8 MAY 2022 · How I Started is a podcast discussing the "0 to 1" stories of the most amazing people on the planet. In this episode, my guest is Ilana Diamond. Ilana is the Managing Partner at 412 Venture Fund headquartered in Pittsburgh. 412 venture fund invests in early-stage startups and focuses on the untapped potential of underrepresented founders in the region. Before this, Ilana was the founding Managing Director of Alphalap Gear – the hardware arm of the nationally ranked accelerator program Alphalab. At Alphalab gear, Ilana worked with hundreds of startups – sourcing and coaching portfolio companies as well as serving on the boards of many. Even before, Ilana was President & CEO of Sima Products Inc, which produced consumer electronics under several different brands. Ilana is a master networker, and I got the opportunity to witness her operate firsthand when I was part of a robotics startup that went through the Alphalab Gear program. During my time in the Pittsburgh Startup scene, I felt Ilana was everywhere and everyone knew Ilana. In this conversation, Ilana shares her wisdom about building startups, defining culture, and overall building a productive life. It took me a long time to get this episode ready as I kept going back to listen and take notes on the many insights. This conversation is packed with golden nuggets to help you level up your game no matter what level you are operating at in your career. I had so much fun and learned a ton from this conversation. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did! Find Ilana at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ilana-diamond-9162155/ https://www.412venturefund.com/ This podcast is part of my infrequent newsletter - Always be learning! #ABL Follow me on: https://aakashpathak.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/aakashpathak_

9 JAN 2022 · How I Started is a podcast discussing the "0 to 1" stories of the most amazing people on the planet. In this episode, my guest is Ibrahim Bashir. Ibrahim Bashir is the VP of Product Management at Amplitude – one of my favorite data analytics platforms. Before Amplitude, Ibrahim has built product and engineering teams at some of the most exciting companies of our times like Box, Twitter, Amazon, and more. He writes an email newsletter called “Run the business” which is one of my favorite reads and introduces interesting concepts about product, and career in general in each edition. The conversation with Ibrahim is one of the most information dense conversations I've ever had. There are learnings from starting your career, to crafting your career path, to how to be a great leader, and so much more. For anyone who wants to be a better leader, this is a must listen as well as for people navigating their career paths. The conversation was better than I ever could have hoped for and has so many golden nuggets for people who are wondering how to get started! Find Ibrahim at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibrahimbashir https://runthebusiness.substack.com/ This podcast is part of my infrequent newsletter - Always be learning! #ABL Follow me on: https://aakashpathak.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/aakashpathak_ https://howistartedpodcast.com/ Mentioned in episode: SCARF Leadership Model - https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/SCARF.htm

28 NOV 2021 · How I Started is a podcast discussing the "0 to 1" stories of the most amazing people on the planet. In this episode, we have the legendary investor Josh Wolfe. Josh Wolfe is the co-founder and managing partner at Lux capital. Lux capital invests in emerging science and technology ventures which are commonly referred to as the deep sciences. So, think of artificial intelligence, flying robots, 3D printing, synthetic biology, satellites, drones and so much more. Apart from serving on the board of many amazing companies Josh is also a columnist with Forbes. He has been invited to the White House and the Capitol Hill to advise on many emerging technologies. He is also the co-founder and chairman of the Coney Island prep charter school. Personally, I admire Josh both for his humble and authentic approach to talk about business, technology, and human nature. I share a lot of common interests with Josh like reading books and the skepticism of human nature :) This conversation was better than I ever could have hoped for and has so many golden nuggets for people who are wondering how to get started! Find Josh at: https://twitter.com/wolfejosh https://luxcapital.com/team/josh-wolfe/ This podcast is part of my infrequent newsletter - Always be learning! #ABL Follow me on: https://aakashpathak.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/aakashpathak_