The 30 most inspirational business leaders to watch, 2018

July 2018
www.insightssuccess.com
July 2018
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Successful Personality
Traits to Learn from
Elon Musk
Imparting Wisdom
Attributes of a
Good Leader
The Art of Leading
Imprinting Success on
the Walls of Innovation
Kim Vogel
President, Co-founder
BaseVenture
The
To Watch 2018
Most Inspirational
Leader of the Month
Vandana Luthra,
Founder & Vice Chairperson
VLCC Health Care Ltd.

o you know any kind of idea which is not a product of inspiration? May it is an enlightening
Dpoem or a master business plan; everything is driven with an emotion of inspiration. Some of us
get inspired by the smell of money, some like fame, wherein sometimes surroundings or a
situation motivates someone to do something fanciful. But it is an unwavering fact that moment of
inspiration has a nonpareil impact in our life.
In the corporate world as well an enthusiastic approach towards work creates an environment that simply
opens the door for determined success. We can see so many oﬃces where the boss reprimands employees
for no reason. Workforces are sucked due to the extravagant targets given to them. And the bosses are
more concerned about the sales rather than the overall development of the company. Although
organizations with such environment sometimes receives what they seek for but it is also true that this type
of approach results in an ignorant work environment where we can witness a lack of vision, passion and
creativity.
Hence, for a complete growth of organization, an inspiration within the employees is prerequisite and no
can but the leaders of the company has to make sure it subsists. It is not a cake walk to establish a business
and take it to the level where a world can notice its emergence. It requires certain set of qualities and hell
lot of guts to lead an international organization. First the entrepreneurs must have a resolute belief in their
idea and an ability to transpire the vision into reality. Secondly they are expected to have signiﬁcant
knowledge about the industry. We can pin point various qualities. However, the unique approach of
leading a company that can inspire associates is what makes a potential entrepreneur an inspiring leader.
Editor’s Note
Inspiration:
An Emotion that
Breaths Life in
Every Idea
July 2018
www.insightssuccess.com
July 2018
www.insightssuccess.comwww.insightssuccess.comwww
Elon Musk
Imparting Wisdom
Attributes of a
Good Leader
The Art of Leading
Kim Vogel
President, Co-founder
BaseVenture
The
To Watch 2018
Most Inspirational
Leader of the Month
Vandana Luthra,

World’s top business tycoons have their own leading techniques to inspire their employees. An
experienced leader like Ratan Tata inspires with the leading from the front approach. Trailblazer like
Steve Jobs inspired his teammates with his knowledge and ability to be innovative at every level of
business. On the other hand, young leaders like Elon Musk inspires with the challenge accepting
capabilities. Not just leading techniques but the life stories of such leaders also motivates thousands
of budding individuals to cradle the unconventional path.
Thus, an issue of Insightssuccess, “The 30 Most Inspirational Business Leaders to Watch, 2018”,
spreads a light on some remarkable leaders whose penned journey and resourceful insights can
inspire and help thousands to have a promising future in their respective industries.
Every business persona featuring in this issue has diﬀerent set of qualities that allowed them to thrive
in highly competitive industries. Considering the variances of diﬀerent age groups in leading the
organization we have included leaders of every generation. May it is young tech genius Amit On or
an experienced wellness expert Vandana Luthra everyone has provided generous insights, and their
enticing journey will surely inspire you.
Featuring as a cover story we have a story of Kim Vogel, the President and Co-founder of
BaseVenture. It is an award-winning software company that is helping the alternative investment
industry simplify and modernize how private funds are managed and administered.
Also, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our in-house editorial team and CXO
standpoints of some leading industry experts to have a brief taste of the sector.
Let’s start reading!
Kedar Kulkarni

Content Page
Elon Musk
Imparting Wisdom
Kim Vogel:
10
Cover Story
Transforming the
Deﬁnition of Wellness
Vandana Luthra:
Leader of the Month
46
Articles
Attributes of a
Good Leader
The Art of Leading
84
The Glass Ceiling Eﬀect:
Another Perspective on
Women and Leadership
60
22
Editor’s Pick

Content Page
ContentsContents
Brand Building:
The Right Way
A True Reﬂection
of Leadership
Alicia Asin:
A Young Leader with
an Ultimate Call
Management Solution
Amit On:
Delivering
Groundbreaking
Analytics Solutions
Anil Bandari:
26
28
34
Brand Vision
Adding Intelligence
and Agility to
Digital Transformation
Expert Viewpoint
30 52 70
A Government
Hacked into
the Startup
Expert’s Talk

A Born Leader
Raising the Bar for
Everyone with Humility
and Purpose
Anne Marie Kirby:
A Leader with
a Penchant to
Strike Gold
Byrne Murphy:
An Exceptional
Product
Evangelist and
Passionate Leader
Dan McFall:
A Brilliant Team
Leader
and Disruptor
Danielle Warner:
A Transformational
Leader with
a Purpose
Dave Fletcher:
Rising with Persistence
and Optimism to
Change the World
Jackie Elnahar:
A Leader
Crafting Leaders
Karen
Contet Farzam:
36
40
42
48
50
56
58

