passionate about creating a platform that will empower his community to speak openly and without conforming to societal pressures.  
• Sometimes the most pivotal moments in life come from a place of personal introspection. Lee’s journey into disruption began when he realized his deep unhappiness in what, to an outsider, would have looked like a successful life. By being true to himself, Lee was able to innovate and shake things up in powerful ways. 

Quote of the Show: 10:17 

“Right. Culture is bigger than just race, and it’s this community-type field of how we connect and even goes back, anthropologically. If you start looking at when we were tribes and all this stuff or whatever, like each tribe had their own way of communicating. Something just feels like home, right? Yeah. Like if, you know, if you grow up with brothers and sisters, they just feel like home. There is a language that you and your brothers and sister have that nobody else has, but you automatically understand you walk into a room and see your brother.” 

Links: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdavidlee/ 
• Company Website: https://www.ebonyascent.com  

Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is a Business Development Executive who is transforming the way businesses and professionals build their brand image in a digital-first world. After COVID, how people network and build relationships have changed. What once took place over an in-person meeting is now transpiring across computer screens. What used to be a face-to-face networking event is now happening via digital handshakes. 

Professionals need to adapt and take control of their own digital brand image. 

This is where Grant McGaugh, Business Development Executive, is causing disruption to the digital networking industry with his innovative approach to building a professional brand image. Pushed into this arena through his own disruptive life moments, McGaugh sheds light on how the future will include creativity, storytelling, and a human approach to digital connections. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Brand development management is about becoming a brand master. Every individual needs their own brand. This brand will become a central platform for all future opportunities.
• Who one becomes a key differentiator and showcasing strengths and unique value across online channels is critical for networking. A network is money.
• Digital transformation is only accelerating. Therefore, it is critical to join in the conversation today and prepare for the continued growth of the social networking of tomorrow.
• Ongoing engagement and conversations are critical for building a true network beyond simply followers. Moreover, these conversations influence one’s network long after leaving the room.
• Those interested in building their digital network must step back, look in the mirror, and ask themselves what their real story is—what their journey is about. It is imperative to own the story.
• Through digital channels like LinkedIn, first impressions are built. It is critical to ask yourself whether or not the person being presented online is someone with whom another professional would want to do business.
• The future of digital transformation is going to include a shift from simply the analytical to the creative. As new channels launch—the metaverses blending the physical and digital realities—those who use innovation will lead the way.
• Everyone has their own story, their brand, and their voice. What they create with it is entirely up to them. 

Quote of the Show:

13:13 

“This is about you. It’s an opportunity to tell your story, you know, because what differentiates you? I know a ton of people who have a master’s degree or a Ph.D. where they’ve had, you know, different corporate jobs and that type of thing. That is not, you know, that’s not uncommon. What’s uncommon is who you are, though, because of who you are and how you have traversed this world. I want to know how you solve certain issues and problems and challenges in your life that tells me, like, that’s interesting because that might be something I find vital that I can utilize.” 

Links: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantmcgaugh/  
• Company Website: https://www.volico.com/  

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today has a track record of producing game-changing results every year, even when the odds were stacked against him. He is a global sales leader and has spent 20+ years leading technology companies towards triple-digit revenue growth. 

Remy Piazza Chief Revenue Officer at Cosaic has a unique ability in developing high-performing teams, penetrate new markets and integrate scalable sales operations and enablement. He disrupting the sales approach and is at the forefront of the digital sales revolution.     

 Key Takeaways: 

• The main ingredient of disruption is to understand what could be better and faster. A company’s board members care about growth and how fast can they achieve it. Some old methods of conducting business may not work in achieving the targeted sales and revenue figures.  
• Status Quo with sales is the buyer-seller relation. Previously, if a potential customer was interested in a product or service, he/she had to contact the salesperson in the initial stages of their buying journey. After the boom of digital media and COVID, the potential customer now has access to a lot of information and about 65% of them involve sales reps in their buying journey after making a decision.  
• Understanding the buyer’s journey and adjusting to the new approach to selling has become a big effort for product & services marketers.  
• The biggest change and challenge in the buyers’ journey is that now, customers are more educated and about 65%-70% do their homework & research about the industry, competition and whom they wish to speak to regarding their problem.  
• There is more awareness about the need to sell consultatively. Consultative selling is setting up a strong foundation, building business acumens, asking the right questions, and knowing how to ask them and when to ask them, which can take years to perfect.  
• Specialization is key, to understanding the client’s/customer’s problems and offering them value with your solutions. “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care”   

Quote of the show: 

10:18 to 10:53 

“In my experience, we see a lot of folks coming to us when they have done a tremendous amount of research, they have a pretty good handle on their problem and they do understand who the players are in the industry and who they should be talking to. That’s called about 65% -70% of the way, right! That’s the biggest change I’ve ever seen, whereas before, buyers would be like, we think we have a problem, were not sure who we need to speak to. It’s different, they are much more educated now than they ever have been.” 

