Piece of Mind - Conversations with Curious Minds with Jad Halaoui Jad Halaoui

Podcast Intro



Today's guest is Lijo Mathew, the Founder & CEO of Slingshot Holding.

Lijo started off his career in logistics and supply chain at Expeditors for 1 year. In 2004, with very little experience, he stumbled upon becoming a military contractor - a role in which he supplied allied armies in Iraq with anything and everything they needed.

In this conversation, we trace back Lijo's story and how he discovered the opportunity that became his life's work and what it takes to learn and excel in an industry you are an outsider to.

We discuss the 3 things that win wars, the importance of hiring the right talent, and the personal and professional toll of not doing so from the beginning.

We go over the challenges of operating in a very large industry, the mental stain of working in war zones has, and the emotional gardening that was required for Lijo to move through the different chapters of being a CEO.

This episode is an exploration of how far in life wandering can take you, the importance of beings hands-on in the early stages of the business, the loneliness of entrepreneurship and the role people who love you play in keeping true to yourself if you veer off course.

Guest Information

LinkedIn: Lijo Mathew - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lijo-mathew-8a357324/
Slingshot Holding


Show Notes
[03:10] Lijo’s background

[06:40] Discovering he wants to get into Logistics & Supply Chain

[08:10] Moving to Dubai to start something new

[13:05] Stumbling upon the opportunity to become a military contractor

[15:20] Building out the supply chain between the UAE and Iraq

[17:40] Crazy story

[21:05] Lijo’s style of learning the industry as an outsider

[24:50] The 3 things that win wars

[26:50] Delivering and receiving brutal feedback

[29:40] Learning how to hire talent as a CEO

[35:15] The challenges of replacing existing employees with new talent

[37:50] What Lijo looks for in talent

[40:30] The size of the US Military Contracting Market

[44:20] US President Bush’s directive for Turkey dinner to all soldiers & Sending Employees to the US with Credit Cards to buy Butterball Turkeys [https://www.butterball.com/]

[46:00] Why it costs the US army $1,000,000 per soldier per year to have a solider in the field

[48:30] The kind of the distractions soldiers ask for and get in the field

[50:10] The human condition and psychology of soldiers during war

[57:05] The challenges that soldiers face in the field

[01:03:37] The mental toll that being in war zones had on Lijo

[01:07:48] Relying on faith to reconcile the inner battles he was going through 

[01:11:24] Manu Militari's L'Attente - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjwm_GsNYds&ab_channel=USEFNAIT

[01:22:00] The challenges of top-down management and bringing people with you on the journey

[01:20:00] The different chapters of maturity of a CEO

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight
Scary Close by Donald Miller 
StoryBrand by Donald Miller

[01:27:30] Teaching kids how to understand money

[01:33:00] The kindest thing

Podcast Intro

Our guest today is Louis Lebbos, the cofounder of Astrolabs, a coworking space and capability building organization focused on developing the digital ecosystem in the Middle East region.

Prior to Astrolabs, Louis was the cofounder of Namshi, one of the region’s earliest e-commerce companies, and among its most successful ones to-date. He left his consulting job at McKinsey less than 1 year after finishing his MBA at Harvard - choosing to chase the steep learning curve that comes with entrepreneurship, and putting it ahead of financial certainty and predictable career progression.

In this conversation, we discuss why Louis tries to convince 80% of people to not join consulting, why you should start a startup, the misconceptions around fundraising and when bootstrapping is more applicable than raising money for it.

We discussed the intricacies of the cofounder relationship and what it’s like to cofound a second company with the same founder.

We go over what a mission driven organization is, how Louis manages his environment in order to achieve mental focus and be productive, and how he has set up a culture in his organization that allows people to do the same.

We finish with why Louis named his son Galileo and how that very nicely summarizes our entire conversation.

Please enjoy this wide-ranging conversation.

