The Sydcast

Episode Summary

John Pepper is a restaurant entrepreneur, angel investor, and a hands-on advocate for the rights of low-wage workers. He’s been an Uber driver, confronted small-town Vermont politics, and turned a banned college fraternity house into a shared work space for startups. Motivated by social justice, sustained by business, he shares his story, on this episode of The Sydcast.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

John Pepper 

John is co-founder and Chief Worker Advocate of Boloco, a New England-based restaurant chain and Certified B Corp founded in 1997 serving Modern Mexican-inspired food and beverages. He is also co-founder of Worthee, an early-stage software project/platform focused on helping hourly workers receive the information they need to rise and thrive. Pepper also co-founded B. Good which grew to 80 units before he and his partners sold it in 2017.

Pepper has been an angel investor since 2014, with investments in more than 30 start-ups focused on workforce-empowering technology, restaurant-facing technology, and a few special consumer businesses like Athletic Brewing, Spindrift, Free Rain, and Starbird.

Pepper graduated from Dartmouth College in 1991 and received his MBA from the Tuck School in 1997 (where he presented the first Boloco business plan). He was elected to the Selectboard of Norwich, VT in 2017 and was Chairman from 2018-2020. 

His wife Maggie and their 3 kids live in Hanover, NH.

Insights from this episode: 

• Insights into Boloco and how it became successful
• How the branding of his restaurant to Boloco was done
• Pepper’s strategies for running a restaurant
• Insights into successfully raising capital
• Pepper’s lessons from being an Uber driver
• Insights into how Worthee came about
• What’s next for Boloco
• Effects of COVID-19 on restaurant business
• Pepper’s rehabilitation of Dartmouth College

Quotes from the show:

• “I am always curious about what’s ticking behind any business, and frankly any job” -John Pepper [3:15]
• “The first thing I had to do when I got back was to realize that we don’t know what we are doing and we need to hire talent: We need to hire someone better than us” -John Pepper [9:52]
• “Their [investors] main objective was to transform me from an entrepreneurial CEO, they said, to a professional CEO” -John Pepper [16:51]
• “I became an Uber driver back in Boston and it informed me a lot about the work I have done since” -John Pepper [23:19]
• “I did come away with a sense that flexibility was going to matter for workers. And we’ve got to figure out how to include people who are stuck in rigid low-paying jobs; put them into flexible jobs so that they’ll find time for better education, skills development and a way to get out of low paying jobs” -John Pepper [29:52]
• “People just don’t get regular feedback in any way that helps them understand their strengths and that led me to start thinking what can we do to solve that problem” -John Pepper [34:34]
• “Our goal has always been, and this is not a high bar, to be the number one highest wage payer in the industry” -John Pepper [40:08]
• “It’s all about work-from-home habits that are not temporary; they are here to stay. Yes, people will move back to the office, but I don’t think we will move back to 100% of what it was in 2019” -John Pepper [48:45]
• “I think that small businesses right now we don’t have the technology. I am investing in technology that does allow businesses like ours to compete with the big chains” -John Pepper [50:14]
• “I do use Boloco today as a petri dish for interesting new technologies. I aggressively implement things that aren’t always so good for our business, but inform us on what is good for the business but also help me in making investment decisions” -John Pepper [53:20]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

John Pepper

LinkedIn: John Pepper

Website: johnpepper.com

Boloco's Website: Boloco

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Episode Summary

Careers zig-zag, they don’t go in straight lines. But yet there is a thread that connects our paths over time. This is true if you run for Governor of New Hampshire, grow one of the top online education universities in the US, or lead the biggest collection of angel investors in the country. And it’s true if you’ve done all of these things, as we’ll find out in this conversation with Colin Van Ostern.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Colin Van Ostern

Colin Van Ostern is an entrepreneurial general manager with experience leading high-growth ventures and teams. Through many different sectors, he has maintained a focus on successfully democratizing access to previously exclusive markets – ranging from higher education to venture capital, consumer goods, tech, and even politics & government.