Fostering Positive
Organizational Culture
Mark Sawyier:
A Self-aware Leader
Translating her
Vision into Reality
Nicole Martin:
From Fascination
to Success
Nush Khan:
A Formidable
Combination
of Innovation
and Determination
Richard Rabins:
A Tech Entrepreneur
with a Passion for
Client Service
Rob Adler:
Success through
Bravery, Passion
and Perseverance
Vinny Lingham:
Delivering Intelligent
Agriculture Globally
Zohar Ben Ner:
64
66
72
74
78
80
86

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July, 2018
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Contributing Editors
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Kim Vogel:
Imprinting Success on the
Walls of Innovation
Always surround yourself
with the smartest colleagues you
can ind and ensure you
develop your own unique set of skills.

Kim Vogel
President & Co-founder
BaseVenture
Cover Story

Leadership
comes in
many forms.
Every leader develops their
own formula for what it
means to lead through hard
work, risk, successes and failures.
True leaders inspire and motivate the
people around them to achieve more.
We live in a unique time with an
unparalleled pace of change that affects
every area of our lives. The world of
business has exploded with innovation
that has helped usher in new industries
and advances that couldn’t have been
foreseen just a decade ago.
Technological advancements are at the
root of virtually every commercial
innovation, and some leaders have
proven themselves exceptionally adept
at harnessing innovation to succeed.
One such person that has made her
mark as a successful leader is Kim
Vogel, the President and Co-founder
of BaseVenture. Kim is a technology
entrepreneur and senior finance
executive with more than 25 years of
experience helping companies to
finance, grow and monetize their
business. Kim has focused her career
on building innovative, high-growth
businesses with transformational
products.
Success, One Step at a Time
Kim’s journey to becoming an
influential leader began early on with
her work as a Certified Public
Accountant (CPA) at KPMG, followed
by earning her MBA from the Harvard
Business School and working as a vice
president at Montgomery Securities.
Kim forged her path toward
entrepreneurship and innovation in the
late 1990s as the CFO of Semaphore
Partners, one of the first digital
marketing agencies. Kim was one of
the original members of the executive
team that grew the business to become
a global powerhouse with clients like
General Motors, Orbitz and more.
Innovation was at the core of
Semaphore Partners, and it designed
many of the first websites and intranets
for its clients. After Semaphore
Partners was sold to a marketing
conglomerate, Kim became a finance
professor at Saint Mary’s College of
California.
Kim rekindled her passion for
innovation and entrepreneurship when
she became one of the early executives
at a pioneering mobile banking and
payments technology company called
mFoundry. This innovative company
helped to redefine the way that people
bank by introducing the then-crazy
notion of banking on a mobile device.
mFoundry was the first company to
submit a mobile banking app to the
Apple App Store and one of the earliest
to introduce the ability to deposit a
check via a mobile device. Kim served
as CFO of mFoundry for almost a
decade, which grew to become the
largest provider in North America and
was later sold to FIS.
Kim currently serves as a member of
the Board of Trustees for Saint Mary’s
College of California. Kim expresses,
“This involvement in academia keeps
me close to those who are just starting
their careers and gives me an
opportunity to share my story and
lessons garnered along the way.”
Building is Contagious
Part of Kim’s leadership drive is the
thrill and reward of building teams. “I
love building great teams, developing
innovative & groundbreaking products,
and most of all, working with really,
really smart people.”
Whether in the board room or in the
classroom, one of the central tenets of
Kim’s leadership is to inspire and
nurture the teams that work under her.
Kim has always taken a special interest
Setbacks are an
inevitable part of a
successful path
forward and I had
to learn not to
spend too much
time drowning
in them.