Louis Lebbos

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

Show Notes

[02:15] Louis’ Background

[04:40] Why not join a management consulting company

[06:00] Being on a steep learning curve

[14:30] The way out of consulting

[16:52] Jad’s Background

[18:36] The Reason to do a Startup (article)

https://foresight.astrolabs.com/insights/startup-insights/why-start-a-startup

[22:10] Joing Consuling

[23:45] The beginning of the Namshi journey

[27:16] The conditions that come with funding

[30:40] Seeking external validation in fundraising, education and career

[35:10] When Bootstrapped works better than funding

[38:50] What working under pressure teaches you

[42:30] Starting a second company with the same cofounder

[46:30] Cofounder Relationship

[52:35] Handling Disappointment among team members

[54:55] A Mission Driven Organization

[1:00:45] Encouraging learning new skills at work

[1:03:10] Required Reading Books - Jason Fried books https://basecamp.com/books

[1:04:10] Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Have Failed--and What to Do About It & Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organization Chart

https://www.amazon.com/Boulevard-Broken-Dreams-Entrepreneurship-Failed/dp/0691154538

[1:05:05] Louis’ worst management habits

[1:08:10] Achieving Mental Clarity

[1:11:50] Metaproductivity

[1:17:15] Why Louis’ son is named Gallieo

[1:22:25] Kindest thing

On this episode, I sat down with Richard Fisher, the founder of PUSH, which stands for Persevere Until Something Happens. Richard's personal story is one I love to hear. It challenges the conventional understanding of what traditional schooling should look like. I especially like how Richard is leveraging his own realization to get help children from underprivileged backgrounds get access to aspirational and engaging education.

We began discussing Richard's childhood education amidst the responsibilities he had at a very young age, how and why he went from a very bad student in school to an especially good one in university

We talked through how working in a glamorous environment made him realize it was time to start PUSH and focus on helping others, organizing bootcamps the International Film Festival in a village of 2,000 people in Ghana that people from all over the world fly to, and how PUSH is marrying gaming and education to adapt as it takes a digital-first approach in a COVID-world.

Richard is open, honest, and holds very little back as he shares mind-opening and heart-breaking truths. I really enjoyed listening and re-listening to this conversation. I think you will too.

P.U.S.H Details
Website
Instagram

Richard Fisher
LinkedIn

Show Notes

[03:30] Chilhood and early struggles with education

[9:30] Accidently discovering the education path to enter e-commerce

[10:30] Learning and Excelling in University due to the hands-on approach used at the time

[12:10] Landing at Bloomberg and how the same tools and concepts used in university allowed Richard to do great his job

[16:00] Working with a mentor who was a subject matter expert who taught them how to create opportunities through Maths

[20:00] How living in Dubai opened up Richard’s eyes to his desire to help others

[22:30] Richard’s sister’s music

[23:50] A turning point - and the importance of purpose

[26:50] The complications of leaving a well paying job to going to not having any income

[32:30] What it means to “properly” go on the Entrepreurship journey?

[36:00] The 2,000-person town in Ghana that hosts an International Film Festival

[45:00] Running the programs in different cities to make long term change

[52:00] What it took for kids to finally believe in P.U.S.H

[57:00] Strategies and tactics used by P.U.S.H to provide regular and continouss educational programming and mentoring

[1:00:00] The COVID inspired pivot for P.U.S.H

[1:04:30] The vision of P.U.S.H over the next few years

[1:07:00] Marrying “Gaming” & “Education”

[1:12:40] Kindest thing

Guest Info

Daniel is the Director of the Startup Lab and Professor of Entrepreneurship in EPITA. He advises CEOs and CTOs of high-growth start-ups in managing their Tech Organizations. Daniel is also the founder of the first startup accelerator in Paris.

In this conversation, we discuss why software engineers only enjoy talking business amongst each other, and why Daniel thinks software engineers are well suited to be CEOs.

We go over what it takes to scale software teams: how leaders must evolve their management style, how to identify good software talent and how to build a structure that eliminates chaotic software development.

Finally, we discuss the evolution of organizational structures as tech teams scale, and why leaders should iterate on their Organizational Structure the same way they do on their products.

This episode is very well-suited for anybody who is interested in software development and build  a tech product.

Twitter: @djarjoura
LinkedIn: Daniel Jarjoura

Books Recommended by Daniel


"High Output Management" by Andy Grove
"An Elegant Puzzle" by Will Larson
"The Manager’s Path" by Camille Fournier

Referenced Company for Tech Org Structure


Valve's Culture Handbook

Show Notes

[08:15] Why Engineers talk business with only other engineers

[12:00] Why CEOs should be Engineers

[17:15] The reason there aren’t enough technical Founders in the Middle East

[20:35] The maximum number of engineers per team

[22:55] Moving from Problem Solver to Manager

[24:50] Assessing Technical and Interpersonal skills when Recruiting Software Engineerss

[28:40] The Hurricane - and why companies rely on engineers that are at ad-hoc work.