Currently, he serves as President & COO of Alumni Ventures, a network-powered venture capital firm which in 2021, was the third-most active venture investor in the world (as per Pitchbook Global League Tables). Previously, Van Ostern was on the founding executive team for Southern New Hampshire University’s online College for America, which he helped launch and grow to more than 10,000 “nontraditional” students and graduates nationwide.

Outside of business, Colin was publicly elected twice to New Hampshire’s five-member Executive Council (which serves as a board of directors for the state government), where he was the first Councilor in state history to share all state contracts online for public comment. In 2016, Colin was the general election nominee for Governor of New Hampshire. 

Early in his career, he helped elect several members of Congress, Governors, and US Senators in New Hampshire. He holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and a BA in International Studies from George Washington University. He lived in 16 different houses while growing up before moving to New Hampshire after college. Colin today lives in Concord, NH, with his wife and two boys.

Insights from this episode: 

• How Colin got into politics
• What prompted Colin to run for office
• Why Colin didn’t win his race for governor
• Similarities and differences in political and entrepreneurial leadership
• Colin’s thoughts on online education as a business model 
• Insights into online learning
• Colin’s involvement with Alumni Ventures
• Colin’s shift from politics to venture capital
• How Colin got his job at Alumni Ventures

Quotes from the show:

• “When you see a way things can be better, that you are passionate about and you have a clear picture of how you could positively impact things, you shouldn’t hold back” -Colin Van Ostern [14:23]
• “I think frankly I didn’t offer a compelling enough reason for people to understand in a sentence or in a moment why this race mattered to their lives and why having me as Governor would be different” -Colin Van Ostern [17.06]
• “When you are launching something new, you have to have a vision of the future that you are so convinced has to happen that nothing can get in the way, even failure” -Colin Van Ostern [19:18]
• “There is so much information available, and so it's possible for some of us to get real knowledge about something in a very cost-effective way on their own terms” -Syd Finkelstein [29:58]
• “The best versions of online education, I believe, are significantly better than the worst versions of in-person learning, but I have never seen an online experience that comes close to a good in-person experience” -Colin Van Ostern [31:42]
• “I think content is the smallest part of education in 2022; I think it’s really important, but they're a very small number of thought leaders who are driving new content” -Colin Van Ostern [32:51]
• “Good online education can still be better than in-person learning and we should be honest that there is bad in-person learning” -Colin Van Ostern [37:34] 
• “The folks who have to work twice as hard are accomplished people worth betting on” Colin Van Ostern [55:28]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Colin Van Ostern

LinkedIn: Colin Van Ostern 

Twitter: ColinVanOstern

Facebook: Colin Van Ostern

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Episode Summary

Lowey Bundy Sichol writes books about entrepreneurship for kids. Think Google, Lego, and Disney. A multiple award-winner who used to write business school case studies, Lowey has figured out how to communicate to children in a way that makes them want to keep reading. On this episode of The Sydcast, Lowey tells her story.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Lowey Bundy Sichol

Lowey Bundy Sichol (her last name rhymes with pickle) is an award-winning children's author with an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. She is a leading expert in teaching business and entrepreneurship to kids. 

Lowey’s nonfiction series From an Idea to... (Harper Collins/ HMH, 2019) is the first entrepreneurship and business book series for kids and the recipient of several literary awards. Her latest book, IDEA MAKERS: 15 Fearless Female Entrepreneurs (Chicago Review Press, 2022), shares the incredible stories of 15 of our nation’s greatest female founders. And Lowey’s upcoming book Cookie Queen (Random House, 2023) is the first entrepreneurship picture book. Cookie Queen shares the story of Kathleen King and her inspiration for building Tate’s Bake Shop.  

Prior to writing children’s books, Lowey worked in brand management and founded Case Marketing, a specialized writing firm that composes MBA case studies for some of the top business schools in the world. Her case studies have been read by MBA students across the globe and are included in the internationally best-selling marketing book, Marketing Management, by Kotler & Keller (Pearson, 2016).

Lowey received an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and a BA from Hamilton College, where she played softball and rugby. She lives in Chicago with her husband, three children, and two big dogs. 