  Links: 

• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/remypiazza/ 
• Company Website: https://cosaic.io/   

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today fights fire in cyber-Security. A lot of healthcare peers are being attacked by hackers for ransom. Traditional hospitals that kick the can down the road are being forced to innovate at the risk of being sitting ducks.  

Technology in healthcare needs to up its game and is being forced to upgrade.    

Enter disruptor Todd L. Bell, Chief Information Security Officer & Executive Director of IT Compliance who is innovating the healthcare system with technology tools, leadership and a mindset to be agile, quick and responsive to navigate through challenges.  

Key Takeaways:  

• The main ingredient of disruption: Hackers are driving innovation and systems are at risk of being hacked. To counter this threat Todd identifies the venerable under pining issues of the technological platforms and addresses them through leadership and technology.     
• When an IT system fails, it forces an organization to pen and paper which in turn affects the functioning of the firm. This causes peers to be inefficient at their jobs and impacts the revenue.     
• The companies that have technically advanced employees, not only accomplish greater things but also produce higher results & better growth.
• Status quo: “Set it” “Forget it” mentality when it comes to technology. On average Healthcare refreshes its system every 10 years as compared to other industries/companies that do it every 3 years.     
• Disruptors like Todd are also forced to make up for vendor shortcomings. There is a gap between the technologies used by some vendors – outdated systems, compared to prevailing industry standards.     
• Usually, vendors are looked down on. Todd at Valleyhealth considers them as business partners to up their game and stay relevant with the latest tech.    
• Todd identifies more efficient technology, less costly and more cloud transformation as the need of the hour. 

Quote of the show: 

8:33 to 9:08 

“I would recognize that the companies that have more technical people, produced higher results, better growth, better top line improvements for the organisations compared to companies with lower tech and their performance was lagging. So, this goes back to the mindset of how you hire, how you operate, how you interact with others and so It’s not just about the great technology which we all think of. Technology is it’s one piece of a holistic picture”. 

  Links: 

• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/toddbell/ 
• Company Website: https://valleywisehealth.org/  

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is a serial social entrepreneur who has been disrupting for over a decade. He is a mentor and an active angle investor.     Unmanageable debt is directly tied to mental health issues in America. Enter disruptor Jason Saltzman CEO & Co-Founder at Relief App, who is building a digital solution to overwhelming credit card debts. 

As someone who has experienced the effects of toxic debt firsthand, Jason is on a mission to make financial relief accessible to everyone. 

 Key Takeaways: 

• The main ingredient for disruption is caring about the people for whom you’re creating value. Money is a receipt of value.  

• Solutions relating to debts are simple, however, the problem is extremely complex.  

• Any debt has a stigma around it and it has systemic ramifications. Today, 1 in 3 Americans have an account that has fallen behind. 

• It affects marginalized communities of color because not only there has been a lack of financial education but also, some of the largest creditors in the world with the highest interest rate go after these communities.  

• The problem expanded because of the coronavirus, as the government started printing capital and giving it to people in need but as per the data as people had access to more capital, their savings shot up and that triggered the creditors to issue more credit.  

• The problem compounds when you leverage credit in a society which needs it, people start spending on things they don’t need via credit cards. 

• Last quarter, the national credit card debt recorded the highest number of credit card balances in the history of debt recording. 

• Jason predicts that we will be seeing a major increase in defaulters as the compounded debt completely outweighs monthly income.  

• The average credit card rate in America today is 29.73% 

• The name of game is to get very expensive credit in the hands of people that don’t understand how to use it. 

• Some of the highest individual balances are with people with advanced education e.g. Doctors, Lawyers etc. because even after the extra years of school not of the classes involve how to manage credit or books of accounts  

• Credit card companies will issue more credit once professionals start making $200,00 - $300,000+ a year  

• Because Jason worked in the credit card and debt space in earlier years, he started to get calls from friends and family to help with a walk through their credit-related problems. Jason says that” the solutions are there, they are so simple. They are just not being put in front of your face and many people hiding from this problem just don’t know”.    

• A study by Mckenzie revealed that only 2% of people will call their banks or credit lenders and manage a payment plan. The other 98% hide from these calls. 

• One of the biggest reasons for Jason in starting the Relief App is to normalize the credit debt problem and get individuals their dignity back 
• Depending on your current situation, Relief App will make all options available for every person using the app to speak to your creditor and work out a solution. 

Quote of the show: 

14:22 to 14:50 

“The system is gamified, every time you turn on the television, our whole country is set up to sell you something and you want a life that many people can’t afford and extending credit gives you that opportunity to get something that you cannot afford. Even look at those Visa and Master Card commercials of the lifestyle that they are selling people. It’s like oh s**t I want that! But I don’t have the money to pay for it! Now you do! With credit we are your best friend, but that comes with big shackles” 

  Links: 

• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonsaltzman/ 
• Company Website: http://relief.app 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaltzmanJason 

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the client onboarding process is intended to establish customer relationships that are long-lasting and mutually beneficial, it is woefully lacking. 

