Looking Beyond With Michael Sikand

In #102, futurists tune into a conversation with Matt Ladis, who's worked in the music industry since cold-emailing a music executive after he graduated from Michigan and landed his dream job in the industry. As a music business manager and accountant, Matt helps some of the most well-known artists and entertainers manage their finances, and he's currently in the process of launching his own business management company - Mad Lettuce (get it, Matt Ladis)! This is a fantastic episode for anyone looking to tap into the mindset necessary to break into your dream job, especially in an industry like music with notoriously high barriers to entry.

Get in contact with Matt: [email protected]

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In Episode 101, futurists hear from famed internet entrepreneur and philanthropist, Paul English, who has started more companies than he has fingers to count with. He’s known best for co-founding travel site KAYAK in 2004 which was sold for $1.8 billion dollars in 2012, and he’s also the founder of Lola.com, GetHuman.com, Summits Haiti Education, the BostonWinterWalk.org for Homelessness, and now he’s launching what he aims to be the TikTok for podcasts called Moonbeam Podcast Player, which you can check out at the link below. This is an incredible conversation and Paul is a legend in entrepreneurship, advising you to hone the craft of storytelling in your early venture! I love how he's product and brand focused, a rare species to come by for sure!

Book a Meeting with Michael to Give Podcast Feedback: calendly.com/michaelsikand

Check Out Moonbeam Podcast Player: https://apps.apple.com/pk/app/moonbeam-podcast-player/id1531348470

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100 EPISODES!!! In Episode 100, Michael Sikand, Founder & CEO of Our Future, opens up about building the podcast and brand of his dreams, reflects on how he got started, and shares his ambitions to create the next great media brand for his generation. Devanshi Mehta, a sophomore at UCSB and former co-host of Our Future Careers, asks Michael questions about his journey and how Our Future has evolved over the past 8 months into something much larger than a podcast.

Email Michael if you'd like to have a conversation or get involved with Our Future: [email protected]

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In Episode 99, futurists learn about product management with Phillip Ruffini, whose had an impressive slate of professional experiences in product, beginning in his freshman year when he networked his way into infamous startup Juicero, and later when he became a product management intern at AB inBev's startup accelerator–ZX ventures. After graduating from the University of Michigan, Phillip became a Program Manager at Microsoft, (Microsoft's version of a Product Manager), where he's worked on some awesome projects for the past 1.5 years. Recently leaving Microsoft, Phillip is going his own way with the launch of his newest startup, Fluence, which helps consumer brands turn their loyalists into sales machines. This was an awesome conversation and Phillip shared some powerful insights and advice.

Email me [email protected] with a resume if interested in today's internship opportunity.

Connect with Phillip on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipruffini/

Check out his new company: https://tryfluence.com/

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In Episode 98, futurists are joined by guest co-host Sia Anand, Head of Communications for Our Future, to learn from Marcy Daniel, Chief Product Officer at multi-billion dollar education tech company, PowerSchool, which serves over 45 million students across a powerful suite of services, one of which you might have used in grade school: Schoology. In this episode, you'll learn what it means to be a Chief Product Officer and the lens on business you need to take to be a fantastic product manager, as well as how seamless integration is key to facilitating successful learning experiences and education management. Further, we touch on the future of education, breaking down the silver lining of the remote paradigm, in addition to the challenges that remain for remote learning.

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In Episode 97, listeners learn about the future of aviation and vertical lift mobility with Chad Sparks, Director of Strategic Campaigns & Business Development at Bell Helicopter. Bell is the world's leading manafacturer of military and civilian rotorcraft, and the company rose to prominence when the Bell X-1 fighter jet was the first plane to break the sound barrier, and again when the company's famous "Huey" helicopter changed the nature of battle forever during the Vietnam War. In this fascinating episode, you'll learn about how Bell is developing cutting-edge vehicles that stand to change both the military and the business world, through novel designs and autonomous technology, including the V-280, which is a hybrid between an airplane and a helicopter (pictured on the cover). You will also learn how flight will make its way into mainstream mobility, and the challenges holding us back from hailing a helicopter air taxi on our phone. This conversation was incredibly intellectually stimulating, and Chad also provided some world-class career advice that was some of the best I've heard on the podcast.

Check out Bell's insane roster of aircraft: https://www.bellflight.com/

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In Episode 96, futurists run up the numbers with Landon Klausing, a junior at Grand Valley State University in Michigan and an Incoming Equity Research Analyst Intern at Manning and Napier. In addition to being the President of GVSU's premier investment club, Seidman IPO (150K AUM), he has landed several impressive internships including one at boutique investing firm Blackford Capital (full-year internship) and Plante Moran (Summer 2020), which is one of the largest financial services firms in the country. Landon is driven, sharp as hell, and leads a team of absolute stock sharks at GVSU, and I really enjoyed tapping into his perspective as a finance recruit from a non-target school, since many of the students we've featured on the careers series attend "target schools". It was fun creating a few TikToks too with Landon, where he provides his book recommendations and pitches me a stock (Allibaba), so check us out on TikTok and tap us out a follow. In this short, sweet, and entertaining conversation, Landon gives us an update on the markets, runs us through Seidman's investment portfolio, provides his advice for aspiring financial professionals, and defines what the heck "equity research" is.

Connect with Landon on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/landon-klausing/

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In Episode 95, futurists hear from David Rubin, CMO of The New York Times, about how he went from history major at Yale to working on Unilever's Axe brand to leading the marketing machine at one of the media industry's most respected and prestigious brands. He discusses the evolution of the journalism business, why he views his job as creating a new category, lays out a vision for the NYT being the "Netflix of Truth", and his career advice to young professionals who are plotting their mark on the business world. It's never been more important to invest in quality journalism that exposes the truth, especially as we see our democracy threatened by the outgoing administration. I view David's job as not only exciting and fascinating, but extremely important. If you're a young person, there's a high chance your college or university provides you a free subscription to The New York Times, and if not you can get a digital subscription for as little as $2 a week.

Get a student subscription to the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/subscription/education/student?campaignId=6WYWY

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In Episode 94, futurists hear from 24-year-old entrepreneur Jordan Friedman, who dropped out of UCSB after two quarters to start an innovative fintech company called Zodaka to serve the wild west of the cannabis industry. Jordan invented a payment process that brought a greater degree of credibility to e-commerce cannabis transactions, and his contributions for high-risk banking earned him the accolade of being the youngest member on the Forbes Finance Council. Since licensing Zodaka's tech out to another company, Jordan is plotting his next disruption of the financial system, and he's officially launching a B2B payments software company in the coming weeks. I can't voice how much I've enjoyed getting to know Jordan, and his advice has been invaluable as I ramp up operations at Our Future to go from podcast to media brand. He's truly a friend, an ally, and a mentor for life, and this in-person episode was a blast.

Connect with Jordy on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-friedman-237980139/

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In Episode 93, futurists lock in with Will Conway, a student at the University of Michigan, a 2x intern in Real Estate Private Equity, and an Incoming Summer Analyst on Evercore's Real Estate team. Will has always been extremely passionate about the real estate industry, growing up in Brazil from age 12 and watching how developments transformed communities in tangible ways. I've always been blown away by Will's ambition, drive, and wildly cool personality, and he's invested himself deeply in the real estate industry for the past several years, recently securing his dream internship at Evercore this summer on their RE team. In this interview, Will dives into cold-emailing executives and best practices for networking as a young person, the difference between the banking side of Real Estate versus the Private Equity side, and how he landed his top choice of internship.

Connect with Will on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-conway-626900174/ or email him [email protected]!

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