Awards include 2019 Best Children’s Book, 2019 Best Children’s Nonfiction Book, 2020 Best STEM Book, Junior Library Guild Gold Selection, 2020 Best Children’s Book Council book, 2020 International Literacy Association Book, 2020-2021 Texas Bluebonnet Award master list, among others.

Insights from this episode: 

• Lowey’s idea of writing children’s books
• How Lowey’s mom influenced her work
• How her childhood influenced her journey into writing books
• How to go about writing a case study
• Similarities between writing case studies and children’s books
• Lowey’s sweet spot in her target audience
• How Lowey is able to educate her audience without making it too complicated or too simplified
• The common themes while writing her book IDEA MAKERS: 15 Fearless Female Entrepreneurs
• Lessons that children can learn from reading her book

Quotes from the show:

• “I’d certainly think she [my mom] was very influential. She was always a wonderful teacher in town, very focused on play and learning through doing” -Lowey Bundy Sichol  [11:03]
• “It’s pretty cool that schools now are embracing teaching kids about entrepreneurship, and I think it goes back to ‘learn through doing, learn through failure, experimenting and inventing’” -Lowey Bundy Sichol  [11:36]
• “A lot of my books are about how influenced entrepreneurs and business leaders are by their childhood, and the parents who raised them, and I am such a good example of that” -Lowey Bundy Sichol [12:00]
• “This is what I have learned [about kids in 3rd, 4th, 5th grade]: They are incredibly brave, they are incredibly creative, they are incredibly excited to share their ideas, they are not too cool yet, but they are incredibly bright. It’s almost like they are mini entrepreneurs” -Lowey Bundy Sichol [13:56]
• “It’s interesting the philosophy of education for anyone, but for kids, the idea of having applied projects that are practical is very powerful” -Syd Finkelstein [20:23]
• “I think education, in general, has not done as good a job in entire industries in making it clear why you need to learn” -Syd Finkelstein [20:43]
• “My purpose is to tell a great story and to teach kids about business and entrepreneurship” -Lowey Bundy Sichol [29:43]
• ​​“Being able to adapt for the different audience, being able to just persevere throughout the hard times and being brave enough to go against what other people didn’t support are some of the common themes” -Lowey Bundy Sichol [38:51]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Lowey Bundy Sichol

Website: Lowey Bundy Sichol 

LinkedIn: Lowey Bundy Sichol 

Twitter: Lowey Bundy Sichol 

Instagram: Lowey Bundy Sichol 

Amazon: Lowey Bundy Sichol

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Episode Summary

Diane Brady is one of the top business journalists in the world, with writing and editing gigs at the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Business Week, and Forbes. And also an old friend. She’s wise (“nobody needs more content, they need more intelligence”) and she’s a pro (“the best interviews are about listening”). In this episode, Diane and Syd on curating content, the future of journalism, and Elizabeth Holmes.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.  He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.”  He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus.  Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Diane Brady 

Diane Brady has interviewed many of the world's leading business and political figures throughout her career. She is currently an assistant managing editor at Forbes, overseeing C-suite coverage and communities, as well as the editorial teams that run ForbesWomen, For(bes) the Culture, the 30 Under 30 franchise, and coverage of creators and startups. Prior to joining Forbes, she worked at McKinsey, Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, and Maclean’s, along with running her own company. Her book, Fraternity, was named one of Amazon’s best books of the year.

Insights from this episode: 

• Diane’s career in journalism
• The difference in the world of business journalism now and when she started
• Insights into the art of storytelling
• Diane’s book Fraternity and how it came about
• Insights into curating content
• The idea and concept behind 30 under 30
• Curating content in a world with so many competitors
• Diane’s favorite people she has interviewed
• Insights into what makes a great interview

Quotes from the show:

• “Every company can be a media company now, or thinks it can be a media company” -Diane Brady [1:11] 
• “I think what has driven me my whole career is curiosity”-Diane Brady [3:06] 
• “There is no better way to clear a room of men than to put the word women on the panel” -Diane Brady [10:20]
• “I have always brought a commercial instinct to journalism, I don’t wanna be on the business side but I love building new franchises” -Diane Brady [17:42]
• “I don’t mind ignorance as long as it goes with intelligence and as long as people know that I am a quick study and I am coming to you with the information” -Diane Brady [19:50]
• “I think one of the tragedies in school is that we learn math and not economics” -Diane Brady [20.32]
• “Nobody needs more content is my general philosophy in life, they need more intelligence, they need more synthesis perhaps, but not more content” -Diane Brady [27:33]
• “When you don’t have a newsroom of 2200 people, what matters is to be the curator of what matters; to be able to connect the dots” -Diane Brady [29:29]
• “The people who stand out don’t always stand out for the right reasons. Sometimes they stand out because there is such a disconnect between who they think they are and the way they run their companies or brands” -Diane Brady [55:42]
• “The best interviews are about listening” -Diane Brady [1:00:20]
• “One thing that I admire about entrepreneurs is the ability to fail and get back up” -Diane Brady [1:10:30]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Diane Brady

LinkedIn: Diane Brady 

Twitter: Diane Brady

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

Episode Summary

Ukraine is Ground Zero for war, but also all manner of newer technologies, from cyber to AI. What is NATO seeing, and learning, and what are the implications of the war for global security, technology, and innovation? James Appathurai has a front-row seat at NATO HQ, on this episode of The Sydcast.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

James Appathurai

James Appathurai was appointed to this post in September 2021. As DASG, he works on policy development and implementation in the fields of Emerging and Disruptive Technologies, cyber security, counter-terrorism, the security implications of climate change, and hybrid defence. Mr Appathurai previously served as DASG for Political Affairs and Security Policy and Special Representative to Central Asia and the Caucasus. He was NATO’s Spokesperson from 2004 to 2010. He served as Deputy Head and Senior Planning Officer in the Policy Planning and Speechwriting Section of NATO’s Political Affairs Division from 1998 to 2004. He served in the Canadian Defence Department from 1994 to 1998.

Insights from this episode: 

• Insights on the status of the Ukrainian war
• James’ expertise in various technologies and cyber security
• What is happening in Ukraine, and our role as the west
• How Ukraine has defended itself from attacks
• Insights on emerging technologies and how they fit into the Ukrainian war
• How quantum and AI are benefiting countries that have invested in them
• How the war on Russia has affected her credibility with other countries 
• Innovations at NATO
• NATO’s efforts toward climate change

Quotes from the show:

• “President Zelensky and the Ukrainian people have reminded us what it is to fight for yourself, for your values, for your security, and they are doing remarkably well in that context” -James Appathurai [1:58]
• “Let’s not underestimate the long years of Russia’s interference into our countries, including the electoral process in the U.S, including ransom war attacks all over Europe and the U.S and Canada” -James Appathurai [5:23] 
• “Once you unleash a cyber weapon, everybody knows you have it, everybody knows how it works, and then everybody else has it too. In other words, once it’s out in the wild, you get to copy it, modify it and use it yourself“ -James Appathurai [14:12]
• “Both AI and quantum are technologies which Russia and China have publicly, at the top level of president, identified as national priorities” -James Appathurai [18:07]
• “Whoever gets to quantum encryption first is in a massive position of advantage strategically” -James Appathurai [19:38]
• “If you don’t know whether your communications are reliable within your own system, then how can you know what to do? You are paralyzed” -James Appathurai [23:15]
• “I think when it comes to quantum and to a certain extent AI, it is really the U.S and China that are in the lead” -James Appathurai [25:16]
• “We are not in the same world we were in 20 years ago, we are now in an era of strategic competition, and that strategic competition is driven by technology” -James Appathurai [35:38]
• “When push comes to shove, walls go up: but I think what we need to do is take advantage of the moments when push hasn’t yet come to shove” -James Appathurai [42.39]
• “The U.S doesn’t get as much credit as it should for everything it does over here” -James Appathurai [47:18]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

James Appathurai

LinkedIn: James Appathurai 

Twitter: James Appathurai 

Facebook: James Appathurai Official 

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Episode Summary

What happens when a tech-savvy entrepreneurial young man from Africa comes to America for school? It’s his first time in the US and what does he learn? As he describes on this episode of The Sydcast, George Boateng learns that he is black. That simple, and powerful, observation will strike many listeners as profound, yet George understands that his identity is what he makes it to be. As we will hear, that includes an EdTech start-up that is teaching young people in Africa to code, an effort to mentor young Africans to develop solutions to the real problems they are confronting, and his own work on his Ph.D. in Switzerland.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

George Boateng 

George Boateng is a Computer Scientist, Engineer, Educator, and Social Entrepreneur who has been recognized as a Pioneer in the 2021 MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35. 