in helping to develop people at the start
of their careers and she is very proud
and gratified to see many of these
people having grown to become
executives in their own right.
Kim is the first to admit that
entrepreneurship and leadership don’t
come easy, and that the path can
sometimes be a challenging one. As
Kim tells it, “Setbacks are an
inevitable part of a successful path
forward, and I had to learn not to
spend too much time drowning in
them.” While there is a popular myth
about the thrill of the start-up life, Kim
has learned from experience that
starting and building any company, let
alone a technology company, is very
hard work that is marked by steep ups
and downs. One of Kim’s favorite
quotes is from Winston Churchill, who
said “Success is the ability to get from
one failure to another with
enthusiasm.”
Kim uses fund raising rounds as one of
the most important barometers of the
success of a start-up. As she tells it,
“Investors want to understand that they
are going to be part of something great
– not just big, but huge – so you need
to make sure with every round of
funding that you are taking the
company to the next level. The best
way to accomplish this is to nurture
and build the right teams and make
innovation a driving force of what they
do.”
BaseVenture – Envisaging a
Revolution
Kim’s latest business is yet another
example of leadership through
innovation. Kim and her partner, John
Pizzi, co-founded a technology
company called BaseVenture in 2015,
which has already become an
innovative force in the alternative
investment and wealth management
industries.
BaseVenture is a cloud-based software
company that develops innovative
solutions in the areas of financial
reporting, data visualization, and
process management. The enterprise’s
award-winning platform,
“FundManager.io”, helps organizations
simplify and automate how private
funds are administered and managed.
By providing users with data
intelligence, reporting, workflow
management, and document storage,
“FundManager.io” radically simplifies
the process of fund management and
provides a platform that is intelligent,
scalable, affordable and secure.
BaseVenture’s most recent round of
funding was led by the global leader in
the financial technology sector. As Kim
puts it, “This is a game changer for us.
The merits of the relationship are just
beginning to unfold and the momentum
is exhilarating.”
The product development team at
BaseVenture operates using the agile
Kanban method. Each feature
developed is initially defined and
documented to start the process. The
highly experienced software
development team builds the software
using up to date best practice methods
and tools. To ensure the highest quality
results, the software development team
uses peer code reviews, while the
quality assurance team validates all
output using a rigorous testing process.
“Because of the industry’s enormous
size and expectations that it will
double in the next 5 years,
Building is contagious.
I love building great
teams, developing
groundbreaking
products, and most
of all working with
really, really
smart people.
Cover Story

there’s so much at stake and it’s crucial that stakeholders rely on technology designed to relieve industry-specific challenges,”
Kim believes that the industry needs to shift away from tackling its challenges by merely adding more people and instead
look to technology to help automate key processes, provide the necessary transparency and address increasing regulatory
concerns. “We have tackled head-on the toughest and costliest operational and compliance related problems that our
customers face, using modern, easy to use software in the cloud to solve these problems,” says Kim.
Beyond serving the alternative investment industry from a technology standpoint, BaseVenture is well
underway in its goal to be a key thought leader in shaping the narrative of how the industry must
evolve to meet the changing needs. It is carving out a role as a catalyst that helps the industry to
modernize and believes that serving clients is merely one component of that. The team at
BaseVenture authors an active blog in which it informs the industry of the latest news in the alternative investment space,
provide insights into industry research, and predicts key industry trends.
Bequeathing the Keys to Success
Kim strongly believes that great communication skills are a prime driver for effective leadership. She explains, “Good
communication is learned with practice. I think it is ironic that when these skills are more important than ever, the mediums
for communication are becoming more isolated.” According to Kim, the gist of leadership is all about motivating and
empowering other people, which can only be achieved through strong communication and connection.
Kim says that another trait that an effective leader should possess is one coined by Jeff Bezos as “high-velocity decision-
making”. Kim considers it the art of producing the highest quality decisions with limited information as quickly as possible.

Kim feels that this shouldn’t be thought of as just a personal skill, but rather it is an
environment that leaders cultivate. Most decisions should probably be made with 70% of the
information you wish that you had. If you wait for more, you are probably acting too slowly. Push
forward and quickly course correct bad decisions because although they are inevitable, they are
certainly less costly if reversed quickly.
Lastly, Kim recommends surrounding oneself with the smartest colleagues that can help nurture and develop unique
skill sets. “Building great companies is a team sport and you will never be able to do it by yourself. Always try to create
and be part of your own ‘dream team’. It is not only a ton of fun, but it is what it takes to make companies successful.”
Our lagship product provides a modern solution
for investor reporting, document management,
communication and key process automation.
Cover Story

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Chairman, President
& CEO
The Allstate Corporation is one of the largest insurance
providers in the United States and one of the largest that is
publicly held.
Alpha Software
alphasoftware.com
Alpha Software produces products that help developers of all levels
speed the development and deployment of cross-platform mobile
and web business apps.
Anaplan
anaplan.com
Frank Calderoni
CEO & President
Fixed Anaplan is a cloud-based business planning and
performance management platform based on a single hub where
business users can create and use models.
BaseVenture is an award-winning software company that is
helping the alternative investment industry simplify and
modernize how private funds are managed and administered
Bonfyre is a workplace culture platform that helps companies build
internal relationships, increase engagement, further the reach of
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CallApp is a Free Caller ID and Call Blocker app that allows mobile
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CoreHealth Technologies offers a corporate wellness
platform that powers wellness programs for leading
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President & CEO
Avaya is an American multinational technology company
headquartered in Santa Clara, California that specializes in business
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Kim Vogel
President & Co-founder
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Co-founder & CEO
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Founder & CEO
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The 30 most inspirational business leaders to watch, 2018

