Originally published in Digital Journal.
The Expanded program provides hackathons, schools & non-profits free access to hundreds of clean, rich and current data sets. ThreatSync, a global cyber threat-sharing platform, wins 2017 HopHacks by leveraging the cyber threat intelligence feeds.
Lewes, Delaware – March 15, 2017 – John Snow Labs has announced an expansion of its data philanthropy program, that provides free access to hundreds of expert curated datasets in healthcare, life science and cyber security. The company is actively helping several hackathons, schools and non-profits, and given the strong demand and positive feedback so far has decided to make it available to a broader audience.
John Snow Labs also publicly joined the 1% Pledge Corporate Philanthropy initiative.
“We believe strongly in the idea that for-profit corporation can and must be a driver for good in our world, and leading the Data Philanthropy movement is the most natural way for us to pitch in,” said the founding team.
Data science is a major driver of human progress in the 21st century. Among the ecosystem of technology companies, healthcare providers, research, government and non-profit organizations working to make this a reality, there is a gap in providing quality Data Operations: Finding, cleaning, formatting, updating and publishing turnkey data for analysis. Data scientists, engineers and curators at John Snow Labs are working to solve these problems at scale.
The HopHacks Hackathon – where creativity meets Big Data
John Snow Labs recently sponsored the semiannual HopHacks 2017 hackathon, which attracted more than 320 students from across the USA.
The HopHacks team said about their partnership with John Snow Labs:
“We would like to thank you for your support throughout HopHacks Spring 2017. Your hard work and contribution have been extremely valuable to this event. Thanks to you, so many amazing projects were brought to life this past weekend”.
Jason Yim, HopHacks Organizer: “Overall many people told me the datasets were great and very easy to use, perfect for hackathon setting. We would love to continue partnering with you for future events!”
ThreatSync – A Global Threat Sharing Platform and HopHacks 2017 Winner
The aim of the ThreatSync project is to create a global and real-time threat-sharing platform. It’s a distributed, decentralized, and real-time threat sharing system using blockchain. Out of the box, it provides a rich, validated and always up to date set of current threat intelligence feeds, from John Snow Labs’ cyber data catalog.
The idea for ThreatSync came when Benjamin Leibowitz, Andrew Fan and Eric Rothman realized the value in the strength of the cyber threat intelligence data while browsing through the John Snow Labs datasets provided during the HopHacks 2017.
“We decided to use blockchain as the primary data store because its decentralized nature removed the need for a central authority to manage and maintain knowledge. Also, its real-time nature allows information to be shared across organizations in the fast-moving cyber security world. For proof of concept, we used 2 nodes on Amazon Web Services running the open-source blockchain software, MultiChain,” says the team. “In addition, we built a Python SDK to allow developers to automate accessing, updating, and acting on intelligence.”
Benjamin Leibowitz said: “We really liked working with the Johns Snow Labs data, and thanks for sponsoring the hackathon! All the teams had a blast and there were some really interesting projects working on the data. It was really helpful to be able to use your data to bootstrap our system and provide proof of concept that this is an idea with real potential.”
Eric Rothman added: “The datasets were really clean, easy to access and easy to use. There was such a large variety of data, at the start my team didn’t even know where to begin. It was a joy to be able to use the data provided.”
Not only was there a breadth of malicious cybersecurity threat information, but also the data was also clean enough to allow them to bootstrap their application with zero modification to the data itself. So they decided to build a platform to allow companies to share cyber security threats amongst themselves.
The 1% Pledge Movement of Corporate Philanthropy
Pledge 1% is a Corporate Philanthropy movement dedicated to making the community a key stakeholder in every business. Pledge 1% encourages and challenges individuals and companies to pledge 1% of equity, product, or employee time for their communities.
The John Snow Labs team believes every company must have a social mission that prioritizes making a positive impact on the world. The company has pledged to donate 1% of its product every year to social projects and causes that align with its mission.
The team emphasized that “Taking the 1% pledge is more than a show of philanthropic intent. It holds us publicly accountable for our mission. Our data philanthropy journey began in the very first weeks of the company’s existence, and we are delighted to grow it into a scalable and well received program. We intend to keep raising the bar and do more for the benefit of the entire ecosystem.”
For further information, visit: www.JohnSnowLabs.com
Originally posted: March 16th, 2017
This profile is published as part of Pledge 1%’s Women Who Lead series, which celebrates women in the Pledge 1% community who are creating change within their workplace and communities.
Julia Moran is the Director of Growth at PandaPay.io. She has been in this position for nine months. Read the full interview below to learn more about Julia’s career journey and what inspires her.
Q1: What inspired you to work in this industry?
PandaPay sits at the intersection of tech and social good, which I think has obvious appeal! It’s fascinating to work in tech – things move so quickly, I have the opportunity to work with incredibly smart, innovative people, and I’m always encouraged to push the envelope. When you apply that level of forward-thinking to the world of social good, you have a chance to make a real impact on the world – which I find inspiring every day!
Q2: What would you tell women who are looking to work in tech? Any advice on how they can build their career?
It’s no secret that tech is a male-dominated (and occasionally even sexist) industry – so I’ve definitely found it tough at times to succeed in the “boys club”. My advice is to just do what you came here for. Work hard. Take initiative. And don’t take any sh*t (can I say that??). Any decent company culture will see your value regardless of gender. And if the company culture isn’t decent, pull a Susan Fowler
Q3: Is your company a Pledge 1% member or do you personally give back to your community? If so, how do you give and to what cause?
Yes! We’ve pledged 1% of our equity to the Social Good Fund.
Q4: Do you serve as a mentor? What does mentorship mean to you?
I’m in the process of becoming an official mentor! I am getting involved as an advisor to the sorority I’m an alumna of.
To me, mentorship means leading by example – not telling people what to do, but showing them that with drive, grit, and a lot of positivity you can achieve great things. I’ve had some amazing women mentor me over the years and I think that’s why they were all so powerful for me.
Q5: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received to help you with your career?
Take risks! Especially while you’re young. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am if I hadn’t taken a few leaps of faith. You’ll probably fail at some point, but I think the scrappiness you learn from being a risk-taker will also help you pick yourself up by your bootstraps when that time comes.
Q6: What’s the one piece of advice you would give to yourself 5 years ago?
Stop comparing yourself to others. You’ll get a lot further by focusing that energy on yourself!
Originally posted: March 16th, 2017
This profile is published as part of Pledge 1%’s Women Who Lead series, which celebrates women in the Pledge 1% community who are creating change within their workplace and communities.
Heather Sittig Jackson is an entrepreneur who has dedicated her career to making the world of real estate a better place for agents and homeowners. Her bay area brokerage, Maison Nouveau was acquired in 2011 providing her the opportunity to leverage her experience as a broker and agent in technology. Today Heather brings her expertise on content sharing for the modern agent and her firm belief in the power of transparency to her role as CoFounder and CEO of Relola.
Read the post below from Heather to learn more about her career journey and her dedication to giving back.
“Building Big Business Starts at Home” by Heather Sittig Jackson, CEO + CoFounder, Relola
Real Estate is everywhere, impacts all people, and is a thrilling industry to be a part of. In 2015 I founded Relola to provide technology tools to the real estate industry, which gather and share the opinions of local market experts about homes and neighborhood amenities. I am incredibly fortunate to have a talented team and supportive group of investors who share in the company vision and the commitment of making it a reality.
When forming Relola we realized that we are building a company that will have global reach and the ability to make a positive impact on people’s lives. Recognizing the potential we have to use our corporate platform to build and nurture communities around the world immediately inspired us, so we created the Relola Cares initiative very early on. Relola Cares represents our dedication to make financial contributions to the philanthropic organizations our customers care about. When we learned about the Pledge 1% program we jumped at the opportunity to sign up because it gives us one more way to demonstrate corporate stewardship in the form of philanthropy.
At home I teach my children to be loving and kind in all of their actions. I teach them that how we treat others is the most important quality of who we are. While my children may grow up to be anything they desire, it is my dream to see them become good citizens and to employ our family mantra of being loving and kind in everything they do.
And this is exactly the kind of company we seek to create. This dedication to doing good goes beyond our commitment to corporate philanthropy, but is also the essence of how we treat our co-workers, our customers, and our extended community. Beyond the intrinsic reward of feeling good, we are creating a company that treats people right and ushers positive change in the world. This ripple effect creates opportunity and the right environment to build a company poised to realize tremendous value. It’s simply good business. And as a leader in an industry with unlimited potential, when I see a better way it’s my job to make it happen.
Originally posted: March 15th, 2017
This profile is published as part of Pledge 1%’s Women Who Lead series, which celebrates women in the Pledge 1% community who are creating change within their workplace and communities.
Jacqueline Ros is the co-founder and CEO of Revolar, a technology company that builds wearables and software to help people stay safe and live fearlessly. Read her profile and story below to learn more about how she is leveraging her business to help others.
I’ve always had a passion for social issues, which led me to work with Teach for America after I graduated from the University of Florida in 2012. I began working on the idea that became Revolar while I was still teaching, and once my program was complete, I decided to pursue Revolar full time. Over the months and years that followed, my team took Revolar through a successful Kickstarter campaign, two Techstars accelerator programs and a $3 million funding round from Boulder-based venture capital firm Foundry Group.
Revolar is now helping people around the world feel safe and protected.
Originally posted: March 14th, 2017
This article was submitted by Tim Smith, Director of Innovation Partnerships & Pledge 1% at the Boston Foundation as part of Pledge 1%’s Women Who Lead series, which celebrates women in the Pledge 1% community who are creating change within their workplace and communities.
Technology Underwriting Greater Good (TUGG) is the nonprofit arm of Greater Boston’s tech community. The organization connects and engages local entrepreneurs and technologists with innovative social enterprises and is one of the only funders of major grants to emerging nonprofit startups. A sampling of TUGG’s portfolio includes Inner City Weightlifting, Resilient Coders, Media Girls, and First Teacher.
TUGG is run by Zoe Anetakis, Executive Director, and Elizabeth Dobrska, Managing Director. Both women bring experience from the private sector and a passion for social innovation. Zoe comes to TUGG from Accomplice, Boston’s most active early stage venture capital firm. She leads TUGG’s strategic direction and partnerships as well as general operations. She built her career in marketing and fundraising for investment firms and joined TUGG in 2014. “In TUGG, I saw an opportunity where I could roll up my sleeves and get to work. Beginning my career in financial services, I never dreamt that I would be a part of the philanthropic community in this way. I love the challenge of running TUGG, a non-profit, like a tech start up, and I love challenging our portfolio to do the same. We ask a lot of our portfolio, but when they deliver, it’s amazing to see what they can do with a lean team, a smart business model, and above all perseverance.”
Elizabeth Dobrska is an active change-maker in the Greater Boston social impact space and joined TUGG in 2016. As Managing Director she leads programming and manages community relationships and the organization’s nonprofit portfolio. Elizabeth’s background intersects the worlds of tech start-up and non-profit. Dobrksa says about her work with TUGG, “I am passionate about social entrepreneurship, and specifically finding ways to maximize impact through lean and innovative models in the non-profit landscape. TUGG’s model is both an inspiration and a blueprint for organizations across the country who are interested in social innovation. I’m proud to be in the driver’s seat to catalyze this work in Boston.”
Through its work at the intersection of the tech and nonprofit communities TUGG’s leadership team has positioned the organization as a leader in Boston’s innovation ecosystem, making it the natural partner to ignite the Pledge 1% movement in Greater Boston through Pledge 1% Boston together with the Boston Foundation.
TUGG and The Boston Foundation’s partnership represents a dynamic duo, each bringing its own set of complementary strengths to the Pledge 1% movement. Together the two organization are championing collaboration between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors with unique and transformative initiatives.
Kudos to TUGG for serving as a proverbial light bulb to help company’s take their first step towards charitable involvement in the community, and for pioneering unique funding opportunities in the local philanthropy community.
Originally posted: March 13th, 2017
Originally published in The Australian.
When Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar was in his 20s, he and his girlfriend made a four-hour trip from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to visit a school.
Farquhar had been inspired to visit the school after reading a book by former Microsoft executive John Wood called Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.
One of the students, an eight-year-old girl, hugged them and burst into tears, thanking them for the support they were being given by the charity, Room to Read, which was founded by Wood. “Without you giving money and the help from Room to Read we wouldn’t have had an education,” the girl told them.
“It was somewhat embarrassing,” Farquhar recalls in an interview with The Weekend Australian, “as we hadn’t actually given anything. But from then on, we said, ‘How can we help this organisation?’ ”
Soon after, when Farquhar and his university friend Mike Cannon-Brookes founded their software company Atlassian in 2002, they decided that giving money to charity would be part of the DNA of their organisation.
Room to Read, which supports children’s education programs in developing countries, particularly in Asia, has remained one of their favourite charities, receiving more than $8.5 million from Atlassian, which has turned into a global software giant.
But their idea was to take a more systematic approach to corporate giving, which eventually turned into what Farquhar calls the One Per Cent pledge.
“About 10 years ago we decided (we would) give away 1 per cent,” he says. “We would give away 1 per cent of our equity to charity, 1 per cent of our profits, 1 per cent of our products and 1 per cent of our employee time.”
At the time, Atlassian’s equity was not worth much. But now it is a public company, having listed on the US Nasdaq in December 2015 and with a market capitalisation of $8 billion, that 1 per cent is worth about $80m.
“Back then, when we decided to do it, we didn’t have many employees or products or even revenue,” Farquhar says. “So it was 1 per cent of almost nothing. But over time it has grown.”
The 1 per cent pledge taken by Farquhar and Cannon-Brookes, now both 37, has evolved into a broader philanthropic movement. About two years ago Farquhar came together with like-minded US tech entrepreneurs, including Salesforce chief executive and founder Marc Benioff and Rally Software founder Ryan Martens, to form Pledge 1%.
“We said we have all got similar minds around this. We have all done some permutation of giving away 1 per cent,” Farquhar says.
“How about we codify this and try to get more companies to join?
“Since then around 2000 companies have signed the pledge, including 70 of our ecosystem partners. It’s now starting to get momentum,” Farquhar adds.
Farquhar says the pledge involves companies agreeing to give 1 per cent of their equity, 1 per cent of their employee time and 1 per cent of their products to charity or a philanthropic foundation. Some also give 1 per cent of their profits, as Atlassian does.
He says the goal is to encourage entrepreneurs to think about “giving back” from the time they start their company instead of waiting until later in life when they have made their money. “The old school model of giving is that you work until you have got grey hair, you retire and give your money away,” he says. “But people of my generation and younger want to give back throughout their lives. When Mike and I started Atlassian it was a core part of what we wanted to do.”
Farquhar says Atlassian’s policy of supporting charities and giving employees time off to support their own causes has helped in attracting talented staff.
“When we made the pledge we told our staff about it and made a big public commitment to giving back,” he says. “Over time we have given away $12m in cash, some $90m worth of our own software products and 20,000 hours in employee time.”
The money that has gone to the Room to Read charity, which helps children in developing countries learn to read, has helped more than 260,000 children.
“For our employees, it is one of the top three reasons why they work here,” he says. “When you talk to them, a commitment to philanthropy is almost always in the top three reasons they give for choosing an employer. It has been a huge benefit in attracting staff.”
Atlassian’s workplaces, which include offices in Sydney, London, San Francisco and Austin, Texas, are regularly voted in the ranks of top places to work in their field.
Farquhar argues that if entrepreneurs pledge to give 1 per cent of their equity to charity when they are starting out, the amount being given can turn big as they grow. “If all the unicorns (US tech companies worth more than $1bn) gave just 1 per cent of their equity, it would be worth almost $10bn. It could make a huge impact.”
The Atlassian Foundation is already one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Australia with assets of more than $60m.
Farquhar says his goal would be for every company starting out to automatically include the decision to give 1 per cent of their equity to charity as part of their articles of incorporation.
“If people did that they would be able to change the way philanthropy works,” he says. “Every company will do things differently, but we all agree that the world would be a better place if people in business gave back on a more organised basis and did not wait until they were old.”
Farquhar says Atlassian sends a group of people to Cambodia each year to see children in schools supported by Room to Read. It also encourages its staff to donate to charities or the foundation, with a “dollar a day” program where donations can be automatically deducted from their pay.
He says the company has supported several different charities by giving away its software, which helps team-based work.
This has included helping a US organisation called Mercy Ships, which operates a ship fitted out as a floating hospital that visits Africa to provide healthcare and medical assistance. Other groups that have been given its software include the American Red Cross and the Wilderness Society. In Australia, it has worked with a range of not-for-profits to help them set up websites and campaigns, while some staff volunteer to teach at school holiday computer science camps and work with Habitat for Humanity.
Farquhar says the company’s staff will often have their own charities, including a cancer charity that was supporting one of its own employees who had cancer.
He says he and Cannon-Brookes are passionate about helping children’s education.
“We are incredibly lucky to be born in Australia in this day and age,” he says. “And we were lucky to have a good education. We believe that every human life is equal and we want to give back to help a lot of other people who haven’t had the opportunities that we have had.”
Farquhar says there is a need for companies to step up philanthropy to help fill a gap by the declining role of churches and some other social groups. He says people may be working longer and don’t have as much free time to devote to community organisations but they still want to support charities in their own way.
The company recently hired Mark Reading, the former head of PwC’s Australian foundation, to run the Atlassian Foundation.
Reading says Atlassian’s culture was part of the attraction in taking on the job.
“Because Mike and Scott took the pledge so early in the Atlassian journey — and because Atlassian has subsequently been so successful — the foundation is now one of the most well resourced corporate foundations in Australia,” he says.
“At Atlassian we see huge potential in both business and education as a force for good. That’s why we’re so committed to growing the Pledge 1% movement and changing the way Australian businesses approach corporate philanthropy.”
Farquhar says the Pledge 1% movement also includes providing assistance to other companies to set up their foundations and charitable giving programs. Donors need to see there is return on equity for their investments and that the funds are well managed.
He says his goal is to see the 2000 companies around the world supporting Pledge 1% expand to more than 10,000 companies. “We have 2000 companies, which is an incredible achievement, but in terms of the number of companies in the world, we are really only getting started,” Farquhar says.
He says it is important that the commitment to give 1 per cent is made when the organisation is just starting out.
“There is an element of making the pledge when you have nothing so when it grows you wont have to worry about it,” he says.
“It is easy to plant a seed when it is small, but it is harder to plant a big tree. But if you plant a seed it can grow and you can change the landscape.”
Originally posted: March 12th, 2017
This profile is published as part of Pledge 1%’s Women Who Lead series, which celebrates women in the Pledge 1% community who are creating change within their workplace and communities.
Janine Sickmeyer is the CEO & Founder of NextChapter, a web application for attorneys to prepare, manage and file bankruptcy cases online. As a business leader and entrepreneur, Janine provides strategic vision and direction for NextChapter and is particularly fascinated in the intersection between law and technology in the bankruptcy market.
In addition to being CEO of a legal tech company, Janine is also a wife and mother of a one year old girl and a boy on the way. She is passionate about sharing her story with female entrepreneurs and business leaders to help them overcome challenges when starting a new venture. Janine is inspired by business leaders like Gary Vaynerchuk, Sheryl Sandberg and Marc Benioff. She lives by the quote:
“Be relentless. The difference between success and failure isn’t talent, it’s hunger.” Tony Robbins
The Inspiration
NextChapter was inspired from Janine’s personal experience as a paralegal in the bankruptcy field. She started a virtual paralegal firm, preparing bankruptcy documents for attorneys all over the U.S. While doing this, Janine was using competitor software and found it to be time-consuming, unreliable and inefficient. She knew there was a need for cloud-based bankruptcy software so Janine learned how to code, built a team of skilled developers and two years later NextChapter was born. NextChapter launched in January 2016 and has seen enormous growth month over month.
NextChapter’s Pledge 1% Commitment
Since their founding, NextChapter has been passionate about giving back to the community and helping those in underserved markets. Inspired by Salesforce, the Pledge 1% model allows NextChapter to achieve this goal through integrated philanthropy. NextChapter donates its product for free to attorneys providing pro bono bankruptcy services to support low-income families in disadvantaged communities. In addition to the product donation, the NextChapter team works with deserving non-profits in the local community using employee Volunteer Time Off.