He is currently a PhD Candidate and Doctoral Researcher at ETH Zurich, Switzerland focusing on Applied Machine Learning, and a Visiting Researcher at the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge, U.K.  

George is also the CEO and co-founder of SuaCode.ai, an EdTech AI start-up that is enabling young Africans to learn to code using smartphones and AI. He is also the President and co-founder of Nsesa Foundation, an education nonprofit that is training and mentoring young Africans to be innovators. He previously worked as an Applied Scientist at Amazon (Alexa AI) and a Software Engineer at Sapho (acquired by Citrix). 

George has a BA in Computer Science and an MS in Computer Engineering from Dartmouth College, U.S. where he was an E.E. Just STEM Scholar and an E.E. Just Graduate Fellow.

Insights from this episode: 

• What George learned along the way
• What it means to have an impact on people’s lives
• What led George to start the coding company
• How George is able to manage his time (doing his Ph.D. and running a startup)
• George’s journey to engineering
• George’s journey to Dartmouth University
• What it means to show up in America coming from Africa
• Insights on how arthritis led him to wearable technology

Quotes from the show:

• “The goal was to teach people across Ghana to code so that we can reach more people” -George Boateng [9:03]
• “We have a lot of good data, we haven’t made good use of it yet, but I think at some point it will really be useful data that other companies might want” -George Boateng [13:28]
• “Now is the single best time to have talent of any type because you are going to be in such demand, and you’re going to get paid for it, maybe more than you have been before” -Sydney Finkelstein [13:49]
• “One of the challenging aspects of coming to the US was having to embrace this new identity called black” -George Boateng [32:49]
• “I have been in Ghana all my life, the concept of race was not part of my experience” -George Boateng [33:03]
• “I think there’s got to be an evolutionary reason for it, but we do like to separate people into groups and when they don’t exist, we create them, and if they do exist, we highlight them” -Sydney Finkelstein [34:03]
• “I consider myself an accidental academic because the main reason i am in academia is because I didn’t get a job. If I had gotten a job, I definitely wouldn’t be doing my PhD” -George Boateng [34:41]
• “Very few people ever have it figured out, you just have to do the best you can and you try to go for it” -Sydney Finkelstein [45:56]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

George Boateng 

LinkedIn:  George Jojo Boateng 

Twitter: George Boateng 

Instagram: George Boateng 

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Episode Summary

Scholar, leadership guru, author, speaker, and influencer, for the last 7 years Christine Riordan has been President of Adelphi University in New York. How did she get there? How did her leadership work translate to when she was sitting in the corner office? How did she navigate running a large university during Covid? And how does she think about women and leadership? A master class on leadership, with Christine Riordan.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Christine Riordan

Christine Riordan (MBA, Ph.D.) is the 10th President of Adelphi University in New York and has been since 2015. Since starting, Chris has established the University's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and has helped launch 50 new academic degree programs. She also sits on a number of boards including those of RE/MAX Holdings and the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU).

Prior to becoming Adelphi’s President, Riordan occupied roles including Executive Consultant at State Farm, Dean of University of Denver’s College of Business, and Associate Dean at TCU, to name a few. Chris is an expert in leadership, talent development, career success, and diversity. She has published 70 articles and is authoring Shift Happens: How to Adapt and Thrive in a Rapidly Changing World of Work—a book on helping employees adapt to the changing workplace. Chris’s TEDx talk, “Dare to Be Extraordinary,” has received more than 26,000 views.