Enter disruptor Srikrishnan Ganesan, Co-Founder & CEO at Rocketlane who is crafting a thoughtful experience by gaining a deep perspective and understanding of the client’s domain which resonates with their product and services. 

 Key Takeaways: 

• The main ingredient for disruption is developing a deep perspective and understanding of a domain which can then spark insight and can help create a thoughtful experience. 

• Since COVID, the demand for a customer-centric experience had escalated to a point that any small hitch is perceived as intolerable.  

• Businesses are built to be customers centric but at times when companies optimize processes, the client may face frustration, especially when things are happening remotely.  

• Status Quo of Client on boarding experience – it’s a hit or miss approach, processes are typically delayed. There is a lot of chaos and lack of communication, primarily as information is across different channels/places.  

• While all companies should acquire new customers and clients, retaining old clients is more profitable.  

• Rocketlane tries to address some key pain points like the status of the project & the sentiment of the customer, and consistency of delivery by following a series of steps with deep templating capabilities and streamlining the collaboration. 

• If a company has invested in a lot of project management apps, Rocketlane helps you import/migrate all your projects.  

• The biggest challenges today are – educating the market and the potential audience and the existence of the tool     

Quote of the show: 

8:38 to 9:13  

“From what we have seen, the biggest impact is when your customer success team comes in after you on boarding are they able to have an offensive strategy, focus on expansion from get go or are they going to be on a back foot when they come in and need to be defensive, focus on churn, focus on keeping the customer and that largely determined by how well on boarding goes. If you did a great job, they can focus on expansion but if you did a sloppy job they are forced to build credibility all over again with the customer” 

Links: 

• LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/srikrishnang/ 
• Company Website: https://www.rocketlane.com/ 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/srikrishnang 

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755
• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today helps the under-represented, under-estimated and underpaid talent land high paying jobs at the world’s best tech companies. He’s an ex-Google, ex-Facebook, ex-Sales Force and ex-American Express employee.  

Founder, CEO and Chief Accelerator of Kadima Careers, Alan Stein knows the inside out, the start to finish walkthrough of how to get hired with any of the giant multinational companies. He’s been there and seen what’s spoken and how to fix it.  

 Key Takeaways: 

• The main ingredient for disruption is questioning everything and how it can be done better. Things are done for irrational legacy reasons or miss-aligned incentives.  

• Status Quo of the hiring process or recruiting talent – hiring process is a huge field and there are millions of jobs out there. Tech giants like Amazon, PayPal, Netflix, Google, Adobe, Spotify, Microsoft, Facebook, Apple etc. (considering Fortune 500 companies) open up roles and streams of applicants come in. These companies are hiring machines and recruiting employees the same way each year, sorting out thru the huge amount of applications as they are attractive brands.  

• About a 1/3rd are hired via referrals at the top companies  

• Most of these companies are looking to hire black talent as they are the most underserved. A lot of companies have between 2% - 4% of black employee base and in the USA the number has risen to ~13%  

• There is a lot of social pressure to hire a diverse workforce like (including but not limited to) Native Americans, LGBTQ, Differently abled, Military vets, Latin ex, Women and Black 

• The Big Problem – Recruiters are focused on hiring with speed & volume and the hiring managers are focused on speed and quality, very few companies are measured on their candidate experience. During this process, if they get black talented women, awesome! But these companies will fill in a role based on the candidates they meet first from some top universities.  

• Alan’s main motivation to disrupt the hiring process was a combination of his recruiting/hiring manager role, which he took on as a passion to bring in a diverse workforce and expand the scope of his networking efforts. 

• Alan’s advice to candidates applying to these tech giants is to understand the process because the companies are not going to change their hiring processes. One of the things to consider is to submit your application in the first week or two – if not you’re probably amongst the thousands who stay in the queue. 

• Alan also advises to always check the careers/jobs page of the company you want to work with because, by the time a job listing comes on a third party job website, it’s about 4 weeks old with a pile of resumes rolling in on top of referrals.       

• Cover letters are a BIG waste of time, it’s more effective to invest time in building relationships and networking instead of writing a cover letter which will have little or no influence on the hiring process.       

Quote of the show: 

6:29 to 7:01 

“They are in some desire, a lot of these organizations say that they want to increase diversity and I do honestly believe most of the leader there actually do want to occur but what’s more important is the hire quickly, to fill these roles quickly. So if diversity can enhance the situation, GREAT! But it’s not going to slow down the machine of just gobbling up all this great talent that is interested in working for these top companies.” 

  Links: 

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanjstein/ 
• Company Website: http://www.kadimacareers.com   

 Ways to Tune In: 

• Amazon Music - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/eccda84d-4d5b-4c52-ba54-7fd8af3cbe87/disruption-interruption 
• Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disruption-interruption/id1581985755 

• Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/6yGSwcSp8J354awJkCmJlD 

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