Encouraging Women in Business
NextChapter is a proud partner of the Lean In movement and through this partnership, Janine encourages and supports young women who are ready to make the leap as an entrepreneur or become a leader in their industry.
Challenges as a Female Founder
All bets were against Janine when building her company. She struggled with losing two cofounders, running out of money and pitching NextChapter 82 times to VC firms from New York to Silicon Valley only to be rejected and offered unfair deals and below market terms. Despite these challenges and more associated with being a female founder in a male-dominated industry, she kept going. She was resilient and tenacious. She managed to her get company off the ground by self-funding and staying lean and in the process, she learned a lot about business, patience and the power of believing in yourself. Janine is writing her first book for women of all ages who want to build a business and become a leader, even if they also plan to become a mom.
Advice to Women Starting Tech Businesses
Janine shares: “I have 5 pieces of advice for women who are interested in starting their own venture in the tech space:
- Be patient and persistent. Even with most calculated business plan and beautifully branded pitch deck, a company will not blossom overnight.
- Stay confident in yourself and your idea because it will shine through in everything you do from product development to customer support to marketing and branding.
- Refine your elevator pitch to one sentence and say it proudly. People will judge your entire company based on how well you can explain it.
- Never settle. There were many times when I was offered funding but the terms were not close to what I had in mind. I got creative with bootstrapping efforts so I didn’t have to sell all my company off before it even got started.
- Always choose happiness. Starting a technology company is hard. Being a solo founder is lonely. It’s up to you to find the sunny on even the darkest days.”
Connect
For more information about NextChapter, visit the website or follow on Twitter. You can find Janine on Twitter or LinkedIn.
Originally posted: March 10th, 2017
This profile is published as part of Pledge 1%’s Women Who Lead series, which celebrates women in the Pledge 1% community who are creating change within their workplace and communities.
Darine Pokawatana is the Director of Product Development at Causecast.
Q1: How long have you been working for your company?
I’ve been working with Causecast for 5 years. Having started off as a Quality Assurance Engineer, I made my way into Project Management and continued on into Product Management and Development.
Q2: What inspired you to work in this industry?
The opportunity to bring technology and innovation to philanthropy inspired (and continues to inspire) me. I find it difficult to not acknowledge the state of what is currently around us, and feel that providing to the various organizations that are aimed at improving the different areas in need is key in making our world a better place. At Causecast, technology has given us the tools we need to build a platform that benefits several nonprofit organizations, while focusing on engaging employees to make a societal impact through their workplace.
Q3: What would you tell women who are looking to work in tech? Any advice on how they can build their career?
My advice would be to find your passion within it, and go forth with full force. While the tech industry is currently male dominated, there’s something to be said about the women in tech that are on the rise. Find an employer who doesn’t see you for your gender, but for the skills and knowledge you have. It’s important to remember that the limits we encounter are those that we set for ourselves, so never settle for less. Know your worth, be confident in yourself, and let that be seen!
Q4: Is your company a Pledge 1% member or do you personally give back to your community? If so, how do you give and to what cause?
Causecast is a proud Pledge 1% member. Our social technology platform allows us to give back to many nonprofit organizations through the employees of companies that are passionate in making a difference in their communities. Outside of work, I am passionate towards supporting causes that benefit human rights, animals and wildlife, and the research and development of cures for various diseases, to name a few.
Q5: Do you serve as a mentor? What does mentorship mean to you?
I would consider myself a mentor-in-training. Surrounded by powerful women in life and leadership, I’ve been able to apply what I’ve learned from them to support and lift up those around me. I find mentorship to be an integral part in developing and empowering future leaders, especially in an industry like technology that is ever-growing.
Q6: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received to help you with your career?
The best advice I’ve received to help with my career (and life in general) is to always ask questions and to not be afraid to fail. Joining a new industry or organization can be quite intimidating, but over the years I have learned that every company will run their businesses differently and it’s up to you to figure out how that is. Don’t worry about how you would look by asking a question that seems silly, especially if it means that you’ll be equipped with the right knowledge on how to get your tasks done effectively and efficiently. Should you forget to ask, do remember that failing is not the be-all end-all. As Winston Churchill once said, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Q7: What’s the one piece of advice you would give to yourself 5 years ago?
The advice I’d give to myself 5 years ago would be to trust and believe in yourself. It’s easy to forget your better qualities when you don’t feel confident in your space and are stacked up against several others. I spent an unnecessary amount of time being critical of myself and in things that didn’t really matter much in hindsight. While feeling in doubt may be difficult to avoid, do allow yourself the space to prove yourself wrong. Always keep in mind what it is you are trying to achieve and don’t give up. Be both a fighter and your own cheerleader!
Originally posted: March 9th, 2017
This interview is published as part of Pledge 1%’s Women Who Lead series, which celebrates women in the Pledge 1% community who are creating change within their workplace and communities.
PLEDGE 1%: How did you get started in business? By accident, by design?
Kate Bradley Chernis: I’d spent a dozen years in radio, my last gig broadcasting to 20 million listeners a day for XM — what a boys club; nothing could’ve prepared me better for venture capitalists! But the tough part was that I was constantly frustrated… my ideas weren’t taken seriously, I was told they were too “radical” and that folks felt threatened by me. And I felt bad about this! I was actually deeply ashamed because I thought I was disappointing my bosses. Therapy alert!
Then, after a whole lot of crying my eyeballs out, my dad, a lifelong entrepreneur himself, lovingly shook me by the shoulders and shouted, “You can’t work for other people! There’s no shame in that!” Okaaaaaaay.
So I read The Secret (I know, roll your eyes), which reminded of one key thing: whenever I’d hit a line drive in softball (I’d played softball), I wasn’t thinking, “I suck;” I was thinking, “I rule!” And needed to start thinking and being, “I rule.” So I stopped all the toxic work-bitching, which was so hard — I was totally addicted to it!
Next, my husband gave me Guy Kawasaki’s The Art of the Start and I got like six or so pages in and it said, “Don’t waste time planning, just get started.” So I closed the book. A few days later, I met my first investors who gave me $50,000 to start my first company.
Pledge 1%: Anything you’d wish you’d done better or differently?
KBC: I totally wish I’d learned how to fire customers that aren’t a good fit sooner :-). And bought more expensive eye cream. Sleep is not something I do very well… I blame Lately entirely!
Pledge 1%: Any advice for other women building their careers?
KBC: Be shameless, be a little ruthless and be authentic. Because you have to be shameless if you’re selling. I’ll ask anyone for money again and again, all day long. I don’t care how many times they say no. You’ve also gotta be a little ruthless because this is a competition. I’m competing for money from my customers and I’m competing for money from my investors. So you have to be not just out to win the game — you have to be out to beat the machine.
And yes, being authentic is cliché. But it’s the thing that lit it up for me. Because myself is goofy and embarrassing and uncool and imperfect and I don’t know what I’m doing a decent chunk of the time. As soon as I not only embraced that that was okay but shoved it right out front and center, everything changed. Because I am who I am and the business is who I am. Lately was built around me and my experience — my team even calls me Kately. And, in the end, as amazing as my team and the product are, the customers are investing in me and the investors are investing in me.
About Kate Bradley Chernis
Kate Bradley Chernis is the Founder & CEO of Lately, the only complete marketing management software that organizes, simplifies and streamlines all your marketing in one place, with a step-by-step playbook. As a marketing agency owner, Kate initially created the idea for Lately out of spreadsheets for then-client, Walmart. Thanks to a 130% three year, year-over-year ROI with Walmart in her spreadsheet system, Kate found similar success with all of her clients, regardless of industry or company size. She created Lately to pull back the “black curtain” of marketing, so that for the first time, anyone – from CMOs to nonprofits to entrepreneurs – can stop feeling overwhelmed and instantly understand what’s working, what’s not and why. Lately is proud to be a Pledge 1% company.
Prior to founding Lately, Kate served 20 million listeners as Music Director and on-air host at Sirius/XM. She’s also an award-winning radio producer, engineer and voice talent with 25 years of national broadcast communications, brand-building, sales and marketing expertise.
Originally posted: March 7th, 2017