Insights from this episode: 

• How to create an inclusive environment
• How to involve people in creating an inclusive environment
• Chris’ journey to being university president
• Chris’ challenges as a president
• Navigating classes during covid
• How Chris helped her university to respond to the pandemic from an academic standpoint
• How she helped her community with resources to tap into during the pandemic
• How Chris helped her community to navigate in the new environment with the COVID-19 pandemic
• How to successfully fundraise
• Chris’ mission to help every student succeed
• What are the attributes of good leadership

Quotes from the show:

• “One of the things that was really important for me was to be able to make an impact on students’ lives” - Christine Riordan [5:36]
• “Diversity is easy but it's useless if it doesn’t have inclusion, and I think the hardest work is to make sure people are included” - Christine Riordan [9:23]
• “The job of not just a leader but almost anyone in any significant senior position with responsibility is to figure out what that puzzle is” - Sydney Finkelstein [19:01]
• “I think when you are trying to accomplish things then the challenge and opportunity again is to try to find that shared goal and commonality” - Christine Riordan [30:55]
• “From a leadership standpoint, it is really important to understand who you are serving and understand their desires and make sure you are communicating constantly with them” - Christine Riordan [39:09]
• “To do all the work around diversity, equity, and inclusion and belonging, you have to be very intentional” - Christine Riordan [44:31]
• “To me the number one capability that a leader has to have is adaptability ” - Christine Riordan [46:11]
• “Even if someone has the capabilities to do a particular job, if they do not have the right mindset, they are not going to be successful” - Christine Riordan [47:05]

Stay connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Christine Riordan

Website: christineriordan.com

LinkedIn:  Christine Riordan 

Twitter: Christine M. Riordan 

Instagram: Christine M. Riordan (@prezriordan)

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

An Athlete's Life, with Anouk Patty

Episode Summary:

So many people are afraid of change, but sometimes we get to talk to someone whose life is a case study of change. When it was clear that Anouk Patty – an NCAA champion ski racer – would not be good enough to reach Olympic medal heights, she changed. Business school and a successful career in tech strategy and deal-making followed. When Anouk realized that she was not living her true self, this mother of two came out as gay, at age 40. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she became an even more empathetic and passionate leader. An honest and inspirational conversation with Anouk Patty, on The Sydcast.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Anouk Patty 

Born into a skiing family in France and raised in Vermont, Anouk Patty was practically destined to make it onto the US Ski team at age 14. Yet after a few years as a global top-30 skier, Anouk was ready to leave behind the “single-minded focus that it takes to be a world-class athlete.” She went on to ski at Dartmouth, where she claimed an NCAA title, and then to JP Morgan in New York where she launched her professional career. After earning her MBA at Harvard Business School and doing a stint at Bain Consulting, Anouk jumped on the tech bandwagon at Intuit. She spent 10 years there before taking some time off to be a mom and (finally) have some time to reflect on her life and what she wanted. As a result, she got divorced, came out as gay, and decided to head back to work doing strategic partnerships at HP. Today, Anouk holds a similar role at Dropbox, sits on numerous ski-related boards, and is a recent survivor of breast cancer. She describes herself as “intensely curious about life, business, opportunities, and people.”

Insights from this Episode 

• The age range ski racer's usually reach the peak of their careers
• The challenges of being an athlete
• The importance of the single-minded focus for an athlete
• The differences between an excellent athlete and a world champion
• The difficulties Anouk faced when she transitioned to the business world
• How Anouk ended up working on Wall Street
• The skillsets from the athletic world that have served Anouk the most in business
• Anouk's experience choosing an alternative career path
• How Anouk decided that she was going to retire temporarily to be a mom
• How being gay has affected Anouk as a leader
• How the workspace has changed in the past decades
• How Anouk dealt with being diagnosed with breast cancer
• What advice Anouk would give to her younger self

Quotes from the Show: 

• "It's a pretty brutal sport. You're out there in the cold, it's freezing... whether its raining or cold or whatever it is you have to be out there and they're long days" - Anouk Patty [09:30]
• "I love hanging out with people that are trying to be the best in the world at something. There's only one number one at any point in time, so most people are not gonna hit that, but that doesn't mean you can't try it" - Sydney Finkelstein [20:11]
• "When I was actually trying to get the job and going through recruiting, I had a number of different firms say to me: Well you should just go back into sports" - Anouk Patty [23:30]
• "When you make these life-changing shifts you feel like: Oh God, what am I letting go, and what am I giving up? Will I ever be able to find this sense of reward and satisfaction again?" - Anouk Patty [32:28]
• "[About breast cancer] You just never think that something like this could happen because we [the athletes] spend so much of our time taking care of our bodies, eating the right food and exercising everyday"- Anouk Patty [44:30]
• "If you want to get the best out of others, you have to bring your best and truest self to the table" - Anouk Patty[48:42]

