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Ruben Harris, if you did not know,
he is a bay area transplant from Atlanta,

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Georgia, where he served as an advisor for

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forge and organized Atlanta's
first healthcare hackathon.

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Over the past couple of years, Ruben
has worked for academics, organizers,

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politicians, and union leaders at Hustle,
Honor, and AltSchool,

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focused on improving their personalized
outreach, healthcare, and education.

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Ruben began his technology career
working in partnerships and

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sales after writing a viral blog post
called Breaking Into Startups, about how

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he moved to San Francisco without a job
and landed a position in three weeks.

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After receiving thousands of emails
asking him how he broke into tech,

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Ruben co-founded
the Breaking Into Startups

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podcast to demystify the whole process.

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Resulting in a social media
reach of over 3 million people,

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200,000 plus downloads,
10,000 plus website

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visits per month, and
over 100 plus reviews on iTunes, and

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a Facebook community
of 10,000 plus people.

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And invitations to be the contributor
to TechCrunch and Black Enterprise.

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In 2010, Ruben worked on operational
improvements for senior living communities

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after completing a double major in
business administration and music.

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During college, Ruben worked
organized over 50 plus events for

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nonprofit athletes and celebrities,

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including the likes of Tyrese,
Kim Kardashian, and Jay-Z.

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Rubin has been playing the cello for
25 years,

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taught music, performed in venues,
and all over the world,

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including Carnegie Hall, and
led to placements on Def Jam.

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He is also an active member of the NAACP.

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Ruben is currently the CEO and
founder of Career Karma.

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Career Karma is a community of peers,
mentors and

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coaches that will help you
land a dream career in tech.

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You never pay a dime, he says, and
the only cost is pay it forward.

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At Career Karma, you will meet
the people who are just starting out and

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people who have been
several steps ahead of you,

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where no prior knowledge is needed.

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Ruben has got an extensive history,
y'all, I can't wait to talk to this man.

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Please welcome to our fireside chat,
Ruben Harris.

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What's up, Ruben?

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>> What up, what up, everybody?

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How you doing?

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>> How are you?

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So glad to see you?

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>> I'm good, I'm good,
it was a cool weekend.

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Nice to see you as well.

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>> Yeah, cool.

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Hey, man, we've got so many things
that we wanna talk to you about, but

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first, tell us about this Career Karma.

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What does Career Karma actually do?

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>> Yeah, so Career Karma matches career
transitioners to job training programs,

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so they can get high paying
jobs in tech in about a year.

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We have an app on Android and
iPhone, we also have a web app.

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And what makes our software unique is not
only will we match you with one of 450 job

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training programs across the country,

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that will get you a salary
of about 70 to $100,000.

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But also, during the program, during the
job searching, for the rest of your life,

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through a regular peer mentorship
group that we call a scribe, and

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coaches that will give
you career guidance.

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We currently have about half a million
people coming to us a month,

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as you can imagine.

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We've seen a pretty massive boom, now
that 52 million Americans have filed for

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unemployment since the pandemic hit.

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We're on track to be at about
1 million a month in the fall.

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Anyway, long story short,

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we help people go from low income to
high income in a short amount of time.

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>> That's awesome and so timely.

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So can you talk to us about what
drove you to start Career Karma?

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You've got this background in music.

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You've kind of dabbled
a little bit of everything but

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what drove you to start Career Karma?

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>> Yeah, I mean, we told a lot of
people that Career Karma is essentially

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the product that we wish that
we had when we broke into tech.

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We practice what we preach.

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My brother went to boot camp,
my co-founders go to boot camp,

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I went to a boot camp launch.

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So career guidance,

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career navigation in general is
something that a lot of people want.

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Psychology is a big issue when it comes
to labor market transitions and so

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we've always believed in people,
helping people.

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I'm a true product of other
people giving me guidance and

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support through my journey, and so
we just decided to productize that.

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I would say I'm a misfit.

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I went to a school that
you never heard of.

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I say it's the best school you never
heard of, I had a 2.98 GPA, and

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we're here right now, so yeah.

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>> Yeah, absolutely.

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You talk about folks that how
influential they've been in your life,

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and I know that mentorship is
a huge part of Career Karma.

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Can you talk to us about your philosophy
and your vow and how mentorship is valued

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in your own journey and the journey of
the folks that you're trying to support?

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>> Yeah, I mean, I think we talked about
how there's no such thing as a self-made

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person that people don't get
anywhere without other people.

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I say my first mentors in my life are my
parents and then it goes into my cello

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teachers, cuz I've been playing the cello,
like you said, for almost 30 years.

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And when it comes to Silicon Valley,
everybody talks about tech and

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robots and automation but

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they don't realize that most jobs
are offline and come through referral.

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Most people aren't gonna get
a job through the website, and

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only 20% of jobs are listed online, which
is why Career Karma is a social network.

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And if you look at online courses,

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hundreds of millions of people have signed
up for these things in the last few years,

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but there's only a 5 to
15% completion rate.

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That's not just to the psychology, but
also because when people get stuck,

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they don't have someone
to ask the question to.

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So we've always believed in creating the
causes that connect people to each other

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so they can figure out how to
get to where they want to go.

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What's up, Ryan?

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>> That's awesome, Ruben.

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We look at you, we see you,

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we're hearing kind of the beginning stages
of your story, which is not for everyone,

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right, but you're saying it's
a little bit something different.

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But I wanna talk to you
about you being the CEO.

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That's a little different than coming out,
being a junior engineer or even a manager.

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So how do you feel your
versatile work experience has

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prepared you for a role of CEO?

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>> Yeah, so I think the biggest companies,
at least tech-driven companies,

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have two core responsibilities,
you have people that write code and

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you have people that talk to users.

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And the people that are writing code, it's
very important for them to understand what

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people actually need, so
that you are building products and

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features that serve them
to solve their problems.

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So I think as a founder, it's ideal
that you have the problem yourself,

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because you have personally felt that pain
and you can relate to that individual.

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And in my opinion, the fastest way
to a CEO seat is in sales, and

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my background working in
startups is in sales.

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And the reason why I think that is
because my job as CEO is to communicate

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the story of the company.

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Make sure that the company is capitalized,
so I need to raise money.

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I need to also make sure
that I'm hiring well, and

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I'm essentially selling across the board.

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I'm selling to customers, I'm selling
to users, I'm selling to investors.

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I'm telling the story.

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I'm on platforms like this to make sure
people are aware of what's going on, so

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that if I'm reaching the right audience
that has this need, I'm able to solve it.

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And I'm learning from things right here.

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Like in the chat right now, people
told me I had my laptop in my lap and

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it's gonna make them seasick.

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So I gotta put my laptop down,
I listen to you guys, I serve you well.

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I'm a servant, essentially.

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>> Awesome, awesome, so yeah, listening to
that feedback, right, is really important.

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>> Yeah,
>> Yeah, so hey, listen, I want to switch

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gears a little bit and talk about,
we would be remiss not to talk about

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the recent events that are happening right
now with COVID and Black Lives Matter.

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So what would you say is your
number one concern now that,

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essentially, millions of
Americans are unemployed and

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find themselves out of work?

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>> What a lot of people don't realize
that most people that are losing jobs

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are women and people of color.

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And most people have a smartphone but
less than 50% of black and

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brown people actually have a laptop.

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If you look at, I believe the stats are
46% of people that are making $30,000 and

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below have a laptop, so
everybody else doesn't have a laptop.

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So when you think about
the digital divide,

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most people talk about Wi-Fi,
they forget about devices.

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And this is not just for boot camps or
programs like Treehouse,

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this is for universities, right?

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Universities are going through
a reckoning right now, right?

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A lot of them wanted to reopen, they
spent millions of dollars to reopen, but

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in my opinion, they're all gonna
have to go online, and eventually,

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everybody's gonna be online or
a hybrid of both.

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So that's why Treehouse has
been out of the game for

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a long time with things like tech
degree and things like that.

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And whenever you think
about when going online,

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the device thing is going
to be a big issue, right?

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You see libraries stepping in very well
with Wi-Fi, you see all kinds of other,

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like New Jersey, they just spent
hundreds of million dollars for laptops.

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And so usually,
when people talk about digital divide,

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they talked about K-12, but
we gotta remember the adults, right?

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Most of the people that come to
Career Karma actually 25 to 41.

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So, people forget about the adults.

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I mean, I think it's important for
the kids to learn for sure.

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But the parents that are in
the household need to

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also be able to provide too, right?

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Especially the ones that are quarantined
with little kids, right?

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And so, what I'm doing right now to help
people came as a result of me really

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being pissed off about what happened
with the whole George Floyd situation.

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Because I did this big rant saying that
I was going to raise $100,000 to help

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our people, especially the activists
in the street to not just take over

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the policy discussion but also online.

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And some people saw that rant and
they decided to help us do something.

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So what we're doing is this
campaign that we're calling

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Reskill America: The Great
Rehiring Initiative.

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Cuz we know that we're not just
not about police brutality.

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We're mad about black
people not having jobs.

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We're mad about most of our people dying
from COVID and a bunch of other things.

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So what we're doing is raising half
a million dollars and giving away 5,000,

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5,000 to people that have been laid off or

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furloughed due to COVID-19 that want
to enroll in job training program.

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So that we can give them the tool that
they need in order to get a high paying

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job in a year.

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And once they get hired by
whoever then they can give that

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laptop back to somebody else, right?

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So this is like the fishing rod and
we're teaching people how to fish.

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And we've had companies like Square,
GitHub, come through and give laptops.

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Colin Kapernick himself and
gave a check as well.

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So we've raised about $200,000
in the last few weeks,

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and we're gonna keep doing that.

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>> Ruben, that's awesome,
I love to hear it.

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I think a lot of times, folks get
paralyzed with not knowing exactly

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what to do, or putting some money and
some strategic plans behind it.

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I mean, you're doing an awesome job,
I appreciate it.

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But what do you have to say to others or

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other companies out there and
how they should just deploy their

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resources in terms of towards
Black Lives Matters issue.

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Because this will this will
die off eventually, but

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what would be your recommendations to
those companies who really want to do

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something that provides change?

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>> Yeah, I think that's a great point.

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I like that you said this
time can die off, right?

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This is the difference between
chronos timing and kairos time.

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Chronos time is chronological, kairos
time is the opportune moments as nothing,

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this is the opportune moment for action.

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And I do feel like this moment, this whole
Black Lives Matter moment is different,

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because you see people from all
demographics globally, rioting and

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protesting, and
you see people still processing right now.

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However, and
you also see a lot of really nice pledges,

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if you go to the Axios article there's
like I think $1.6 billion in pledges made.

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The problem with these pledges that
have been made, in my opinion,

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is you don't know who the right
point of contact is that has

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made the pledge in order to take
advantage of these resources.

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A lot of the resources
actually only get deployed to

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people that they've
already funded already.

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The grant process to even get
the money is slow unless you have

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the connections for it.

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And people are hurting now,
the need for speed is of the essence.

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And I think that corporate social
responsibility departments,

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00:13:27,173 --> 00:13:31,514
contracting departments are in
a unique position to do something.

225
00:13:31,514 --> 00:13:33,267
And I do think that the efforts
to de-fund the police and

226
00:13:33,267 --> 00:13:35,072
all these other things related
to policy are important.

227
00:13:35,072 --> 00:13:38,456
But that's gonna be slow,
we know that's gonna be slow and

228
00:13:38,456 --> 00:13:40,975
in my opinion is probably
not gonna happen.

229
00:13:40,975 --> 00:13:47,230
We need to fund things that get resources
to people now and give them power.

230
00:13:47,230 --> 00:13:51,195
And a lot of times these pledges that
we've seen that are dollar pledges

231
00:13:51,195 --> 00:13:54,181
are actually donations in kind,
which aren't bad.

232
00:13:54,181 --> 00:13:57,679
But just keep that in mind that
it's not always valid figures.

233
00:13:57,679 --> 00:14:01,582
And then the people that are in diversity
positions you need to give them power to

234
00:14:01,582 --> 00:14:05,604
where they can make non-contested
decisions without other people's authority

235
00:14:05,604 --> 00:14:09,288
that aren't diverse, but you can make
the hire and send the wire quickly.

236
00:14:09,288 --> 00:14:10,950
>> Absolutely, right,

237
00:14:10,950 --> 00:14:16,289
because there's no significant value
we can provide instant, right?

238
00:14:16,289 --> 00:14:19,461
Relevant, timely, support, that's awesome.

239
00:14:19,461 --> 00:14:24,305
So you mentioned earlier,
you touched a little

240
00:14:24,305 --> 00:14:28,786
bit on universities and
higher learning and

241
00:14:28,786 --> 00:14:34,237
online learning and
how universities coming to see,

242
00:14:34,237 --> 00:14:38,130
they're being exposed I should say.

243
00:14:38,130 --> 00:14:41,566
And having worked in higher ed for
many years,

244
00:14:41,566 --> 00:14:44,835
I've been touting this for years, right?

245
00:14:44,835 --> 00:14:50,364
But what are your thoughts on higher
online education, distance learning,

246
00:14:50,364 --> 00:14:54,881
and even working remotely, right,
so is this our new future?

247
00:14:54,881 --> 00:15:02,740
>> Yeah, I mean, I want to give a huge
shout out to Chip Paucek, the CEO of 2U.

248
00:15:02,740 --> 00:15:07,105
I think he's been ahead of the game
talking about online education for

249
00:15:07,105 --> 00:15:07,927
a long time.

250
00:15:07,927 --> 00:15:12,350
So, Dan Rosensweig who's the CEO of Chegg
who has a lot of thoughts on the future of

251
00:15:12,350 --> 00:15:13,073
education.

252
00:15:13,073 --> 00:15:15,149
So y'all can look up the latter
stuff that they've been doing.

253
00:15:15,149 --> 00:15:19,121
And there are several others
that I could give shout outs to.

254
00:15:19,121 --> 00:15:22,244
But I think that there's
the two major trends right now.

255
00:15:22,244 --> 00:15:24,610
There's the unbundling
of higher education,

256
00:15:24,610 --> 00:15:27,338
which Ryan Craig's did
a really great article about.

257
00:15:27,338 --> 00:15:29,581
And then there's increased demand for

258
00:15:29,581 --> 00:15:32,923
skills based training to
high in demand careers.

259
00:15:32,923 --> 00:15:39,367
Historically, there's been this big
debate about what's the point of college,

260
00:15:39,367 --> 00:15:43,981
is it to get an education and
socialize or for it to get a job?

261
00:15:43,981 --> 00:15:49,635
And people have had arguments about that
for years, but I would say these days

262
00:15:49,635 --> 00:15:55,213
the only reason why most people are trying
to get an education is to get a job.

263
00:15:55,213 --> 00:15:58,670
So the ROI for a degree for
our tech degree, or

264
00:15:58,670 --> 00:16:01,951
a MOOC or bootcamp is in question, right?

265
00:16:01,951 --> 00:16:07,886
Do you get me a job, period,
that's the ultimate measure of success.

266
00:16:07,886 --> 00:16:11,073
And if you're gonna charge me for
what am I getting,

267
00:16:11,073 --> 00:16:14,704
in addition to the job outcome,
what makes you different?

268
00:16:14,704 --> 00:16:18,012
But at the end of the day, everyone
kind of teaching the same thing and

269
00:16:18,012 --> 00:16:20,428
preaching the same thing
that you're gonna get.

270
00:16:20,428 --> 00:16:22,109
So you got to think about those.

271
00:16:22,109 --> 00:16:27,163
I'm not gonna too deep into my
thoughts about all of that.

272
00:16:27,163 --> 00:16:31,368
I do think that that something that
college has a great benefit for

273
00:16:31,368 --> 00:16:33,366
is the socialization aspect.

274
00:16:33,366 --> 00:16:36,705
And I think that's something that
we really need to think about,

275
00:16:36,705 --> 00:16:39,631
especially since we're in
a quarantine mode right now.

276
00:16:39,631 --> 00:16:43,098
Sorry about the beeping,
you got to hear that background noise?

277
00:16:43,098 --> 00:16:44,249
>> Very little.

278
00:16:44,249 --> 00:16:46,758
>> Okay, very little,
just double checking.

279
00:16:46,758 --> 00:16:53,373
Yeah, so the reason why I bring this up
is because now that we're in quarantine,

280
00:16:53,373 --> 00:16:59,137
I think that we are social creatures and
isolation is a very big issue.

281
00:16:59,137 --> 00:17:02,929
When we have high unemployment,
suicide is a big issue.

282
00:17:02,929 --> 00:17:06,188
If you're dealing with older people,
our elders, right?

283
00:17:06,188 --> 00:17:10,918
There's 50,000 people every day for the
next 19 years, isolation is a big issue.

284
00:17:10,918 --> 00:17:14,018
I used to work in
the health care industry.

285
00:17:14,018 --> 00:17:20,391
So we really, really got to figure out
how to address those those issues.

286
00:17:20,391 --> 00:17:23,880
And so when it comes to when
it comes to universities,

287
00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:28,452
I think that I think that I like what
Southern New Hampshire University

288
00:17:28,452 --> 00:17:32,187
is doing right now actually
partnering with boot camps.

289
00:17:32,187 --> 00:17:35,308
Where they are actually giving
you a college credential and

290
00:17:35,308 --> 00:17:36,687
giving you a job outcome.

291
00:17:36,687 --> 00:17:37,965
I think that's really cool.

292
00:17:37,965 --> 00:17:41,147
Kenzie Academy is doing it with
Washington Governors University,

293
00:17:41,147 --> 00:17:44,291
Butler University, and
you're starting to see hybrids of that.

294
00:17:44,291 --> 00:17:47,320
I like seeing what, I guess,
you didn't ask this question but

295
00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:50,710
what corporations are doing as well
to provide their own credential.

296
00:17:50,710 --> 00:17:53,197
I think there's an over
emphasis on credentials.

297
00:17:53,197 --> 00:17:57,807
I think we have to,
I think that's where people get it flawed.

298
00:17:57,807 --> 00:18:00,911
I don't think that a potential
is not going to get you the job.

299
00:18:00,911 --> 00:18:03,886
And that's because most
jobs are offline and.

300
00:18:03,886 --> 00:18:07,437
So I just think that we're gonna see
a lot of consolidation from universities,

301
00:18:07,437 --> 00:18:09,027
many universities shutting down.

302
00:18:09,027 --> 00:18:13,309
We're gonna see a lot of companies getting
a lot of universities getting bought.

303
00:18:13,309 --> 00:18:17,513
I think you're gonna see a lot of
collaboration with corporations and

304
00:18:17,513 --> 00:18:22,655
with short form boot camps or carrying out
some kind of outcomes driven model, yeah.

305
00:18:22,655 --> 00:18:24,773
>> Yeah, I agree with you wholeheartedly.

306
00:18:24,773 --> 00:18:27,574
It's what the research is telling us,
right?

307
00:18:27,574 --> 00:18:32,302
And so we're going to have to have
a lot of folks doing some paradigm

308
00:18:32,302 --> 00:18:34,679
shifting I think to stay around.

309
00:18:34,679 --> 00:18:40,278
But we've kind of talked about all
these things happening here recently.

310
00:18:40,278 --> 00:18:44,281
I think what folks probably really
are interested in Ruben is just getting

311
00:18:44,281 --> 00:18:44,871
started.

312
00:18:44,871 --> 00:18:47,577
You have these ideas and
they kind of come and

313
00:18:47,577 --> 00:18:52,124
go they come to these kind of talks and
festivals and do these interviews.

314
00:18:52,124 --> 00:18:57,065
But for them, when did you first
began to have your interest in tech.

315
00:18:57,065 --> 00:19:00,271
What fed you to learn more?

316
00:19:00,271 --> 00:19:04,952
>> Yeah, a couple of things that
didn't mention that you did ask me

317
00:19:04,952 --> 00:19:09,130
before as well was like,
my thoughts about remote work.

318
00:19:09,130 --> 00:19:13,045
I don't know if you guys saw today, but
Google just made a big announcement about

319
00:19:13,045 --> 00:19:16,454
how they're letting people work
from home all the way till 2021.

320
00:19:16,454 --> 00:19:18,765
A lot of people talking
about going back to normal.

321
00:19:18,765 --> 00:19:22,240
I don't think that there
is going back to normal,

322
00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:27,050
I think that COVID-19 has completely
reshaped our entire world.

323
00:19:27,050 --> 00:19:31,952
And so we have to be aware of this
new reality which does lead into your

324
00:19:31,952 --> 00:19:36,785
question that you just asked me just
now about why I went into tech.

325
00:19:36,785 --> 00:19:41,984
So, I think I told you I graduated from
the best school you've never heard of

326
00:19:41,984 --> 00:19:45,739
University, had a 2.98 GPA,
and when I was in college.

327
00:19:45,739 --> 00:19:51,959
And that's not that I'm dumb,
I just was throwing parties in.

328
00:19:51,959 --> 00:19:56,086
>> [INAUDIBLE]
>> But,

329
00:19:56,086 --> 00:20:00,095
I knew I wanted to go into
investment banking, but

330
00:20:00,095 --> 00:20:03,638
I didn't know what it
took to get into that.

331
00:20:03,638 --> 00:20:08,009
And when I was in college everybody
wants to go into finance or consulting.

332
00:20:08,009 --> 00:20:12,244
In tech, everybody wants,
now everybody wants to go into tech.

333
00:20:12,244 --> 00:20:17,497
And so I was always aware of where things
were going, where things were going,

334
00:20:17,497 --> 00:20:21,653
like what, like not just everybody
wants to break into tech.

335
00:20:21,653 --> 00:20:23,279
What are the roles that are in tech?

336
00:20:23,279 --> 00:20:24,367
Who are the major players?

337
00:20:24,367 --> 00:20:26,630
What are the companies that aren't?

338
00:20:26,630 --> 00:20:29,299
Same, what are the ones that
aren't Google or Facebook?

339
00:20:29,299 --> 00:20:30,977
Who are the people that
are giving them money?

340
00:20:30,977 --> 00:20:32,463
How did they get big?

341
00:20:32,463 --> 00:20:34,647
Blah, blah, blah, right?

342
00:20:34,647 --> 00:20:36,089
And so I would go to a lot of meetups.

343
00:20:36,089 --> 00:20:39,093
I went to the Atlanta Startup Village
in Atlanta Tech Village in Atlanta.

344
00:20:39,093 --> 00:20:44,700
I went to 1871 in Chicago,
like all when they were all coming up.

345
00:20:44,700 --> 00:20:49,194
And just really just meeting people, going
to the happy hours, like really going to

346
00:20:49,194 --> 00:20:53,009
events like this that you all are doing
on Treehouse Festival, right?

347
00:20:53,009 --> 00:20:54,729
I mean, there's 126 people here, right?

348
00:20:54,729 --> 00:20:56,981
And you never know who you're gonna meet.

349
00:20:56,981 --> 00:21:02,160
And I just put myself into that ecosystem.

350
00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,542
I didn't want to be a big
fish in a small pond.

351
00:21:04,542 --> 00:21:08,344
I wanna always find like,
what's the bigger, bigger opportunities,

352
00:21:08,344 --> 00:21:10,602
because like the music industry is small.

353
00:21:10,602 --> 00:21:14,626
That's what I was in before,
in a way smaller and

354
00:21:14,626 --> 00:21:17,134
I always had big ambitions, right?

355
00:21:17,134 --> 00:21:20,800
And so that's kind of how I
got exposed to everything.

356
00:21:20,800 --> 00:21:24,940
The people that really gave
me my shot were actually

357
00:21:24,940 --> 00:21:29,094
diversity groups to get
into investment banking.

358
00:21:29,094 --> 00:21:33,705
So I gotta give a shout out to
sponsors for educational opportunity,

359
00:21:33,705 --> 00:21:36,258
SEO, and they'll see those people.

360
00:21:36,258 --> 00:21:39,288
I wasn't able to participate,
cuz I had graduated already, but

361
00:21:39,288 --> 00:21:40,729
I sent out 1,900 emails.

362
00:21:40,729 --> 00:21:43,490
And I sent 300 of them to SEO, and

363
00:21:43,490 --> 00:21:47,185
they let me set up a booth
at Morehouse College.

364
00:21:47,185 --> 00:21:51,554
I got to crash their career fair,
even though I didn't go to Morehouse.

365
00:21:51,554 --> 00:21:52,814
And they actually let me in, and

366
00:21:52,814 --> 00:21:54,974
I was able to get my first
shot to get into into banking.

367
00:21:54,974 --> 00:21:57,554
And then I did same thing
to get into tech as well.

368
00:21:57,554 --> 00:22:02,395
And we figured out how to make it work for
people inside a career calm,

369
00:22:02,395 --> 00:22:06,588
and I can breakdown how we do that,
but that's how I did it.

370
00:22:06,588 --> 00:22:09,588
>> Wow, so what you're saying,
a whole lot of tenacity.

371
00:22:09,588 --> 00:22:10,539
[LAUGH] 300.

372
00:22:10,539 --> 00:22:11,955
>> A whole lot of tenacity, yeah.

373
00:22:11,955 --> 00:22:13,124
>> So Ruben, I can't imagine that
it was a walk in the park, right?

374
00:22:13,124 --> 00:22:17,136
I mean, you're young,

375
00:22:17,136 --> 00:22:22,874
you're an African American male.

376
00:22:22,874 --> 00:22:27,635
What are some of like
the major challenges?

377
00:22:27,635 --> 00:22:29,525
Give us the tea on this really,

378
00:22:29,525 --> 00:22:34,341
that people face when they try to break
into tech, especially folks of color.

379
00:22:34,341 --> 00:22:36,877
>> Yeah, I mean, I liked,
somebody put it in the chat.

380
00:22:36,877 --> 00:22:40,259
I think they caught that I used the word,
underestimated.

381
00:22:40,259 --> 00:22:44,917
I got that word from Arlen Hamilton,
shout out to Arlen Hamilton.

382
00:22:44,917 --> 00:22:47,968
>> [LAUGH]
>> Because, I love it because it puts

383
00:22:47,968 --> 00:22:52,072
the negative energy on whoever's
underestimating, right?

384
00:22:52,072 --> 00:22:56,427
And it actually puts you in
a position of advantage, right?

385
00:22:56,427 --> 00:22:59,850
Because if people are underestimating you,
then it should be easy for

386
00:22:59,850 --> 00:23:01,538
you to exceed their expectation.

387
00:23:01,538 --> 00:23:03,707
That's kind of like being a black cellist,
right?

388
00:23:03,707 --> 00:23:06,555
You walk into a room, like nobody
expects you to walk up to the front and

389
00:23:06,555 --> 00:23:07,679
be the principal cellist.

390
00:23:07,679 --> 00:23:10,499
Right, they don't expect that, right?

391
00:23:10,499 --> 00:23:14,880
So it's actually great for
people to be underestimating you,

392
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,370
because you're special, right?

393
00:23:17,370 --> 00:23:18,715
Everybody knows how to code.

394
00:23:18,715 --> 00:23:23,144
What's gonna make me choose not to
just shadow over somebody else?

395
00:23:23,144 --> 00:23:24,947
That's who she is as a person, right?

396
00:23:24,947 --> 00:23:30,408
So we teach people to love what they
may not have loved about themselves,

397
00:23:30,408 --> 00:23:35,792
or take their perceived disadvantages and
turn them into advantages.

398
00:23:35,792 --> 00:23:39,277
Because like growing up in Atlanta,
everybody's black.

399
00:23:39,277 --> 00:23:43,774
I didn't know black people were
a minority until I left Atlanta and

400
00:23:43,774 --> 00:23:48,750
until I started getting Audited Media
hitting me up, like telling me that

401
00:23:48,750 --> 00:23:53,511
we were less than, or that we needed
to be treated like a charity case.

402
00:23:53,511 --> 00:23:56,618
You don't hear me talking
about diversity at but

403
00:23:56,618 --> 00:23:59,053
everybody in our community is black,
right?

404
00:23:59,053 --> 00:24:00,919
>> Right, you're right.

405
00:24:00,919 --> 00:24:05,682
>> I think leading through action and
winning and showing improvement through

406
00:24:05,682 --> 00:24:09,938
actions, indeed, is a much more
effective way to get things done.

407
00:24:09,938 --> 00:24:15,073
And since I know how the game works, which
is very similar to the music industry,

408
00:24:15,073 --> 00:24:19,394
the way the music industry works
is that it doesn't discriminate.

409
00:24:19,394 --> 00:24:21,379
It'll hire anybody, right?

410
00:24:21,379 --> 00:24:24,436
>> Mm-hm
>> You can be black, you can be white,

411
00:24:24,436 --> 00:24:26,453
you can be old, you can be young,

412
00:24:26,453 --> 00:24:30,158
you can be a different sex,
you can be a different religion.

413
00:24:30,158 --> 00:24:33,856
You could speak a different language,
as long as it sounds good.

414
00:24:33,856 --> 00:24:36,799
But the hardest part about getting in
the music industry is not being a great

415
00:24:36,799 --> 00:24:39,850
musician or a great artist, it's playing
your record for the right person.

416
00:24:39,850 --> 00:24:41,350
And how do you get into
the music industry?

417
00:24:41,350 --> 00:24:43,562
Not apply on Universal Records' website.

418
00:24:43,562 --> 00:24:45,168
>> [LAUGH] No.

419
00:24:45,168 --> 00:24:46,789
>> You gotta find a connect.

420
00:24:46,789 --> 00:24:48,104
>> That's right.

421
00:24:48,104 --> 00:24:48,920
>> Right?

422
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:50,011
>> That's right.

423
00:24:50,011 --> 00:24:51,290
>> The same thing with technology.

424
00:24:51,290 --> 00:24:54,094
That's why we create a community,
that's why we're on the social network.

425
00:24:54,094 --> 00:24:55,390
>> Awesome.

426
00:24:55,390 --> 00:24:59,930
So, that mentorship and
you have a connection, and

427
00:24:59,930 --> 00:25:05,516
teach your folks really
the essentials of networking, right?

428
00:25:05,516 --> 00:25:09,997
I think a lot of times,
folks don't have that effective skill, but

429
00:25:09,997 --> 00:25:14,637
how essential and important it is,
like you said, to be connected and

430
00:25:14,637 --> 00:25:18,669
hooked up with the right people and
not being afraid to do so.

431
00:25:18,669 --> 00:25:24,373
So what advice would you,
or not necessarily advice,

432
00:25:24,373 --> 00:25:29,085
but how do you think,
you mentioned music and

433
00:25:29,085 --> 00:25:33,549
your your space and your time there music.

434
00:25:33,549 --> 00:25:38,450
How do you think you having
a degree in cello performance,

435
00:25:38,450 --> 00:25:42,859
[LAUGH] and
how does that intersect with technology?

436
00:25:42,859 --> 00:25:44,723
What parallels were there?

437
00:25:44,723 --> 00:25:47,826
>> That's a great question.

438
00:25:47,826 --> 00:25:49,789
So let's just,
let's use that example, ,okay?

439
00:25:49,789 --> 00:25:54,630
So how would I compete with
someone that has 10 years of

440
00:25:54,630 --> 00:25:59,992
experience as an engineer, or
a salesperson, as a cellist?

441
00:25:59,992 --> 00:26:03,793
Well, if I'm in a boot camp or
I'm in a tech degree and

442
00:26:03,793 --> 00:26:08,613
I focus on building projects related
to music that I have personally

443
00:26:08,613 --> 00:26:13,175
experienced as a musician, and
when I get to the job search, and

444
00:26:13,175 --> 00:26:18,248
I focus on applying to companies
like Spotify or Pandora, or Patreon,

445
00:26:18,248 --> 00:26:23,912
I have an advantage, because I can compete
against a salesperson or an engineer

446
00:26:23,912 --> 00:26:29,108
that knows nothing about music,
because I am a professional musician.

447
00:26:29,108 --> 00:26:32,859
And I know more about music
than the CEO of Spotify.

448
00:26:32,859 --> 00:26:34,425
You know what I'm saying?

449
00:26:34,425 --> 00:26:37,528
So you will have an advantage, right?

450
00:26:37,528 --> 00:26:40,968
So some of you are like,
wait, what if I'm too old?

451
00:26:40,968 --> 00:26:42,932
But you got life experience in something.

452
00:26:42,932 --> 00:26:46,439
It doesn't have to be career-related.

453
00:26:46,439 --> 00:26:48,979
You might be an expert at crochet, right?

454
00:26:48,979 --> 00:26:52,639
And then whenever you build projects
related to crochet making and

455
00:26:52,639 --> 00:26:57,292
do it yourself stuff, when you get to the
job search, apply to companies like that.

456
00:26:57,292 --> 00:27:00,506
Cuz you know who's producing some
of the most mass in the world for

457
00:27:00,506 --> 00:27:02,620
everybody right now during COVID-19?

458
00:27:02,620 --> 00:27:07,324
It's Etsy, because it's a big
do it yourself community, and

459
00:27:07,324 --> 00:27:10,271
people want to have swagged out masks.

460
00:27:10,271 --> 00:27:14,198
So shout out to the people,
to the artists in the game, right?

461
00:27:14,198 --> 00:27:19,390
So I think like, understand, so when I
was trying to, I'll give you an example.

462
00:27:19,390 --> 00:27:23,829
When I was trying to get into investment
banking, I got that question.

463
00:27:23,829 --> 00:27:27,519
What would a cellist have to do with
getting into investment banking?

464
00:27:27,519 --> 00:27:29,361
So I had to paint the picture to them.

465
00:27:29,361 --> 00:27:33,880
I would have to say things like,
I was I was born in California,

466
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:35,340
grew up in Atlanta.

467
00:27:35,340 --> 00:27:37,555
I've been playing the cello
since I was four years old.

468
00:27:37,555 --> 00:27:39,768
As you can imagine,
as a classical musician,

469
00:27:39,768 --> 00:27:41,999
I often come in contact
with business people.

470
00:27:41,999 --> 00:27:45,428
I met a guy who was in private equity that
told me if I want to learn business in

471
00:27:45,428 --> 00:27:48,165
a short amount of time,
you should do investment banking.

472
00:27:48,165 --> 00:27:49,511
So I just made the task for them.

473
00:27:49,511 --> 00:27:51,748
You have to paint the picture for
them, right?

474
00:27:51,748 --> 00:27:55,220
So whatever it is that you're trying to
do, you might have to tell your story

475
00:27:55,220 --> 00:27:59,147
every time you're talking to somebody, but
you gotta make the connection for them.

476
00:27:59,147 --> 00:28:01,515
Right now,
you just told my story like it made sense.

477
00:28:01,515 --> 00:28:03,116
I've been fired three times.

478
00:28:03,116 --> 00:28:04,633
I've been laid off three times, right?

479
00:28:04,633 --> 00:28:05,699
>> Right, speak!

480
00:28:05,699 --> 00:28:07,724
>> Career Karma wasn't for

481
00:28:07,724 --> 00:28:12,652
me, like we just dreamed up
overnight to make a lot of money.

482
00:28:12,652 --> 00:28:16,582
It's a calling, it's a movement, right?

483
00:28:16,582 --> 00:28:19,947
I have to do this,
I have to help a billion people now.

484
00:28:19,947 --> 00:28:25,570
And so, but the story always has to
tie and actually resonate with people.

485
00:28:25,570 --> 00:28:28,354
I think for the people that are on
this call and they want guidance,

486
00:28:28,354 --> 00:28:31,338
they want mentorship, they want to
understand how to love what they may

487
00:28:31,338 --> 00:28:33,747
not love about themselves,
they can go to Career Karma.

488
00:28:33,747 --> 00:28:37,676
They could fill out Fast Track,
which is that CareerKarma.com/slash apply,

489
00:28:37,676 --> 00:28:40,045
share their career goals,
share their needs and

490
00:28:40,045 --> 00:28:43,013
be open about what their needs are so
we know how to help them.

491
00:28:43,013 --> 00:28:46,930
And every single person will get connected
with the coach in a group called a squad

492
00:28:46,930 --> 00:28:50,039
that will give them support,
not just before the bootcamp, but

493
00:28:50,039 --> 00:28:53,628
during the program, during the job
session, for the rest of their life.

494
00:28:53,628 --> 00:28:58,890
>> Awesome, you know Ruben,
I really, I'm thinking

495
00:28:58,890 --> 00:29:05,121
about the young folks who don't
have hope right now, right?

496
00:29:05,121 --> 00:29:10,552
I'm talking about newly
released from prison,

497
00:29:10,552 --> 00:29:14,658
young sister with a baby, new baby,

498
00:29:14,658 --> 00:29:18,770
didn't graduate from high school.

499
00:29:18,770 --> 00:29:23,640
How can they look at you and
look at your story and still see hope?

500
00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,565
What advice or
what can you speak to them to say, hey,

501
00:29:27,565 --> 00:29:30,717
this too could be you, and be convincing.

502
00:29:30,717 --> 00:29:34,902
Like how can, I've got all these
things stacked against me.

503
00:29:34,902 --> 00:29:37,182
How could I ever even
rise to your occasion?

504
00:29:37,182 --> 00:29:38,992
I don't even know what a cello is.

505
00:29:38,992 --> 00:29:40,547
Talk to those groups.

506
00:29:40,547 --> 00:29:44,737
>> Yeah, let me respond to what
Nikolas said in the chat really fast.

507
00:29:44,737 --> 00:29:48,625
So he asked about like resources people
that already completed a boot camp, yes.

508
00:29:48,625 --> 00:29:51,543
My brother actually runs something
called a job search master class.

509
00:29:51,543 --> 00:29:53,083
We also have a portfolio workshop.

510
00:29:53,083 --> 00:29:55,351
You can upload your
projects in Career Karma,

511
00:29:55,351 --> 00:29:58,209
get connected to a network
of over 2,000 companies.

512
00:29:58,209 --> 00:30:00,104
We have early assessments for

513
00:30:00,104 --> 00:30:05,230
people that want to test their test skills
to see if they're ready for a boot camp.

514
00:30:05,230 --> 00:30:07,162
But that's your answer.

515
00:30:07,162 --> 00:30:09,646
Let me go back to Dr. Joe Sato.

516
00:30:11,936 --> 00:30:13,427
How do I help people?

517
00:30:13,427 --> 00:30:19,597
So first of all, I tell people,
I want to make sure that I'm irrelevant.

518
00:30:19,597 --> 00:30:23,970
I think the best managers make
their people that they're managing

519
00:30:23,970 --> 00:30:25,777
better than them, right?

520
00:30:25,777 --> 00:30:27,110
And turn them into leaders.

521
00:30:27,110 --> 00:30:30,813
I want to create other leaders and
have you all carry the torch.

522
00:30:30,813 --> 00:30:34,802
And so, as a man,
I could never relate to a woman or

523
00:30:34,802 --> 00:30:38,511
a mom because I'm not a woman or
a mom, right?

524
00:30:38,511 --> 00:30:43,212
But I can connect you with other moms
that can relate to your struggle, right?

525
00:30:43,212 --> 00:30:47,103
And so this goes back to the importance
of having the scribe, right?

526
00:30:47,103 --> 00:30:50,986
So if you're a mom I connect
you with the moms who post.

527
00:30:50,986 --> 00:30:53,329
If you're a dad I can do
the dads who post a lot.

528
00:30:53,329 --> 00:30:56,250
If you're somebody that was formerly
incarcerated, I can connect you

529
00:30:56,250 --> 00:30:59,611
not just to the people that were formerly
incarcerated and career karma, but also

530
00:30:59,611 --> 00:31:03,090
to my homies that 70 million jobs Richard
Branson, shout out to Richard Branson.

531
00:31:03,090 --> 00:31:10,578
I can connect to what's next chapter, this
slack Zalman I think now Dropbox, right?

532
00:31:10,578 --> 00:31:12,718
I'm talking to Kenyatta Layel over there.

533
00:31:12,718 --> 00:31:16,023
Checker has a bounce back to work program.

534
00:31:16,023 --> 00:31:17,904
So we are the plugs right?

535
00:31:17,904 --> 00:31:19,294
Because we meet to connect.

536
00:31:19,294 --> 00:31:21,229
Have you ever heard a genius
say meet to connect?

537
00:31:21,229 --> 00:31:22,469
Same thing, right?

538
00:31:22,469 --> 00:31:27,761
And so we recognize that usually,
when people have career conversations they

539
00:31:27,761 --> 00:31:32,734
lead with what school they went to,
what GPA they have, what certificate

540
00:31:32,734 --> 00:31:37,325
that they have, but that's not
gonna make an instant connection.

541
00:31:37,325 --> 00:31:40,863
And Dr. Joe Zato and I found out that
we grew up in the same neighborhood,

542
00:31:40,863 --> 00:31:42,777
we already got an awesome connection.

543
00:31:42,777 --> 00:31:43,576
>> That's right.

544
00:31:43,576 --> 00:31:44,792
>> And
this is the first time that we've met.

545
00:31:44,792 --> 00:31:46,586
So we probably would have
a much deeper connection,

546
00:31:46,586 --> 00:31:48,148
if we grew up in the same
neighborhood right?

547
00:31:48,148 --> 00:31:48,716
>> That's right.

548
00:31:48,716 --> 00:31:50,439
[LAUGH]
>> Right maybe if we-

549
00:31:50,439 --> 00:31:51,129
>> I was born in LA.

550
00:31:51,129 --> 00:31:52,385
>> Knew the same person-
>> You never know.

551
00:31:52,385 --> 00:31:54,123
>> In the same school right?

552
00:31:54,123 --> 00:31:54,785
>> That's right.

553
00:31:54,785 --> 00:31:58,670
>> Exactly, so, like,
what a lot of people don't realize is

554
00:31:58,670 --> 00:32:03,129
that the 99% really got the power,
we just not all of us, right?

555
00:32:03,129 --> 00:32:05,393
So we're just trying to
organize everybody and

556
00:32:05,393 --> 00:32:09,030
recognize that we do have the power and
that there are other people like you.

557
00:32:09,030 --> 00:32:13,556
If I could show you a map of all the other
people that were formerly incarcerated

558
00:32:13,556 --> 00:32:15,899
that are now working in tech companies.

559
00:32:15,899 --> 00:32:18,474
Now you find your people and
they could vouch for you and

560
00:32:18,474 --> 00:32:20,668
skip the normal recruiting process, right?

561
00:32:20,668 --> 00:32:23,559
How many rappers do we know
that have been locked up?

562
00:32:23,559 --> 00:32:25,915
There are now big artists right?

563
00:32:25,915 --> 00:32:27,190
>> Absolutely.

564
00:32:27,190 --> 00:32:31,327
>> That existence and tattoo and
not just black people.

565
00:32:31,327 --> 00:32:32,674
The black people too.

566
00:32:32,674 --> 00:32:35,658
>> Yeah, all shades.

567
00:32:35,658 --> 00:32:36,392
>> Yeah.

568
00:32:36,392 --> 00:32:39,938
>> Awesome,
I'll keep wondering here though.

569
00:32:39,938 --> 00:32:42,040
Is that a cello there by Ruben?

570
00:32:42,040 --> 00:32:44,341
I'd like to hear a little something and

571
00:32:44,341 --> 00:32:48,613
I'm sure the folks out there would
love to hear just a little something.

572
00:32:48,613 --> 00:32:51,348
>> About what now?

573
00:32:51,348 --> 00:32:52,230
Say that one more time.

574
00:32:52,230 --> 00:32:53,252
Is there a little bit of what now?

575
00:32:53,252 --> 00:32:59,464
Our cello is upstairs.

576
00:32:59,464 --> 00:33:03,438
I could do that.

577
00:33:03,438 --> 00:33:04,280
I can do that.

578
00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:04,918
>> You could?

579
00:33:04,918 --> 00:33:05,950
>> But.

580
00:33:05,950 --> 00:33:06,480
>> But.

581
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:07,292
>> I could do that.

582
00:33:07,292 --> 00:33:09,769
>> [LAUGH] I'm trying for y'all.

583
00:33:09,769 --> 00:33:14,538
I know y'all wanna hear Ruben on his
channel, maybe sometime this week.

584
00:33:14,538 --> 00:33:16,396
[LAUGH]
>> Maybe sometime this week.

585
00:33:16,396 --> 00:33:17,825
>> Okay.

586
00:33:17,825 --> 00:33:19,978
>> And the ace up the sleeve.

587
00:33:19,978 --> 00:33:20,815
>> Okay.

588
00:33:20,815 --> 00:33:21,953
>> But we can do that.

589
00:33:21,953 --> 00:33:26,904
I'll do a special for you guys.

590
00:33:26,904 --> 00:33:27,753
Let's make it.

591
00:33:27,753 --> 00:33:29,748
Let's prepare it and we can make that.

592
00:33:29,748 --> 00:33:31,038
All right, we'll talk.

593
00:33:31,038 --> 00:33:35,178
>> I want to make sure I deliver 1,000%.

594
00:33:35,178 --> 00:33:37,075
>> Absolutely.

595
00:33:37,075 --> 00:33:39,946
Hey, I've got a couple more things
I want to talk to you about.

596
00:33:39,946 --> 00:33:43,645
Are there any more questions you'd like
to take that you're seeing in the chat?

597
00:33:43,645 --> 00:33:46,406
>> Let's see what questions
we got in the chat.

598
00:33:46,406 --> 00:33:51,339
We got people saying, let's see, can you
speak to the reality of needing to pay

599
00:33:51,339 --> 00:33:54,148
the bills to achieve
the roof over your head.

600
00:33:54,148 --> 00:33:55,003
I think that's a great question.

601
00:33:55,003 --> 00:33:57,903
>> That's a great question.

602
00:33:57,903 --> 00:34:03,735
>> So most people that come to career
karma, they can't do it full time.

603
00:34:03,735 --> 00:34:09,314
Right because paying bills is a reality,
especially for the parents.

604
00:34:09,314 --> 00:34:15,944
So, there are programs that we work
with that have a living stipend.

605
00:34:15,944 --> 00:34:18,685
Have you ever heard of the mini stipend,
so

606
00:34:18,685 --> 00:34:24,107
living stipend will give you $1500 a month
while you're going to the program.

607
00:34:24,107 --> 00:34:28,895
Some of the programs that we work
with will match you up with jobs that

608
00:34:28,895 --> 00:34:30,506
are part time as well.

609
00:34:30,506 --> 00:34:32,892
So, if you're doing a part time program,

610
00:34:32,892 --> 00:34:36,618
you'll probably dedicate like maybe
four to six hours a day to it.

611
00:34:36,618 --> 00:34:41,987
And then some of the programs will match
you with a job so you can also learn.

612
00:34:41,987 --> 00:34:44,215
I'm working on figuring
out other solutions.

613
00:34:44,215 --> 00:34:49,286
There was one boot camp that we work with
that matched with a staffing company

614
00:34:49,286 --> 00:34:54,436
that would allow you to work for a very
big company on doing customer service so

615
00:34:54,436 --> 00:34:58,022
you can learn the soft skills and
and the tech skills.

616
00:34:58,022 --> 00:35:02,486
But we will help you figure out those
types of solutions in addition to giving

617
00:35:02,486 --> 00:35:03,336
you a device.

618
00:35:03,336 --> 00:35:06,790
But it's not a problem that
we have fully solved yet.

619
00:35:06,790 --> 00:35:08,660
But there are there are roles.

620
00:35:08,660 --> 00:35:13,021
I would just sign up for part time
program, look at the living stipend, and

621
00:35:13,021 --> 00:35:16,843
then we'll do what we can to help
you figure out the part time job.

622
00:35:16,843 --> 00:35:18,737
Let's see if there's other
questions in the chat.

623
00:35:18,737 --> 00:35:20,847
I like taking questions from the chat.

624
00:35:25,075 --> 00:35:25,870
Let's see.

625
00:35:25,870 --> 00:35:28,194
How old is too old to start coding?

626
00:35:28,194 --> 00:35:30,049
Is that a serious question?

627
00:35:30,049 --> 00:35:33,439
There's no such thing as
too old to start coding.

628
00:35:33,439 --> 00:35:37,011
I think a lot of people
feel late to the game.

629
00:35:37,011 --> 00:35:38,405
You might feel late to the game.

630
00:35:38,405 --> 00:35:40,674
But I want you all to know that
you are like extremely early.

631
00:35:40,674 --> 00:35:43,093
Half the world's not
connected to the Internet.

632
00:35:43,093 --> 00:35:45,753
Elon Musk is trying to
shoot rockets to space.

633
00:35:45,753 --> 00:35:47,168
You ever heard of Starlink?

634
00:35:47,168 --> 00:35:50,855
The whole point of Starlink is to
get global Internet connectivity.

635
00:35:50,855 --> 00:35:54,508
So think about everything that has
happened with only half the world

636
00:35:54,508 --> 00:35:56,058
connected to the Internet.

637
00:35:56,058 --> 00:35:58,517
Do you know what's going to happen
when the entire world's connected to

638
00:35:58,517 --> 00:35:59,052
the Internet?

639
00:35:59,052 --> 00:36:03,212
4 billion new people are going to
come online in the next six years.

640
00:36:03,212 --> 00:36:05,283
All right, yeah, I mean,

641
00:36:05,283 --> 00:36:09,890
I think 75% of mobile traffic
is gonna be driven by video.

642
00:36:09,890 --> 00:36:14,773
If you're on video right now, I mean it's
not all about mobile no more now that

643
00:36:14,773 --> 00:36:17,882
we are in our home offices
because of quarantine.

644
00:36:17,882 --> 00:36:23,462
But the point is, is that the app store
was only invented in 2008, right?

645
00:36:23,462 --> 00:36:26,559
You all actually hella early, right?

646
00:36:26,559 --> 00:36:29,099
And people are living longer.

647
00:36:29,099 --> 00:36:30,267
>> Yeah.

648
00:36:30,267 --> 00:36:34,189
>> Right, I was born in Loma Linda,
California, which is a Blue Zone.

649
00:36:34,189 --> 00:36:35,631
You know what the Blue Zone is?

650
00:36:35,631 --> 00:36:38,555
The Blue Zone is where people live for
hundreds of years.

651
00:36:38,555 --> 00:36:43,579
All right, so, in my opinion, 50's the new
30, at least that's what I tell myself.

652
00:36:43,579 --> 00:36:44,973
I just turned 33.

653
00:36:44,973 --> 00:36:49,284
>> [INAUDIBLE]
>> [LAUGH] So

654
00:36:49,284 --> 00:36:53,315
that's how I

655
00:36:53,315 --> 00:36:58,084
feel about it.

656
00:36:58,084 --> 00:37:02,466
Somebody said I started learning at 26/36
years old to two to three months boom

657
00:37:02,466 --> 00:37:03,040
in there.

658
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,118
He's trying to testimony.

659
00:37:05,118 --> 00:37:06,485
See, I'm not lying.

660
00:37:06,485 --> 00:37:08,174
Shout out to Ann on the call.

661
00:37:08,174 --> 00:37:10,539
>> All right, that's right.

662
00:37:10,539 --> 00:37:16,287
Hey listen, I know a 79 year old no,
she was 89 year old woman that says she

663
00:37:16,287 --> 00:37:21,705
didn't start back to school to learn
things till she was in her 70s so.

664
00:37:21,705 --> 00:37:24,848
>> I tell people you don't
have to be the hare.

665
00:37:24,848 --> 00:37:26,041
You can be the tortoise.

666
00:37:26,041 --> 00:37:27,313
Tortoise won the race.

667
00:37:27,313 --> 00:37:28,425
Nothing wrong with that.

668
00:37:28,425 --> 00:37:29,296
>> Absolutely.

669
00:37:29,296 --> 00:37:33,181
>> You might be Mike Tyson about
to fight Roy Jones right now.

670
00:37:33,181 --> 00:37:35,221
Right he looks good too.

671
00:37:35,221 --> 00:37:37,252
So don't quit.

672
00:37:37,252 --> 00:37:39,056
>> Don't quit, don't quit.

673
00:37:39,056 --> 00:37:42,671
That's right,
you heard it y 'all don't quit.

674
00:37:42,671 --> 00:37:48,243
[LAUGH] So Ruben it's a lot,
I even going through my program.

675
00:37:48,243 --> 00:37:49,567
I got through studies.

676
00:37:49,567 --> 00:37:52,473
It's been experience imposter syndrome,
right?

677
00:37:52,473 --> 00:37:58,059
I think it's fairly common for
folks in venturing into something new.

678
00:37:58,059 --> 00:38:02,748
Can you talk a little more about
kind of some of those psychological

679
00:38:02,748 --> 00:38:07,525
elements that people just have to
consider when they're wanting to

680
00:38:07,525 --> 00:38:11,653
start over in a new career or
transition into a new career?

681
00:38:11,653 --> 00:38:16,138
>> Yeah, I mean, imposter syndrome
is a very real thing I think.

682
00:38:16,138 --> 00:38:20,700
I think you said something about
tenacity earlier like I think.

683
00:38:20,700 --> 00:38:25,082
I think one of my strongest traits
is resourcefulness and tenacity and

684
00:38:25,082 --> 00:38:27,977
being able to like,
decide to do something and

685
00:38:27,977 --> 00:38:32,899
have this confidence to go all the way
through and just like run through walls.

686
00:38:32,899 --> 00:38:36,529
I think trusting your
struggle matters right,

687
00:38:36,529 --> 00:38:39,896
being able to trust your struggle matters.

688
00:38:39,896 --> 00:38:43,661
I think trusting the process
also matters too.

689
00:38:43,661 --> 00:38:47,491
And recognizing that
rejection is part of it.

690
00:38:47,491 --> 00:38:52,547
Right, so I've like you said like
when I tried to get into banking,

691
00:38:52,547 --> 00:38:55,130
I had to send out 1900 emails.

692
00:38:55,130 --> 00:39:01,031
But to get into tech, I probably sent,
I don't know, maybe 5000 emails,

693
00:39:01,031 --> 00:39:05,259
but to raise money as a founder
I had to raise thousands and

694
00:39:05,259 --> 00:39:08,980
thousands of emails to right,
it doesn't stop.

695
00:39:08,980 --> 00:39:12,266
And what you'll realize
about your results,

696
00:39:12,266 --> 00:39:16,150
people have probably heard
about [INAUDIBLE], right?

697
00:39:16,150 --> 00:39:17,031
80/20, right?

698
00:39:17,031 --> 00:39:20,595
So like 80% of your results are gonna
come from 20% of your efforts.

699
00:39:20,595 --> 00:39:25,808
And so if you follow that math, right,
and only one out of five of your emails

700
00:39:25,808 --> 00:39:30,719
are gonna respond like increase your
numbers by sending more, right?

701
00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:32,263
Get more rejections, right?

702
00:39:32,263 --> 00:39:32,950
>> Right.

703
00:39:32,950 --> 00:39:37,141
>> Cuz like somebody will respond
that might not lead to an interview.

704
00:39:37,141 --> 00:39:40,587
And then out of the interviews,
how many interviews are you having, right?

705
00:39:40,587 --> 00:39:42,210
How many of those are gonna
lead to a second interview.

706
00:39:42,210 --> 00:39:42,904
>> Right.

707
00:39:42,904 --> 00:39:44,683
>> When recording talent,

708
00:39:44,683 --> 00:39:49,264
some people get stuck in all these
like these I'm not ready yet.

709
00:39:49,264 --> 00:39:51,385
I'm not gonna apply until I'm ready yet.

710
00:39:51,385 --> 00:39:54,161
There's a very famous
quote by Reed Hoffman,

711
00:39:54,161 --> 00:39:59,139
who is the founder of LinkedIn that if you
are embarrassed about the first version of

712
00:39:59,139 --> 00:40:01,647
your product you've launched too late.

713
00:40:01,647 --> 00:40:04,470
You are the product that
the company is like.

714
00:40:04,470 --> 00:40:08,804
As an artist, right, do you know how many
artists are really good musicians that

715
00:40:08,804 --> 00:40:11,865
starve just cuz they don't
know how to sell themselves,

716
00:40:11,865 --> 00:40:14,309
they don't know how to present themselves?

717
00:40:14,309 --> 00:40:18,743
And so
you have to learn how to get launched.

718
00:40:18,743 --> 00:40:20,485
There's a lot of mediocre
artists that are very wealthy.

719
00:40:20,485 --> 00:40:24,250
And I'm not gonna throw shade
at some mediocre artists,

720
00:40:24,250 --> 00:40:27,946
because I love all the artists,
I'm not gonna do that.

721
00:40:27,946 --> 00:40:31,038
>> [LAUGH]
>> But there's a lot of mediocre artists

722
00:40:31,038 --> 00:40:34,614
that are really good at distribution
that are getting paid right now.

723
00:40:34,614 --> 00:40:39,459
And so for the people that are like, man,
I'm not ready yet, just get the interview,

724
00:40:39,459 --> 00:40:41,407
get the coding challenge and fail.

725
00:40:41,407 --> 00:40:43,948
>> Right.
>> That's okay, because the lessons

726
00:40:43,948 --> 00:40:48,180
are going to keep coming back to
you until you learn them, right?

727
00:40:48,180 --> 00:40:51,009
And what I want you to do when
you fail that coding challenge,

728
00:40:51,009 --> 00:40:53,626
I want you to complete it, and
I want you to send it back.

729
00:40:53,626 --> 00:40:59,211
There's a guy in here, his name's Kahan,
he did that, he works at Tesla now, right?

730
00:40:59,211 --> 00:41:03,200
And every time he got rejected
from this coding challenge,

731
00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:06,963
he would complete it and
send it to them anyway, right?

732
00:41:06,963 --> 00:41:11,085
That's the best interview
practice you're gonna get.

733
00:41:11,085 --> 00:41:14,051
>> Absolutely.
>> And this is important,

734
00:41:14,051 --> 00:41:18,566
but get real interviews and lose, right?

735
00:41:18,566 --> 00:41:19,259
>> Right.

736
00:41:19,259 --> 00:41:22,822
>> There's a great book called
The Inner Game of Tennis, right,

737
00:41:22,822 --> 00:41:25,108
and in the mindset that you need to have,

738
00:41:25,108 --> 00:41:29,226
and when you're playing tennis, but
I'm not a tennis player, right?

739
00:41:29,226 --> 00:41:31,518
But it talks about how to
think about competition.

740
00:41:31,518 --> 00:41:33,357
If somebody is exposing your backhand and

741
00:41:33,357 --> 00:41:35,459
you just keep getting
exposed in the backhand,

742
00:41:35,459 --> 00:41:38,891
you shouldn't feel bad as a competitor
because you're making them better.

743
00:41:38,891 --> 00:41:44,005
I'm gonna hit you in your weakness every
time until you get that backhand right.

744
00:41:44,005 --> 00:41:45,320
You know what I'm saying?

745
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:46,033
>> Absolutely.

746
00:41:46,033 --> 00:41:49,541
>> And
there are companies hiring every day.

747
00:41:49,541 --> 00:41:53,341
I want everybody to sign up to
the Strictly VC newsletter.

748
00:41:53,341 --> 00:41:56,426
And you will see daily updates of
companies that are raising millions of

749
00:41:56,426 --> 00:41:59,565
dollars from venture capitalists,
and for people that don't know what

750
00:41:59,565 --> 00:42:02,562
a venture capitalist is,
that's somebody gives companies money.

751
00:42:02,562 --> 00:42:04,299
Anytime a company raising money,
they're hiring.

752
00:42:04,299 --> 00:42:09,202
Send an email to the CEO or the hiring
manager, find their contact information,

753
00:42:09,202 --> 00:42:14,554
cold email them, Strictly VC, everybody is
talking about this, the newsletter now.

754
00:42:14,554 --> 00:42:15,323
>> I know.

755
00:42:15,323 --> 00:42:21,640
>> Strictly VC,
[CROSSTALK] every time they're hiring,

756
00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:24,947
send them an email, right?

757
00:42:24,947 --> 00:42:27,286
And don't just lead with
professional things.

758
00:42:27,286 --> 00:42:31,010
Figure out what they said that they're
trying to do in the future and tell

759
00:42:31,010 --> 00:42:34,811
them how you are gonna help, [INAUDIBLE]
spent time in education, right?

760
00:42:34,811 --> 00:42:37,347
Lot of ed-tech companies raising money.

761
00:42:37,347 --> 00:42:41,741
Coursera just raised $130 million,
Campus Lodges just raise $120 million,

762
00:42:41,741 --> 00:42:44,216
Master Class raised $100 million dollars.

763
00:42:44,216 --> 00:42:48,048
Hit them up, let me know you're teacher,
they'd probably be interested in that.

764
00:42:48,048 --> 00:42:50,050
I'm a teacher that knows how to code?

765
00:42:50,050 --> 00:42:52,630
Yeah, I'm about that life,
you see what I'm saying?

766
00:42:52,630 --> 00:42:53,720
>> Don't tell Ryan that.

767
00:42:53,720 --> 00:42:58,674
[LAUGH]
>> Exactly, exactly, holler at Ryan.

768
00:42:58,674 --> 00:43:01,138
I've seen Ryan hiring.

769
00:43:01,138 --> 00:43:02,920
Look at his team, his team is magic.

770
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:06,021
>> Yeah, he's preaching y'all.

771
00:43:06,021 --> 00:43:09,269
Ruben Harris, awesome, awesome, awesome.

772
00:43:09,269 --> 00:43:11,699
I mean,
you hit it right there on the head.

773
00:43:11,699 --> 00:43:16,781
And I think, I'm trying to stress it
here and I hope folks watch this and

774
00:43:16,781 --> 00:43:21,694
watch it again once we get these
loaded up, but it's an art form, but

775
00:43:21,694 --> 00:43:26,101
the tenacity and the drive and
the hunger, you gotta want it,

776
00:43:26,101 --> 00:43:30,549
people, it's not gonna just come to you,
you gotta want it.

777
00:43:30,549 --> 00:43:35,811
And so what other things could you tell
folks that if they're just unsure,

778
00:43:35,811 --> 00:43:40,487
they think they have it, but
they're not really sure if they could

779
00:43:40,487 --> 00:43:45,102
have the agility necessary or
the sustainability necessarily?

780
00:43:45,102 --> 00:43:50,569
But what would you say to
them to assure them that tech

781
00:43:50,569 --> 00:43:56,302
would be a good start for
them if they're on the fence?

782
00:43:56,302 --> 00:43:58,039
>> How you gonna know if you don't do it,
right?

783
00:43:58,039 --> 00:44:02,317
It's like,
I'm unsure if I'm gonna be able to do it,

784
00:44:02,317 --> 00:44:05,294
how you gonna know if you don't do it?

785
00:44:05,294 --> 00:44:08,660
It goes back to, if you aren't embarrassed

786
00:44:08,660 --> 00:44:13,582
about the first version of the product,
you launched too late.

787
00:44:13,582 --> 00:44:18,131
Don't launch when you're ready,
launch before you're ready, right?

788
00:44:18,131 --> 00:44:22,163
And when it comes to choosing companies,
that matters too, right, so

789
00:44:22,163 --> 00:44:25,003
spend time understanding
the ecosystem system.

790
00:44:25,003 --> 00:44:29,309
And I know to your point,
I am oversimplifying,

791
00:44:29,309 --> 00:44:31,836
it is easier said than done.

792
00:44:31,836 --> 00:44:35,348
My brother and
I are complete opposites, right?

793
00:44:35,348 --> 00:44:38,548
My brother did it,
you could hear his story on the podcast,

794
00:44:38,548 --> 00:44:42,848
I'm gonna send you hist story as well,
he breaks down the job search very well.

795
00:44:42,848 --> 00:44:45,066
I have a podcast too, by the way,
it's called Breaking Into Startups.

796
00:44:45,066 --> 00:44:47,046
Check it out,
I'm about to drop a podcast today.

797
00:44:47,046 --> 00:44:51,974
But my brother really is the epitome
of someone who doesn't have

798
00:44:51,974 --> 00:44:57,360
the natural confidence but
builds himself up to have the confidence,

799
00:44:57,360 --> 00:44:59,839
but have constant motivation.

800
00:44:59,839 --> 00:45:01,213
Who is in your circle, right?

801
00:45:01,213 --> 00:45:05,180
Who is in your circle, cuz if you're
surrounded by negative energy,

802
00:45:05,180 --> 00:45:09,295
it's gonna be very difficult to
overcome those mental blocks, right?

803
00:45:09,295 --> 00:45:15,052
And I know, sometimes you might be
quarantined with a negative environment.

804
00:45:15,052 --> 00:45:17,674
So figure out how to exit, virtually,

805
00:45:17,674 --> 00:45:23,162
to the clouds to find a positive community
online, because that exists, right?

806
00:45:23,162 --> 00:45:24,411
You got to find your people.

807
00:45:24,411 --> 00:45:26,330
Like I said, we are social creatures.

808
00:45:26,330 --> 00:45:30,878
And if you don't have the natural
motivation to have somebody that's gonna

809
00:45:30,878 --> 00:45:35,637
knock on your door and wake you up at 6 AM
to work out mentally and spiritually and

810
00:45:35,637 --> 00:45:40,066
emotionally and physically,
then you need to find that circle, right?

811
00:45:40,066 --> 00:45:41,355
We got that circle here as well.

812
00:45:41,355 --> 00:45:44,320
So I think i think
that's what I would say.

813
00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:46,591
Watch your circle, do it anyway.

814
00:45:46,591 --> 00:45:50,790
What I tell people on Career Karma,
if you ever feel like quitting,

815
00:45:50,790 --> 00:45:52,493
you could always hit me up.

816
00:45:52,493 --> 00:45:53,972
I'm available.
You could tweet me as well.

817
00:45:53,972 --> 00:45:55,851
It's just my name on Twitter.

818
00:45:55,851 --> 00:46:01,086
Holler at [INAUDIBLE] Ryan,
they're here too, right?

819
00:46:01,086 --> 00:46:03,401
Thinking of positive people,
you see that smile?

820
00:46:03,401 --> 00:46:04,819
You see that energy?

821
00:46:04,819 --> 00:46:08,872
I never met her but I can tell she is an
awesome person, you see what I'm saying?

822
00:46:08,872 --> 00:46:11,624
>> Ruben,
I'll send that check to you later.

823
00:46:11,624 --> 00:46:17,913
[LAUGH] I think too, it's so crucial,
I tell my boys, I've got three sons.

824
00:46:17,913 --> 00:46:22,730
It's a level up there or two, because
if folks that you're hanging out with

825
00:46:22,730 --> 00:46:25,666
are where you want to be
are on that next level,

826
00:46:25,666 --> 00:46:28,093
then they're not the circle for you.

827
00:46:28,093 --> 00:46:33,505
And sometimes, as hard as it is, we have
to leave those other folks behind so

828
00:46:33,505 --> 00:46:38,254
that we that we can advance and
that we can get to where we want to be.

829
00:46:38,254 --> 00:46:41,290
Also, I think it's part of you know
what you're talking about too.

830
00:46:41,290 --> 00:46:45,411
>> A lot of people are talking about
trust or struggle in the comments.

831
00:46:45,411 --> 00:46:46,991
I want people to know why I got that.

832
00:46:46,991 --> 00:46:52,673
So I moved to the Bay Area in 2014,
December 2014.

833
00:46:52,673 --> 00:46:57,751
I knew zero people, and
my first week was hard.

834
00:46:57,751 --> 00:47:02,150
I got rejected from every
company I applied to, but

835
00:47:02,150 --> 00:47:05,230
I thought I was a perfect fit there.

836
00:47:05,230 --> 00:47:08,949
I was gonna have to pace myself cuz
it got me a little emotional, but

837
00:47:08,949 --> 00:47:13,480
there's a graffiti wall that said trust
your struggle on it, and I was in tears.

838
00:47:14,734 --> 00:47:18,927
Hold on.

839
00:47:18,927 --> 00:47:25,562
>> It's all right,
it's all right, it's real, y'all.

840
00:47:25,562 --> 00:47:30,037
This is, it's real, when it means
something, you feel you feel it.

841
00:47:30,037 --> 00:47:31,901
>> You feel it.

842
00:47:34,950 --> 00:47:41,800
I got in the Lyft car, the Lyft driver was
like, now tell me about the graffiti wall,

843
00:47:41,800 --> 00:47:47,515
he was like, there's a lot of things
in life that you can't control.

844
00:47:47,515 --> 00:47:52,517
The only thing that you can
do is wake up with a smile,

845
00:47:52,517 --> 00:47:55,484
do your best, and that's it.

846
00:47:55,484 --> 00:48:03,259
And what's most important is
to keep going and not quit.

847
00:48:03,259 --> 00:48:10,504
If it doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to
be, so it wasn't the right time, right?

848
00:48:10,504 --> 00:48:15,276
A lot of times, those things that didn't
work out, you'll see why it didn't

849
00:48:15,276 --> 00:48:19,419
work out, why those companies that
you didn't get into shut down.

850
00:48:19,419 --> 00:48:24,295
A lot of those investments that I
didn't make ended up being a really

851
00:48:24,295 --> 00:48:25,504
f-d up people.

852
00:48:25,504 --> 00:48:31,525
I believe in God, so I see those
rejections as God's compass, right?

853
00:48:31,525 --> 00:48:33,023
You gotta trust that guidance.

854
00:48:33,023 --> 00:48:36,340
If you're doing the right thing and

855
00:48:36,340 --> 00:48:40,661
it doesn't work out, don't worry about it.

856
00:48:40,661 --> 00:48:42,586
Don't worry about it, just keep going.

857
00:48:42,586 --> 00:48:44,680
If you're getting rejected and

858
00:48:44,680 --> 00:48:48,722
you're not doing your best
that's probably on you, right?

859
00:48:48,722 --> 00:48:50,881
You always gotta do your best.

860
00:48:50,881 --> 00:48:56,309
>> Absolutely, thank you, Ruben,
thank you for being vulnerable,

861
00:48:56,309 --> 00:49:02,615
because it is something that matters,
and what's for you is for you, right?

862
00:49:02,615 --> 00:49:08,880
And that may become my new mantra, trust
your struggle, because we all have them,

863
00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:14,699
we all go through them, and it's what's
inside us that keeps us motivated,

864
00:49:14,699 --> 00:49:19,381
knowing that what's for us will be for
us at the end of the day.

865
00:49:19,381 --> 00:49:22,749
So y'all, I hope y'all take that to heart.

866
00:49:22,749 --> 00:49:26,291
Saw a question down there,
thanks, and I'm a fan Ruben,

867
00:49:26,291 --> 00:49:30,772
about my social media echo,
I'm just on LinkedIn, I'm working it out,

868
00:49:30,772 --> 00:49:34,196
I'm on those other platforms
to hunt down my children.

869
00:49:34,196 --> 00:49:37,951
But I'll learn to use those
a little bit more too, but

870
00:49:37,951 --> 00:49:42,896
y'all can hit me up on LinkedIn currently,
so I appreciate the love.

871
00:49:42,896 --> 00:49:48,104
>> And listen, one more thing,
back to the struggles in life.

872
00:49:48,104 --> 00:49:51,559
I've never gotten anything
in life the first time,

873
00:49:51,559 --> 00:49:53,764
all the way down to Y Combinator.

874
00:49:53,764 --> 00:49:55,017
We did Y Combinator.

875
00:49:55,017 --> 00:49:59,791
We got rejected the first time, I could
show you on our wall, I'm gonna show you.

876
00:49:59,791 --> 00:50:00,680
This is.

877
00:50:00,680 --> 00:50:05,171
This is the YC rejection
letter that we got.

878
00:50:05,171 --> 00:50:08,448
We have it falling down a little bit
cuz the argument was falling apart.

879
00:50:08,448 --> 00:50:13,887
But we applied again and
we got in that December, right?

880
00:50:13,887 --> 00:50:15,971
So you frame your rejections, right?

881
00:50:15,971 --> 00:50:17,737
You use that as a motivation.

882
00:50:17,737 --> 00:50:20,422
I said, I tweeted something today,
what did it say?

883
00:50:20,422 --> 00:50:24,715
Said something about chips on your
shoulder get chips in your pocket or

884
00:50:24,715 --> 00:50:26,112
something like that.

885
00:50:26,112 --> 00:50:33,969
But sometimes that rejection isn't
gonna get you hired, you know?

886
00:50:33,969 --> 00:50:36,254
You wind up like LeBron is on record, but

887
00:50:36,254 --> 00:50:39,161
a lot of people compare himself to Jordan,
right?

888
00:50:39,161 --> 00:50:41,561
And a lot of people won't
give him the credit.

889
00:50:41,561 --> 00:50:42,448
Lebron's a beast.

890
00:50:42,448 --> 00:50:44,856
LeBron's not my favorite player,
but LeBron's a beast,

891
00:50:44,856 --> 00:50:45,974
you gotta give him credit.

892
00:50:45,974 --> 00:50:50,766
And that chip on his shoulder allows
him to keep going off on everybody.

893
00:50:50,766 --> 00:50:53,189
Kobe, RIP Kobe, he talks about it a lot.

894
00:50:53,189 --> 00:50:55,172
There's a great book called Relentless.

895
00:50:55,172 --> 00:50:59,697
Read that, where you go into the dark
side, but not in a negative way, but

896
00:50:59,697 --> 00:51:01,308
you just start going off.

897
00:51:01,308 --> 00:51:02,784
I don't know if you guys watch anime.

898
00:51:02,784 --> 00:51:06,585
There's a great anime called
The Rising of the Shield Hero and

899
00:51:06,585 --> 00:51:10,841
when he goes off with that rage shield,
it's a whole another level.

900
00:51:10,841 --> 00:51:12,151
So, anyway.

901
00:51:12,151 --> 00:51:13,622
>> [LAUGH]
>> My podcast is called

902
00:51:13,622 --> 00:51:14,796
Breaking Into Startups.

903
00:51:14,796 --> 00:51:19,363
>> Breaking in, so
where can folks find you, Ruben?

904
00:51:19,363 --> 00:51:20,825
I know you're everywhere.

905
00:51:20,825 --> 00:51:22,695
And I know we're kinda running
out a little bit of time.

906
00:51:22,695 --> 00:51:28,293
But I wanna make sure that folks
can hit you up at Career Karma and

907
00:51:28,293 --> 00:51:30,309
on your social media.

908
00:51:30,309 --> 00:51:35,030
>> Yeah, I'm on Twitter,
I'm on Instagram, I'm on LinkedIn.

909
00:51:35,030 --> 00:51:36,210
It's just my name on everything.

910
00:51:36,210 --> 00:51:38,043
I think digital identity matters.

911
00:51:38,043 --> 00:51:40,929
And if you Google your name and
what you want doesn't pop up,

912
00:51:40,929 --> 00:51:42,072
you gotta work on that.

913
00:51:42,072 --> 00:51:43,878
So it's just my first and last name.

914
00:51:43,878 --> 00:51:46,128
I see a lot of people
talking about Shield Hero.

915
00:51:46,128 --> 00:51:50,241
Shield Hero is the perfect example
of somebody that's underestimated.

916
00:51:50,241 --> 00:51:55,056
Everybody was trying to play him and you
guys saw how the Shield Hero leveled up.

917
00:51:55,056 --> 00:51:58,501
If you haven't seen it, I'm telling you,
I highly, highly recommend it,

918
00:51:58,501 --> 00:52:00,044
cuz it's gonna change your life.

919
00:52:00,044 --> 00:52:04,844
There's some things that I don't
fully agree with on the Shield Hero,

920
00:52:04,844 --> 00:52:05,967
but it's fire.

921
00:52:05,967 --> 00:52:07,759
>> Awesome, all those.

922
00:52:07,759 --> 00:52:09,181
>> All right.
>> Nice.

923
00:52:09,181 --> 00:52:12,553
All right Ruben, we got,
we have a few more minutes.

924
00:52:12,553 --> 00:52:18,008
Did you see any other questions or
wanna say anything else to the folks?

925
00:52:18,008 --> 00:52:21,133
>> I also like My Hero Academia,
that's another one you guys can check out.

926
00:52:21,133 --> 00:52:22,188
>> Okay.
[LAUGH]

927
00:52:22,188 --> 00:52:22,688
>> Let's see.

928
00:52:22,688 --> 00:52:25,502
[LAUGH] I think it's important to reflect

929
00:52:25,502 --> 00:52:28,218
as well.
A lot of times whenever you all are head

930
00:52:28,218 --> 00:52:31,742
down, focused on things,
you want to analyze what's going on.

931
00:52:31,742 --> 00:52:35,044
So I always tell people, you wanna think

932
00:52:35,044 --> 00:52:39,997
about where you were ten years ago,
where you are now, where

933
00:52:39,997 --> 00:52:44,858
you wanna be at the end of the decade.
Every week, you wanna analyze,

934
00:52:44,858 --> 00:52:46,815
you wanna be like, what went well,

935
00:52:46,815 --> 00:52:48,241
what didn't go well?
But

936
00:52:48,241 --> 00:52:52,120
you should repeat what you should begin
doing, what you should never do again.

937
00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:53,252
And every day,

938
00:52:53,252 --> 00:52:58,131
I think you should be executing on
a level to where you are producing

939
00:52:58,131 --> 00:53:02,353
the equivalent of a week.
And every week, you should be executing

940
00:53:02,353 --> 00:53:06,222
and producing to the level of a month.
If you're not executing or

941
00:53:06,222 --> 00:53:10,959
learning at that level, then you're
not maximizing your full potential.

942
00:53:10,959 --> 00:53:13,718
I think we get too caught up in this 40

943
00:53:13,718 --> 00:53:16,432
hour mindset.
And I'm not saying overwork yourself,

944
00:53:16,432 --> 00:53:19,373
by the way, I'm just saying most
people don't use their full potential.

945
00:53:19,373 --> 00:53:21,333
And then during those 40 hours at work,

946
00:53:21,333 --> 00:53:23,700
you're not using your full brain, right?
>> Absolutely.

947
00:53:23,700 --> 00:53:25,656
>> Our brains are powerful, our bodies

948
00:53:25,656 --> 00:53:27,938
are powerful, our gifts are powerful.
So

949
00:53:27,938 --> 00:53:31,864
you need to learn how to fully develop
those and constantly iterating it and

950
00:53:31,864 --> 00:53:35,365
growing deep from.
So I think our potential is one of

951
00:53:35,365 --> 00:53:40,330
the most untapped resources ever.
And if we could maximize that, not just

952
00:53:40,330 --> 00:53:44,155
as individuals but as a collective.
There's no telling what we're gonna be

953
00:53:44,155 --> 00:53:47,034
able to accomplish.
>> Absolutely, absolutely,

954
00:53:47,034 --> 00:53:50,855
couldn't have said it better myself.
This has been a delight,

955
00:53:50,855 --> 00:53:52,560
an unexpected delight.
>> [LAUGH]

956
00:53:52,560 --> 00:53:56,104
>> I appreciate you, Ruben.

957
00:53:56,104 --> 00:53:59,087
I look forward to connect with you.

958
00:53:59,087 --> 00:54:02,132
Cuz I believe you just delivered a master

959
00:54:02,132 --> 00:54:06,899
class that goes way beyond tech and music.
That you've really

960
00:54:06,899 --> 00:54:11,325
spoken some some profound words
that anyone could take and

961
00:54:11,325 --> 00:54:15,079
grow from.
And I mean, I've taken away a lot here in

962
00:54:15,079 --> 00:54:16,751
this hour with you.
And

963
00:54:16,751 --> 00:54:21,214
just confirming, to be tenacious and
to be confident, and yes,

964
00:54:21,214 --> 00:54:22,797
to be reflective.
And

965
00:54:22,797 --> 00:54:27,123
I think these are all key
components of a great leader and

966
00:54:27,123 --> 00:54:31,338
great leader you are, Mr. CEO.
I appreciate your time in

967
00:54:31,338 --> 00:54:35,373
the Treehouse this morning, and
I hope you have a wonderful,

968
00:54:35,373 --> 00:54:38,890
wonderful week.
And I'll be looking out to see if I'm

969
00:54:38,890 --> 00:54:42,803
gonna hear that cello, so
>> For sure, we're gonna make an album for

970
00:54:42,803 --> 00:54:44,276
sure, trust me.
>> Okay,

971
00:54:44,276 --> 00:54:46,118
ya'll heard that.
He's gonna

972
00:54:46,118 --> 00:54:46,806
make you happy.

973
00:54:46,806 --> 00:54:47,376
>> It's happening.

974
00:54:47,376 --> 00:54:48,595
>> [LAUGH]
>> It's happening.

975
00:54:48,595 --> 00:54:49,612
Thank you so much for your leadership.

976
00:54:49,612 --> 00:54:50,223
>> All right.

977
00:54:50,223 --> 00:54:51,359
I appreciate y'all having me.

978
00:54:51,359 --> 00:54:52,089
>> All right, thanks.

979
00:54:52,089 --> 00:54:52,698
>> See you later.

980
00:54:52,698 --> 00:54:53,432
>> See you later.