Pfeffer on Power

Ep 5 – Jason Calacanis, Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Author

Learn more about Jeffrey Pfeffer and where you can buy or listen to his books: https://JeffreyPfeffer.com/
SHOW NOTES: 
Jason Calacanis is an entrepreneur and angel investor, amongst many other things, and shares with us three rules of power that have made him an incredibly effective business person.
How Jason turned $100,000 into $100 million
Growing up in middle-class Brooklyn
Fixing laser printers by day and going to Fordham at night
The unconventional way he got into Fordham • Willingness to break the rules
The power of frequency
Why there is always room for an exception
Creative distribution of his publications
What made Digital Dim Sum a success
The importance of networking and relationships
Standing up for who you believe in
Creating smart controversy
The lasting impressions of hosting high-quality events
A valuable technique for introducing guests
Creating strength when nobody’s opinion matters
Demonstrable Growth – what it is and why it works
The Tipping Technique
The three rules of power that contribute to Jason’s success
JASON’S BIO:
Jason Calacanis is a serial entrepreneur, angel investor, and podcaster. He is known for being an early investor in companies such as Robinhood and Uber. Overall he has invested in 300 startups, four of which have reached billion-dollar valuations. Jason is also a co-founder of Weblogs, Inc., which was instrumental in the dot-com era of online blogging.
In 2009 Jason founded Open Angel Forum, an event that helps startups find angel investors. Jason’s book Angel: How to Invest in Technology Startups—Timeless Advice from an Angel Investor Who Turned $100,000 into $100,000,000 was published in 2017.
Jason currently resides in San Francisco, California. Dr. Pfeffer has been on Jason’s podcast This Week in Startups four times.
Jason’s blog: https://calacanis.com/
Linkedin Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis/
 
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Ep 4 – Dr. Sarah Buchner, Serial Entrepreneur

Learn more about Jeffrey Pfeffer and where you can buy or listen to his books: https://JeffreyPfeffer.com/
SHOW NOTES:
Dr. Sarah Buchner shares what she’s learned in my Paths to Power class at Stanford in the MBA program and how she’s successfully applied power to her career as the Queen of Construction.
How the power game began for her when she started her career at age 12 in Austria
The ways she learned to show her power
The advantages of being an outsider
The uniqueness of her PhD
Why she always uses “Dr.” in her email signature
How she financed her PhD
Ideas about breaking the rules and standing out
What from the class and book, 7 Rules of Power, are helping launch her startup
The boldest networking moves she’s made
The benefits of getting out of your way
What she’s done with branding herself in terms of appearance and acting with power to build her brand
The secret to her handshake and other branding decisions
Why her first business cards stood out
How success has helped activate the “success excuses everything” principle
Networking the right way
The bold statement she made to a board member while in her 20s
SARAH’S BIO:
Dr. Sarah Buchner holds a PhD in civil systems engineering/data science and a Stanford MBA and is a serial entrepreneur in the construction tech space. She is the definition of self-made: growing up in a tiny village in Austria in a non-college family she started her career when she was 12 years old as a carpenter and worked her way up in the construction industry. Her current startup (performance management software/fintech) targets the skilled labor shortage in the US. She is starting with the construction industry, but her plan is to expand into oil and gas, mining, agriculture and other spaces where there is a tight (day) labor market. Her mission is to put more money back into the people's pocket who actually do the work: the craft.
Sarah's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-buchner/
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Ep 3 – Jon Levy, Founder of Influencers and author of You’re Invited

Learn more about Jeffrey Pfeffer and where you can buy or listen to his books: https://JeffreyPfeffer.com/
SHOW NOTES:
Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist specializing in human connection, trust, and influence. He is the author of the New York Times Best Seller “You’re Invited”, and Founder of Influencers, the secret dining experience and private community. Jeffrey speaks to Jon about how he started his Influencer Dinners and shares some of the amazing content from his book.
How Levy started hosting Influencer Dinners
Why relationships, connections, and trust lead to an extraordinary life
The model Levy developed after researching the behavior of highly influential people
What has been learned after hosting 2500 people at 266 dinners in 11 cities in four countries
What highly influential people need instead of another rubber chicken dinner
What reading about scientific concepts does for Levy’s life
How the IKEA effect accelerates the rate at which people bond
Why vulnerability creates trust (and how it’s the opposite of what corporate America tries to do)
The unseen loneliness of some influential and important people
The five concerns of billionaires when meeting people
Elements that create a memorable event
The three things not sharing dinner guest’s professions until after dinner does toward building connection
The most significant factor in Levy’s success
What draws crowds and creates a committed group of people
JON'S BIO:
Jon Levy is a behavioral scientist and NY Times Best Selling author known for his work in human connection, trust, and influence. Jon specializes in applying the latest research to transform the ways companies approach marketing, sales, consumer engagement, and culture. His clients range from Fortune 500 brands, like Microsoft, Google, AB-InBev, and Samsung, to startups.
More than a decade ago, Levy founded The Influencers Dinner, a secret dining experience for industry leaders ranging from Nobel laureates, Olympians, celebrities, and executives, to artists, musicians, and even the Grammy winning voice of the bark from “Who Let the Dogs Out.” Guests cook dinner together but can’t discuss their careers or give their last names. Once seated to eat, they reveal who they are. Over time, these dinners developed into a community. With thousands of members, Influencers is the largest community of its type worldwide.
Jon’s second book, You’re Invited: The Art and Science of Connection, Trust and Belonging, was released to critical acclaim quickly rising as an international best seller. In it Levy demonstrates the importance of trust, and community to accomplishing what is most important to us.
In his free time, Jon works on outrageous projects. Among them spending a year traveling to all 7 continents, or to the world's greatest events (Grand Prix, Art Basel, Burning Man, Running of the Bulls, etc.) and barely surviving to tell the tale. These Adventures were chronicled in his first book: The 2 AM Principle: Discover the Science of Adventure
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Ep 2 – Benjamin Fernandes, Founder and CEO of Nala Money

Learn more about Jeffrey Pfeffer and where you can buy or listen to his books: https://JeffreyPfeffer.com/
SHOW NOTES:
Benjamin Fernandes, CEO and founder of Nala, the African payment system, and former student of Jeffrey Pfeffer, discusses how dedication creates opportunities in starting a business. Nala’s valuation is $100 million and their ultimate mission is to increase economic opportunity for Africa globally.
How hosting a local TV show at age 17 exposed him to the business of mobile cross-border payments in Africa
The door his unique ability to keep people’s attention opened
How Nala is working to reduce the cost of sending money globally into and out of Africa
What ideas Fernandes found helpful for building his business from Pfeffer’s class at Stanford
Advice on fighting imposter syndrome
A unique protocol-breaking technique that ultimately gained Nala investors
The benefits of being proactive versus reactive
The value in having employees take responsibility for their role
What being scrappy brought to Nala
Why building relationships and networking matter and create leverage
Showing up for yourself and the people you work for
The education found in talking with founders
Three questions to ask a founder
BENJAMIN'S BIO:
Benjamin Fernandes is an award-winning Tanzanian speaker and entrepreneur. Benjamin grew up in Tanzania, then earned scholarships that took him to America for the first time at the age of 17.
At age 21, Benjamin was the youngest African in history to ever be accepted into Stanford Graduate School of Business. He holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and an Exec Ed from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, being the first Tanzanian to attend both institutions.
Fernandes was previously a national television personality in Tanzania. After that, he worked at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in the United States.
In 2018, Fernandes founded Nala, a fintech startup that is on a mission to increase economic opportunity for Africans globally. NALA recently raised $10m backed by leading US investors such as Y-Combinator, Accel, Amplo and Bessemer Partners.
In 2020, Fernandes was listed as the 15th most influential Tanzanian. In 2022, Fernandes was listed in the inaugural ROW100 most influential technology leaders in the world.
Web and Social Media:https://www.nala.com/https://www.instagram.com/benji_fernandes/https://twitter.com/Benji_Fernandeshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/benjaminf7/https://www.facebook.com/fernandes.benjamin7
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Ep 1 – Deborah Liu, CEO of Ancestry

Learn more about Jeffrey Pfeffer and where you can buy or listen to his books: https://JeffreyPfeffer.com/
SHOW NOTES
Deb Liu, CEO of the $4.7 billion company Ancestry, author of Take Back Your Power: 10 New Rules for Women at Work and a former student of Jeffrey Pfeffer, Ph.D shares how she overcame enormous amounts of challenges and career discrimination, why amplifying your work is a generous act, and questions to bring you to reaching your career goals more efficiently.
How her careers at PayPal, eBay, and Facebook helped her learn to use her voice to overcome challenges
The challenges Asian women face in their careers and how she overcame them
How she actively worked to change her shy nature to cultivate power and executive presence
Why asking for help and resources is a sign of strength
How differently telling the story of a product shifts support and revenue
How a core team of four expanded to twelve and the impact that team created
The Hero’s Journey in relation to projects, failure, and changing perspective
The importance of sharing more about the work you are doing, especially to your manager
A new way to look at self-promotion
How people are willing to engage in power and influence if they don’t think it’s for selfish motives
The value in giving your team credit
Recommendations she makes to other women
Questions to ask to bring you closer to reaching your job and income goals
The importance of a learning mindset
Creating balance at home
DEBORAH'S BIO
Deborah Liu is a seasoned technology executive based in Silicon Valley. She is currently the president and CEO of Ancestry, the company at the forefront of family history and consumer genomics. Prior to this, she served on the leadership team of Facebook, where she was the vice president of Facebook App Commerce. During her time there, she founded Facebook Marketplace and created Facebook Pay, Facebook Audience Network, and App Ads. Previously, she spent several years at PayPal, where she led the eBay marketplace product team, created the charitable donations and social commerce teams, and worked in corporate strategy. An alum of Duke and Stanford University, she also serves on the board of Intuit and is cofounder of the nonprofit Women in Product. She lives with her husband, three kids, and mom in California. 
Deb's Newsletter: https://debliu.substack.com/Book order link: https://amzn.to/3FmjU0v
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Pfeffer on Power - Podcast Trailer

Do you want to learn tips that will help you accelerate your career? Listen to the trailer for the Pfeffer on Power accelerating your career Podcast with your host, Jeffrey Pfeffer. Every other week, Stanford business professor and author Jeffrey Pfeffer talks to a guest who has utilized Pfeffer's Principles of Power to accelerate their career, to get out of their own way, and to accomplish amazing things.