Stay Connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Anouk Patty

Twitter: Anouk Patty

Facebook: Anouk Patty

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Dr. Lucy Gilbert: The Cancer-Curing Doctor

Episode Summary:

Dr. Lucy Gilbert – an oncologist at McGill University – has developed a genetic AI-based test to detect early stage ovarian and endometrial cancers, the third highest cancer-killer of women. In this episode of The Sydcast, Dr. Gilbert shares her journey from Singapore to London to Montreal, one of six physician sisters, now closing in on a revolutionary advance in cancer treatment.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Lucy Gilbert 

Dr. Lucy Gilbert is a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and the Department of Oncology at McGill University. She heads the tertiary/quaternary care Gynecologic Cancer Service of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) as well as its Women’s Health Research Unit which is active in multinational clinical trials investigating new precision therapies for gynecologic cancers thus providing practical and immediate benefits for women with gynecologic cancer. Her research focuses on novel therapeutic options for the treatment of ovarian and uterine cancers as well as technologies for their early detection. She has set up a network of satellite clinics as part of the DOvEE (Diagnosing Ovarian and Endometrial Cancers Early) project, which provides open access investigations for women with symptoms associated with gynecologic cancers. Dr. Gilbert and her team have recently developed a genomic uterine pap test to identify the somatic mutation. A sample is taken from the uterus and then uses machine learning to discriminate cancer from benign /normal samples. This test, which is currently being offered to women aged 45 – 70 years, has the potential to detect these cancers while they are confined to the gynecologic organs and still curable. The project received 6.4M GAPP funding to start the phase III clinical trial which started on May 10, 2021. In recognition of her outstanding leadership in cancer research, Dr. Gilbert was recently nominated as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Canada 2021.

Insights from this Episode 

• The racism and sexism Lucy faced during her life professionally and personally
• Lucy’s thoughts on today’s generational anxiety
• How economically challenging was maintaining six daughters for his father
• Lucy’s experience moving to Montreal
• What does Lucy think about the placebo effect and how it affects cancer
• Lucy’s work and advances in cancer
• How problematic is ovarian cancer nowadays
• What is the BRCA test
• What advice would Lucy give to her younger self

Quotes from the Show: 

• “[About her father] He considered us assets and he made us believe that the only limits were what we set for ourselves and if you wanted to be a provider for your family that’s what you did” - Lucy Gilbert [05:08]
• “Health and education, I believe it should not be left to market forces, it should be almost a fundamental right…you will not get a good society and ultimately and impact all of us if we do not invest in a reasonable amount of health for everyone regardless of their ability to pay and a reasonable amount on education” - Lucy Gilbert [13:56]
• “[About the placebo effect] I tell patients what we do with surgery and chemotherapy…is the tip of the iceberg” - Lucy Gilbert [28:40]
• “[About the test] It picks up somatic mutations inside, tells them about prevalent cancers but we also do a saliva test simultaneously which picks up the BRCA genes talk about the genetic susceptibility to these cancers” - Lucy Gilbert [44:17]

Stay Connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Lucy Gilbert

LinkedIn: Lucy Gilbert

Website: Dr. Lucy Gilbert

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.

Episode Summary:

Every once in a while our guest on The Sydcast seems to do everything well. Jay Rosenzweig, this week’s guest, is a great example. Entrepreneurial “breathing” is in his bones, whether that means building a major executive search firm, investing in dozens of Web 3.0 startups, or spearheading major initiatives at multiple non-profit organizations (including the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights). Add in music recording artist, publisher of the most important report in Canada on the status of women in leadership, mentor to NBA players and company founders alike, and you start to get the picture. Jay Rosenzweig is all about impact, which makes him the perfect guest for The Sydcast.