With an affluent international
expertise in fitness, beauty, skin care
and food and nutrition, Mrs. Vandana
Luthra, the Founder and Vice
Chairperson of VLCC has acquired a
global stronghold in the ever-
changing list of influential leaders.
Mrs. Luthra was recently ranked 26th
in the annual Forbes Asia 2016 list of
50 Power Businesswomen, in 2018
Forbes Middle East recognized her
amongst The Top 100 Indian
Business Owners in The Arab World
2018. Her awards include the Padma
Shri in 2013, The Asian Business
Leaders Forum Trailblazer Award in
2012, and The Enterprise Asia
Women Entrepreneur of the Year
Award in 2010. She has also
authored two books, viz. Complete
Fitness Programme and A Good Life.
About the Leader
|July 2018|22
Vandana Luthra

Vandana
Luthra:
In an interview with Insights Success, the founder
and the charioteer of VLCC, Mrs. Vandana
Luthra shares her insights behind the success of
her journey as an entrepreneur. The ardently
acknowledged leader has driven the health, fitness and
skin care company to a global scale with her
contemporary and innovative management skills. Below
are the highlights of the interview conducted between
Mrs. Luthra and Insights Success:
Give us a detailed background of your journey as a
leader.
I started VLCC with a simple dream. I wanted to create
an environment where people would feel nurtured and
supported; a place that would inspire people to be the
best version of themselves, for themselves. During the
last 29 years, while building the brand VLCC, there were
numerous occasions when I had to struggle against all
odds to fulfill my dream. Being in a largely unorganized
sector, I struggled to raise capital, and banks were
apprehensive of something that was hardly deemed as
sustainable and scalable.
It was sheer perseverance and my interest in
‘transforming lives’ that made me stay on this path. To
be able to make a difference in people’s life be that of
VLCC’s clients or staff which constitute 70% women,
gave me a sense of achievement and truly encouraged
me to build this brand.
What are the services/products offered by VLCC?
In the 29 years since it was established, VLCC has been
driven by its mission of ‘Transforming Lives’, delivering
best-in-class beauty and wellness services to millions of
consumers. Its presence today spans over 330 locations
in 14 countries across Asia and Africa.
Employing over 4,500 professionals, the VLCC Group
operates three highly integrated businesses in the
Wellness domain – Weight Management and Beauty
services, delivered through a chain of over 250 VLCC
Beauty and Wellness Centers; Skill Development
Institutes for Beauty and Nutrition and manufacturing, in
two company-owned plants in India and one in
Singapore, over 250 skin-care, hair-care and body care
products.
VLCC is also a leading player in the fast-growing on-
demand services space in India, with VLCC VanityCube,
which currently offers beauty service in 4 cities in India.
It also has a presence in the direct selling domain, with
its VLCC Wellscience range of nutraceuticals.
What led you to start VLCC? What was your pivotal
moment?
My initial interest in the field of beauty and wellness
came from my family. My greatest inspiration has
always been my mother. I feel she was a woman ahead
Vandana
Luthra:
Transforming
the Definition
of Wellness
|July 2018| 23
Interview with Insights Success

of her time. She was an Ayurvedic doctor and practiced
yoga regularly, and was very particular about the
family’s diet, which sowed the seeds of my interest in
health and beauty at an early age. Not having conformed
to the gender norms, I felt brave enough to give in to the
feeling of venturing into an area that had always
interested me. I could not have done this without the
support of my husband Mukesh, who has been my pillar
of strength from day 1.
When I started in 1989, the beauty and wellness industry
was at a very nascent stage with a majority of the sector
being unorganized. The concept of health and wellness
centers wasn’t well established in India and this is where
VLCC came into existence. I wanted to create a brand
which would be the one-stop-shop solution for all beauty
and wellness needs of people.
My idea was unique and it was a successful concept
which worked in our favor and clients started flocking to
the center. Within a month we were able to break even
which boosted my confidence and motivated me to
expand the company into further territories.
What were the hurdles and obstacles that you had to
face and overcome during the initial years as a
leader?
Being a women entrepreneur in the late-eighties, trying
to scale up in a highly unorganized industry domain like
beauty and wellness services was one of my biggest
challenges initially. The idea of a holistic wellness center
was not prevalent and nobody was ready to invest in my
idea. Despite facing these initial hiccups, I firmly
believed in my concept as it was unique and being
introduced in India for the first time. It took years of hard
work, dedication and patience to build VLCC into a
global brand that it is today.
What according to you are the most important
characteristics that every leader should possess in this
day and age?
When it comes to leadership, every person, especially
women, have many odds stacked against them. From
arranging for finance to establishing a stronghold in a
male-dominated social environment, women have faced
it all.
Despite all the challenges, one has to draw motivation
from within. Passion, when combined with motivation,
makes the journey a lot easier. A good leader must have
faith in his/her abilities and the belief in their dream.
To conclude with, what would be your advice to some
of the young and aspiring leaders?
The road to success is not easy. One has to be confident
in fighting against all obstacles and norms that are
waiting to pull them down. Never give up on your
dreams. The farther you are willing to stretch yourself,
the greater could be the degree of success that you may
end up achieving.
VLCC, the chef-d’oeuvre of
Vandana Luthra, has an evident
multinational position. It offers
weight management and beauty
programmes encompassing
advanced dermatology and
cosmetology solutions. The
organization’s weight-
management solutions include a
unique DNA-based weight
management system. It
possesses domination in
operations within the beauty and
wellness services industry in
India. At present, the VLCC stores
operate in 330 locations in 14
countries in South
Asia, South East Asia, the GCC
Region and East Africa.
About the Company
|July 2018|24

|July 2018|26
If we Google the word leadership,
exactly 297,000,000 results pop up
right at our screens. If we were to
find a book on leadership in Amazon,
we would have over 220,000 titles to
choose from. Ask prominent leaders
about leadership, and the answers
would keep on shifting; multiple layer
of opinions evolving through
experience and struggles.
From helping others to succeed to
having the capability to inspire, a true
leader boasts the distinctive ability to
motivate, captivate and encourage
others to take action. Direct and candid
in her communication, she makes
decisions which matters and is willing
to stretch her hand out to support
others in need. She is a leader with
purpose, an individual with an inherent
passion to succeed and a figure with
positive influence. Meet Alicia Asin, a
true reflection of the above statements,
who has shouldered her company,
Libelium, to heights through her
unparalleled efforts and dedication.
Libelium over the Years
Libelium began as a business project
with Alicia Asín and her partner and
Co-founder, David Gascón. The
computer engineering duo decided to
bet for the undertaking of developing
products based on wireless sensor
networks. Fast forward eleven years,
Libelium today stands as a leading
wireless sensor network platform
provider that delivers, open-source,
low-power consumption devices.
During these eleven years of operation,
the company has faced several critical
moments. Recalling these key
instances, Alicia mentions “…some
moments have been very positive, such
as the achievement of awards and
recognitions that projected the image
and notoriety of Libelium in the media,
while the displeasing memories include
the unfortunate fire suffered in 2014,
serving as a revulsion to revive our
company from its ashes and aspire for
greater success.”
Presently, the company’s strategy
involves moving – within the IoT value
chain – from hardware appliances to
cloud services. Libelium’s expertise
lies in the sensors’ layer, but it has
managed to develop an interoperable
platform, that has reached
compatibility agreements with more
than 60 partners such as IBM Bluemix,
Microsoft Azure, Telit, Telefonica,
Arrow, Amazon AWS, Ericsson, etc.
The company firmly stands at a
position to offer its customers with
final solutions that combine its
hardware with the cloud services of its
partners.
“This is how we developed The IoT
Marketplace, which we hope will
become the Amazon of the IoT,”
mentions Alicia. The IoT Marketplace
is an ecommerce in which it sells ready
to install kits, which includes
everything one need (hardware,
software and cloud connectivity) for
different sectors: smart cities, smart
buildings, agriculture, water
management, smart factories, e-Health,
and smartphone detection.
Building Solutions for a Better
Future
Libelium designs and manufactures
technological solutions to build
wireless sensor networks, now known
as the Internet of Things (IoT). The
company builds solutions for a better
future, especially in three crucial areas:
Health, Quality of Life in Urban Areas
and Competitiveness of Businesses.
In the health monitoring space,
Libelium has its MySignals platform
that allows it to measure, through a set
of sensors, the most important vital
signs of the human body. In the urban
sphere, the company’s technology
makes it possible to measure and
therefore combat pollution, both air
and noise; thereby drastically
improving the quality of life.
When it comes to improving
productivity, Libelium is working
across different sectors such as
industry, logistics and precision
agriculture. The company’s sensors can
improve the quality of crop life, save
production costs and avoid crop losses
and improve the quality of farmer’s
life, favoring the settlement of
population in rural areas.
Overcoming the Initial Barriers and
Standing out as a Leader
The path of an entrepreneur is filled
with obstacles and difficult decisions,
and Alicia’s path was no different.
Obtaining financing is one of the
biggest barriers initially for start-ups,
but Libelium was prepared in advance
with its revenue generating thought
through various online sales channels.
Alongside this, Alicia and David had to
initially give more efforts to stand out
seriously because of a pre-conceived
notion surrounding youths and their
lack of maturity.
Alicia Asin:
A True Reflection of Leadership

Speaking about leadership, Alicia
mentions “We are living a digital era that
requires special skills to adapt to the
circumstances. That’s why a leader has to
be resilient: be clear about the path and
objectives you want to achieve with your
company. At the same time, however, the
leader must be able to recognize the
mistakes made in order to get things right
as soon as possible by implementing the
necessary measures, which will always
require ﬂexibility. I also consider that it
very important to communicate: hearing,
talking and empathizing with the team. We
need to know how to transmit enthusiasm
so that the employees can undertake
projects with determination and get
everyone involved in the company’s
culture to the fullest extent possible.”
Alicia not only believes in these
characteristics and traits, but she
resolutely strives to follow the same being
a recognized leader in the industry.
Success Stories are built on Hard Work
and Excellence
It’s easy to tell someone to pursue their
dreams, without warning them about
the complications ahead. It’s good to
have aspirations and a project to
work for, but at the same time
it’s also increasingly realistic
and aware of the
obstacles bound to come
down your path every
single day.
“Whether you start your
own company or aspire
to become an employee;
we live in a society that
craves easy success: creating a
start-up, selling it fast and making a
lot of money. But solid success stories are
built on hard work and excellence,” Alicia
concludes.
“I built my story through hard
work and excellence.”
Alicia Asin
Co-founder & CEO
Libelium
|July 2018| 27

magine a scenario where someone knocks on your
Idoor at home and puts their hand on the peep-hole. It
might be a nice girl-scout selling cookies, but on the
other part of the spectrum it could be a burglar. Would you
open the door?
Something similar happens when we receive an unknown
call. Today, we are part of the tech savvy generation where
every sector, almost every task is dominated by the internet
and smartphones. Smartphones in particular have
completely changed the way we communicate and perform
our daily duties, but we are still unable ﬁnd the caller
A Young Leader with
an Ultimate Call
Management Solution
Amit On:
Now that we have
advanced analytics
programs, you need to
understand that not
every idea you have will
perform well. Accepting
when you are wrong and
learning from it is
something every leader
should possess in this
day and age.
“
28
Amit On
Founder & CEO
|July 2018|

behind each phone call. The software and applications in
the current market display very few call details as well.
Thus, the application which can improve the process of how
we manage our calls and one which enables us to identify
the unknown face behind the call is prerequisite!
Tech gurus around the globe are trying their best to develop
such a futuristic app. One incisive individual who
comprehended the challenging issue, and created a perfect
solution is Amit On. The young tech genius developed a
mobile app, called CallApp, which provides users with the
ultimate call management solution for all their smartphone
needs. Stereotypically, it provides users with Universal
Caller ID, Call Blocking, Smart Spam Filtering, Call
Recording, an Enhanced Dialer and a Social Contact Book.
Flourishing with an Incredible Speed
CallApp is now booming with unmatchable pace and today
it has over thirty six million users worldwide. The app also
facilitates information such as birthdays, last email or
message, productivity tools and multiple communication
options that aggregate all of the major social networks and
messaging applications. CallApp reinvents the way people
communicate, by providing them with the right information
& tools at the right time, right where they need it.
The app was also acknowledged by the world’s best
technology leaders. It was featured in TechCrunch’s The
Top 20 World’s Most Promising Start-Ups list and was
among the finalist at TechCrunch Disrupt NYC. CallApp
was also selected by Microsoft, IBM and Qualcomm as one
of the most innovative and promising Israeli companies.
The prime reason behind CallApp’s notable success is the
young, compassionate leadership of its Founder and CEO,
Amit On.
17 years of Technology, Start-ups, Internet and Mobile
Amit started his journey at a very young age. By age 14, he
started his first tech company, which was a very popular
Bulletin Board System, BBS. A few years later at the tender
age of 16, the internet arrived to households and this
changed his life forever. While still in high school, Amit
worked for two different startups, both of the start-ups were
later acquired by larger companies.
Moving on a few years to the age of 18, Amit’s professional
astuteness landed him a position in the IDF’s Special
Intelligence Technology Unit. After the IDF, Amit joined a
startup called Followap as a developer. Once again Amit
excelled in his work and climbed the designation ladder all
the way up to be its Chief Architect. Followap was a huge
success and the app was later acquired for $140M by the
US Company, Neustar. After his successes at Followap, he
joined the startup Amobee. He served as the company CTO
for four years. Amobee was then acquired by Singtel for
approximately $340M. Amit has also played a major role in
many other startups as well.
The Pivotal Moment
Amit decided to create CallApp because of his own
personal experience. Once he was in a very important
meeting and his mobile phone rang. Sounds fairly normal
right? Well the number was unknown, and Amit had to
decide on the spot if it was important enough to answer.
Amit answered the call, only to find out it was a spam call.
That was the moment when Amit decided that it makes no
sense not having information about the person calling you.
Every time he made or received a call there was a lot of
information missing. He knew that all of this information
was already publicly available. Thus, he decided to create a
solution for people to see this information in one easy to
use place. Staying true to his words, Amit developed an
astonishing solution within a year, thus forming CallApp.
An Advice from a Young and Admirable Leader
The biggest obstacle for Amit was something that many
leaders have had to face and overcome 30 years ago, as the
landscape was drastically different than today. Amit
mentions that 30 years ago a CEO would never admit to
being wrong. But according to him, having humility is a
must for every new leader.
Amit also believes that every industry is growing at an
exceptional rate, being able to adapt to any circumstance is
a must for any leader in the 21st century. Although he
clarifies that there is not a specific best piece of advice he
can give to young and aspiring leaders, he implies on
having a never give up approach. Amit claims, “There are
times when you will fail, but this is a learning curve. You
need to get back on your feet and give it another shot.
Nothing perfect is done in the first try.”
He feels in order to succeed at a young age, a leader must
be the man of his words. He notes, “You need to say what
you mean and mean what you say.” Above all this, Amit’s
advice for budding entrepreneurs is to have an unwavering
confidence on their ideas and people that keeps the ball of
success rolling.
|July 2018| 29

Candice Simons is the CEO
of Brooklyn Outdoor, a
longtime industry leader who
returned to Detroit from Chicago to
launch the entrepreneurial venture.
The company’s multiple divisions
include Outdoor, Experiential,
Events, and hand painted. Brooklyn’s
clients include national brands like
General Motors, Adidas, Warner
Brothers, Sprint, and Amazon.
Simons also founded the Detroit-
based lifestyle blog company,
J’adore Detroit.
She has been recognized for her
work with both companies by Crain’s
Detroit Business 40 under 40,
DBusiness 30 in their 30s,
Entrepreneur 360, Detroit Young
Professionals Vanguard, Summit
International Marketing and
Creative Awards, MichBusiness, and
Enterprising Women of the year
2017.
About the Author:
30 |July 2018|
Brand Vision

The Right Way
n an increasingly saturated market, it is becoming
Iincreasingly harder to reach your target consumer
through traditional channels. Brooklyn Outdoor is
fortunate enough to be at the center of the oldest form of
advertising – outdoor advertising aka out-of-home
advertising. This is the only format of advertising that
cannot be turned off in the digital age. This is an exciting
time for this highly regarded industry to cut through the
clutter and provide our key consumer with exactly what
they need and where at point of purchase. We have had our
ups and downs as a startup over the past five years battling
our goliath competitors but have proven ourselves as a
worthy opponent – just as our industry has stood the test of
time. Just as we have built our own brand, our specialty is
helping our customers build their brands just the same way
through outdoor advertising, event marketing, experiential
marketing, and more.
Out-of-Home (aka OOH) advertising is the catalyst for
brand building. Advertisers can segment audiences and
market campaigns more specifically than ever before and
choose to reach consumers by multicultural audiences,
general market audiences, age, etc. This long term and
“always on” strategy is one that allows brands to be and
feel as though they are everywhere to the targeted segment
in the desired market. This is because OOH reaches almost
the entire population and is the best mechanism for bright,
in-your-face messages.
Consumers are increasingly on the go, and while on the go
they are seeing various types of placements and advertising
as they go about their daily routines. Reaching an audience
at the bus stop, at the intersection, in a taxi, or during the
commute has a tremendous impact on the modern consumer
– especially when paired with mobile advertising. These
various touch points allow brands and products to resonate
with potential customers in a subtle, yet impactful way, as
they go about their daily routine.
Digital out of home (DOOH) advertising is quickly
becoming one of the fastest growing, technically advanced,
and most interactive advertising formats for businesses to
reach consumers.
DOOH advertising promises brand safety as it eliminates
the risk of crisis by association. Promoting company
content on social media platforms assumes the risk of
having ads placed next to problematic or politically
controversial content. However, in DOOH there is no
uncertainty because advertisers know exactly where ads
will appear and often make the site selections internally.
Additionally, DOOH advertising eliminates the potential
marketing threat of ad-blocking. The biggest concern with
most digital formats arises when an audience is able to
avoid certain advertisements by shutting them off and
media companies fraudulently account for proof of
completion.
Due to this inefficiency, the word “digital” naturally brings
concern to potential advertisers; however, with DOOH, ad-
blocking is not possible for digital signage because it
cannot be blocked, filtered or turned off. Real people are
seeing our ads and formats.
When it is done correctly and thoughtfully, the public
accepts digital DOOH more so than any other media
formats due to the creative advancements in this exciting
format. It becomes more than a selling tool for our clients
– it becomes something much larger and more impactful.
Brand Building:
|July 2018| 31