[36:45] How to recover from The Hurricane and build a solid framework

[40:05] Measuring the health of a tech system by identifying its constraints

[42:05] Applying the concept of Change Freezes to Tech Teams

[43:20] The concept of deadlines in Tech Teams

[50:15] Iterating on the Organizational Structure & Looking at the organization like you look at aa product.

[57:40] Daniel’s experience with building his startup

[60:00] The One-Person Company vs Freelancing

[65:08] Kindest thing anybody has done for you

On this episode we hosted Usman a professional motorcycle racer. In this conversation, we discussed the beginnings of his journey into motorcycle riding, how he transformed racing weekends into a racing seasons, how he transitioned from racing for himself to racing for a team,  how he prepares for a racing season by disconnecting completely for 6 months by not talking to friends or family at all. Finally, we discussed how he contends with the harsh reality of death, and even prepares for it in very practical fashion. This is a conversation sure to satisfy any curious mind - please enjoy.

You can find Usman on:

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4WZ7a5mQt7NwU7VC18bqHQ

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imuhammadusman93/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iusman93/?hl=en

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Music Discussed:
Hang Massive - Warmth of the Sun's Rays - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ng7SSG3TEE

Books Discussed:
Silent Pulse by George Leonard - https://www.amazon.com/Silent-Pulse-Search-Perfect-Rhythm/dp/142360122X
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg - https://www.amazon.com/Power-Habit-What-Life-Business/dp/081298160X

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Show Notes: 

[01:42] Usman's background and bio
[07:09] Difference between race tracks between motorcycles and cars
[11:44] Why Usman doesn't recommend people do what he did to learn racing
[12:46] Usman's beginnings in racing.
[15:41] Why being very helpful and open with the audience aids sponsorship deals
[20:07] Role of a team in racing
[22:39] How he prepares for a racing season
[28:27] How he cuts off the entire world during race season, and why
[35:48] How he manages his psychology for the 6 months
[37:57] Reconnecting with the world after the 6 months cutoff
[41:58] Optimizing for milliseconds to win races
[50:17] Celebrating life after death
[53:40] How Usman prepares for death
[56:15] The role of working with a psychologist on mental health
[01:01:48] Data in motorcycle racing
[01:10:33] The kindest thing

Architect and Chef Kuv Sharma discusses supper clubs and his journey of building and maintaining one. Supper clubs are a relatively new phenomenon in the UAE, whereas in the UK, where Kuv grew up, they were very common. The complexion of supper clubs is also very different in Dubai. In this episode, he discusses how got started in supper clubs, the ingredients of great supper club and the importance of long-term thinking in building a community around these supper clubs.

Since recording the conversation with Kuv, I have been to one of his dinners, and my wife and I hosted one in our home. I can attest to their delightful nature, to the great food we had, and to the amazing conversations that took place on those evenings. I admit, too, that I was nervous on that first occasion because I didn't know what to expect. I had forgotten what it was like to not introduce myself by what I do, where I'm from or how long it's been since I've been in Dubai.

You can find Kuv on Instragram on @kuvsecretsuppers or you can email him on chefkuv@gmail.com. 

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The full automatically generated and unedited transcript of this conversation is available here: 

https://medium.com/@superficialjad/episode-2-chef-kuv-sharma-secret-supper-clubs-fb8bfa51bfe4


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Show notes: 

01:36 - Origin of Supperclubs
09:31 - Social Interactions at the Supperclubs
14:04 - What food is about
17:40 - The responsibility to deliver a good experience
22:13 - Stepping out of the comfort zone in a supper club
33:51 - Distinguishing good feedback from worthless feedback
40:01 - Kuv's at a Junction of Life where everything he's trained for is coming together
45:51 - Adversity as children
49:44 - The journey of a guest at a supper club
56:22 - Making the supper club a business
01:02:10 - Can you really smell salt?
01:09:25 - Obstacles in the kitchen
01:15:13 - The rise of pop-up supper clubs and their impact on the restaurant industry
01:22:12 - Bringing a meaningful object to a dinner and discussing it with strangers
01:27:31 - The kindest 2 things that have been done for Kuv