Sydney Finkelstein 

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life.

Jay Rosenzweig

Jay Rosenzweig is an internationally renowned social impact entrepreneur, humanitarian, trained lawyer, and leadership strategist. The founder of Rosenzweig & Company, Rosenzweig is an expert in designing, building, and attracting world-class teams. He consults with public and private companies, including large global corporations; emerging growth to mid-sized businesses; professional services firms; and private equity and venture capital firms. He invests in and advises several leading-edge tech companies across North America and beyond. Rosenzweig has been immersed in global human rights causes for well over two decades and has been internationally recognized for the Annual Rosenzweig Report on equality, which he has published for the past seventeen years. Rosenzweig’s Annual Report has received endorsements and contributions from a wide range of leaders and personalities such as Justin Trudeau, Alyssa Milano, Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Cuban, Deepak Chopra, Van Jones, Zainab Salbi, CEOs and Board Chairs of major corporations, and several other artists, humanitarians, politicians and business leaders. He is the Chair of the Board of Irwin Cotler’s Raoul Wallenberg Centre For Human Rights. In addition, he sits on a number of other purpose-driven boards supporting causes ranging from healthcare, youth empowerment, refugee protection, and anti-gun violence. Rosenzweig is an outspoken advocate against Antisemitism, racism, and all forms of hate and discrimination. He invests in businesses whose mission is to foster a world that gives equal opportunities for all, including greater access to education, capital, and mobility. Rosenzweig’s work has been featured in several publications, including The New York Times, Fast Company, The Guardian, Business Insider, BNN Bloomberg, Cheddar, Bold TV, Digital Trends, Business Rockstars, Globe & Mail, National Post, Toronto Star, Huffington Post, and Thrive Global. He earned three degrees at McGill University: Philosophy, Civil Law, and Common Law. In addition, he completed the Harvard Law School Negotiation Program, taught by expert negotiator Roger Fisher, author of Getting To Yes. Rosenzweig is an avid songwriter, having collaborated with a number of well-known recording artists. 

Insights from this Episode

• Jay’s mindset of curiosity
• What has helped Jay to have an open mind to criticism
• Jay’s philosophy to explore the opportunities that life offers
• Jay’s professional trajectory
• How did Jay end up working on startups and founders
• What is the skill set needed to thrive in life and business
• What is going on in the digital sector
• What inspired Jay to work towards promoting female leadership
• What according to Jay’s perspective is one of the biggest issues for female workers in the business world
• How Jay was introduced to the music world

Quotes from the Show:

• “I think for a lot of individuals, and I coach a lot of individuals as well, ego gets in the way and defense mechanisms prevent individuals from actually seeking out criticism” - Jay Rosenzweig [16:41]
• “I take criticism in an objective way if you will, as a mean of self-improvement even if I receive irrational criticism, I don’t let that affect me, so it's a matter of really going more deeply into yourself to understand really the only thing you can control 100% is how you’re feeling inside of yourself” - Jay Rosenzweig [17:32]
• “My philosophy it's always been: when you see these windows of opportunity, when you see these cracks in the door, walk through them” - Jay Rosenzweig [19:50]
• “Success to me is not based on events that happen or based on results, success to me is because you have no control or very little control of what comes at you very often, so to me, success is how you respond to what is thrown at you” - Jay Rosenzweig [34:20]
• “The idea is to put a mirror to the corporate world in terms of the iron clad data of what the status of women is in leadership” - Jay Rosenzweig [45:21]
• “I’d say to myself, it’s going to be alright, enjoy the journey” - Jay Rosenzweig [57:54]

Stay Connected:

Sydney Finkelstein

Website: http://thesydcast.com

LinkedIn: Sydney Finkelstein

Twitter: @sydfinkelstein

Facebook: The Sydcast

Instagram: The Sydcast

Jay Rosenzweig

LinkedIn: Jay Rosenzweig

Website: Jay Rosenzweig

Twitter: Jay Rosenzweig

Instagram: Jay Rosenzweig

Subscribe to our podcast + download each episode on Stitcher, iTunes, and Spotify.

This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry.