Cover of the TBJ Insert |
The
40 Under 40 insert came out in the Triangle Business Journal this
week. I was quite honored to have received the award this year and
been part of the 2006 class. Below are my responses to their questions
sent in March.
- Ryan
1. To what
do you attribute your success?
I attribute my success to the team I have around me, sustained hard work, a
bias toward action, an ability to have a global perspective, a willingness
to work around rules, and a good understanding of marketing.
2. How
do you display leadership?
Leadership to me is guiding people toward a vision and working
to get over any hurdle that might get in the way of your team’s objectives. My job
has had an equal mix of high level work creating the grand vision, doing long-term
strategic planning, and fundraising, as well in the trenches work managing
at the granular, but critical, level by finding great people, developing systems
and procedures, managing product development, and managing operations. I hope
I’m able to display leadership by setting an example for hard work, being
there, and knowing my field the best I can.
3. Who
is your hero?
There are a few people in this world I look up to. I’m still
searching for heroes, but I will call them role models certainly.
These people include:
- Thomas Friedman,
for his clear and thought-provoking writings on global trends as
a journalist and author.
- Hernando de
Soto, for working to establish property rights for the poor as
a Peruvian economist.
- Jeffrey Sachs,
for working to reduce poverty in developing countries as an economist
at Columbia University and as author of The End of Poverty.
- Bill Gates,
for his contributions to global health and poverty reduction through
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
- Marc Benioff,
for being a trailblazer in the software-as-a-service market with
Salesforce.com and for supporting the development of technology
centers in developing countries.
- Bill Clinton,
for what he did for our country and what he’s working on
now with the Clinton Foundation, despite his faults.
- George Soros,
for the work he’s doing to promote open and free societies
through the Open Society Institute.
- Robert Kiyosaki,
for writing two books that made a big impact on my life at 17,
Rich Dad Poor Dad and Rich Dad’s Guide to Investing.
- Muhammad Yunus,
for starting the Grameen Bank and being a microfinance pioneer
in Bangladesh.
- John McCain,
for being able to dance to his own beat on Capitol Hill
4. What
accomplishments are you most proud of from the past year?
I’m proud of hitting the $1M mark in sales in September 2005,
hitting the $2M sales mark in March 2006, being named one of the
Top 25 Entrepreneurs
Under 25 by BusinessWeek, and being able to grow Broadwick from 8 employees
to 25 in the past year.
5. What
is your professional goal for this year?
This year my main focus is continuing to grow Broadwick. One of my main goals
presently is to ensure an on-time and quality-assured 4.0 release of our product
coming this Summer that we feel is truly going to revolutionize the email marketing
and multi-channel emarketing communications industries. We also have the goal
of raising investment funding, more than doubling our sales volume from 2006,
reaching the 6,000 customer mark, and reaching the 35 employee milestone.
6. What
is your professional goal for five years from now?
Within 5 years I hope to be able to complete what I’m working
toward now with Broadwick, finish my degree at UNC, have made significant
progress
working to start a non-profit dedicated to reducing poverty in developing nations,
and have been accepted into a JD/MBA program at one of the top 5 schools in
the country.
7. What
has been your toughest business challenge?
My toughest business challenge probably came in April of 2005 when
we released the 3.0 version of our software. We quickly found out
from our true Quality
Assurance Team, our 1800 customers, that we had released the software without
sufficiently testing it prior to release and without a way to rollback the
release. The challenge came in being able to organize the issues, coordinate
our response, keep team morale up, and manage communication with our client
base during the crisis (which we didn’t do very well and in turn learned
lessons from). Other challenges include growing Broadwick organically without
outside funding, growing as a manager as we’ve expanded from 2 employees
to 25, and being forced to learn about the wonderful world of lawsuits and
arbitration the hard way.
8. What
was your first childhood job?
Running a computer consulting company when I was 11 where I lived in Florida.
I helped senior citizens learn to use email and the Internet for $5 per hour.
9. What
was your first job as an adult?
Being CEO of my other company Virante, Inc; soon to be followed by being CEO
of Broadwick.
10. If
you were not in your current profession, what would you be doing
for a living?
I’d be back at UNC finishing up my degree and running a non-profit
working to reduce poverty in developing countries by fighting corruption,
promoting
technology use, expanding microenterprise and microfinance efforts, and instituting
improved education, health care, and financial systems.
11. What
is the greatest lesson you have learned about how to live life?
Be optimistic, plan and reflect often, enjoy the journey while
you seek the end goal, play for the long-term, and always remember
that when you think life
is going really well it’s not as good as you think and when you think
it’s going really poorly, it’s not as bad as you think.
12. What
are your hobbies, favorite pastimes?
In my free time I like to work and sleep. From time to time I also like to
play Madden 2006, Ratchet and Clank, or NBA Street on Playstation 2. I also
enjoy traveling when I have a chance, hanging out with friends, and having
discussions about politics, international relations, poverty, entrepreneurship,
and technology.
13. What
is your favorite sports team?
In basketball, my favorite team is the Tar Heels of course. In baseball, the
Red Sox. In football, the Panthers, Patriots, Bucs, and Steelers.
14. What
is your favorite restaurant?
Sunset Grill off of Fayetteville Road in Durham.
15. What
is your hot button?
- The fact that 49,000
people die each day in the developing world from starvation and
easily
preventable diseases like malaria, diarrhea,
pneumonia, and measles without nearly any media coverage or public
awareness
- People that
drive the exact same speed as the car next to them on a two-lane
road, preventing cars in the fast lane from passing.
16. Is
it better to win or have fun?
The answer depends on the stakes and what you’re playing
for. Generally, try to find a way to win while having fun.
17. If
you could be on a reality television show, which one would it be?
I would want to be on The Amazing Race or The Apprentice
18. What
is your favorite electronic gadget?
My favorite electronic gadget is definitely my Playstation 2. Close runner-ups
are my Treo and my glowing stock orb.
19. Who
is the most famous person you’ve met, and what did you say
to that celebrity?
About two years ago I had the chance to meet the NY Times Journalist
and author Thomas Friedman at UNC and spoke with him about his
book that was out at the
time, Longitudes and Attitudes. I’ve also met Dennis Rodman, Michael
Jordan, and Evander Holyfield but didn’t say much to them. I’m
looking forward to a conference I’ll be attending in Aspen Colorado in
June called Fortune: Brainstorm as I’ll hopefully have the chance then
to meet one of my other role models, Marc Benioff.
20. What
community cause or charity have you invested time in during the
past year?
Orange County Habitat for Humanity, Junior Achievement of Eastern North Carolina,
the Carolina Entrepreneurship Club, and Nourish International at UNC. |