Innovation and Trends
= Data-Driven Campaigns
Real-time data feeds can be integrated into digital displays,
as a result, clients are able to produce a very clear picture
and snapshot of the “now” for target audiences. Innovation
is the name of the marketing game these days, and DOOH
does just that.
With the strategic and thoughtful use of data and
technology, in addition to a general market campaign, a
client can create a truly powerful and unique experience for
their target audience. OOH advertising is THE top medium
to create the lasting connection and visibility that an
audience needs to take action at point of purchase.
= Beacons
Beacons are real-world data generators that are insanely
accurate. With them, you can turn your OOH advertising
locations into signals, which help to pinpoint a specific
target audience and market to them directly. This innovation
allows the world of mobile and OOH advertising to further
connect and maximize the most efficient exposure possible.
This cutting-edge technology proves extremely useful to
reach consumers in specific situations that naturally warrant
waiting time like the airport, bus station, or even hospital.
Strategically sending creative messaging via smartphones to
consumers in these particular situations makes them much
more likely to engage with the brand or product.
Recently, COACH used beacons at the Hong Kong
International Airport to engage customer participation in a
cutting-edge OOH campaign. The beacon-based, social
media campaign prompted participants to share a photo
with hashtag #CoachPreFall2016 to enter a drawing to win
merchandise from the collection.
Beaconstac reports, “to participate, passengers, had to go
near a beacon hoarding (with the Bluetooth switched on
their smartphones), go on WeChat and shake their phones.
The beacons installed in the advertising media would then
communicate with passengers’ smartphones and take them
to the campaign landing page.”
As a result of strategically placing beacons in a high-impact
area with predictable wait time, Coach was able to engage
customers and create a lasting impression of the brand
while maximizing exposure through virtual outreach.
Hand Painted Mural Advertising Originally popular in the
20th century, hand paint murals are making a comeback in
vibrant cities with strong artistic communities like Detroit,
Brooklyn and Los Angeles. By commissioning local artists
to create brand-promoting murals, advertisers connect with
communities on a more powerful level. Using local artists
to create advertisements, authentically generates interest in
the community and results in public relation opportunities
not typically open to run of the mill billboard placements.
Additionally, hand paint murals take time to create. While
painting, artists attract attention from pedestrians and street
traffic. The process of the mural’s creation can be used as a
marketing asset in itself. Time lapse videos of the process
from start to finish can be used to supplement OOH
advertising campaigns.
= Action
OOH advertising is a tried and true method in initiating
audiences to take action. Over threequarters of Americans
have been noted as smartphone owners, which is an
enormous number of potential customers ready to interact
and engage with brands at the tip of their fingers.
A recent Nielsen study states that OOH generates more
online activity per ad dollar spent when compared to radio,
television, or print. Because of OOH exposure, consumers
interact with brands via social media.
Because we are always turned on and, on the go,, OOH’s
unsurpassed ability to bridge the gap between audience and
brand will ultimately drive action from consumers.
About the Company:
Brooklyn Outdoor is a Detroit-based independent outdoor
advertising agency. The company was founded in 2013 and
has subsequently emerged as a national and regional force
in the outdoor advertising industry with satellite offices and
full-time sales representatives in Detroit, Chicago, New
York, and Los Angeles.
32 |July 2018|

It is exquisitely stated by a famous author and a speaker,
Robin Sharma, that “Basically, to lead without a title is
to derive your power within the organization not from
your position but from your competence, effectiveness,
relationships, excellence, innovation and ethics.” This
quote applies very appropriately to the Founder and CEO
of MATRiX ANALYTiCS CORPORATION, Anil
Bandari. Not only has his title as a leader, but also his
perseverance, competence and innovation set a noteworthy
instance of Leadership.
Transforming Data into Expert Decisions
MATRiX was incepted from Anil’s inspiration, who has
extensively worked with data, particularly in the Financial
Services Industry. His goal was to leverage the data across
various domains.
The data science team at MATRiX has always been inspired
and driven by transaction data, inclusive of its volume,
frequency, signals, noise and outliers generated across
industries. The company has been building analytics
solutions into various domains to simplify the day-to-day
process of making decisions by using data.
It was this inspiration that led the company to build
proprietary algorithms to transform data into machine form.
It also facilitated the development of genetic algorithm,
machine learning, deep learning and goal programming
based models, which are exceptionally dominant, robust
and efficient for large volume and high dimensional data.
A Pioneering Leadership
Anil Bandari founded MATRiX with the sole purpose of
using advanced analytics and AI to democratize financial
systems and make it simple for common person to have
access to the financial services with the best possible
pricing with respect to his/her risk given to the financial
institution. Anil acquired a few big clients on-board in
earlier stage of the company. From there on, the company
provided custom analytics solutions to client, which far
exceeded their expectation.
With an extensive experience of more than 25 years in
various leadership roles in the financial industry, Anil is
leading the organization on the way to excellence. Prior to
founding MATRiX, he headed global modeling and risk
analytics in Citi for 7 major markets/countries including
Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia,
Thailand and Vietnam. He was the Director of Global
Credit & Fraud Risk Management based in New York.
Along with this, Anil also holds a distinctive portfolio of
being an innovator in the field of Data Science, Artificial
Intelligence, Transaction Analytics, Genetic Algorithms,
Signal processing, Credit & Fraud Risk Modeling, and
Strategy Optimization & Analytics.
Empowering Businesses
MATRiX works with the Financial Services, Retail and
Healthcare Industries to empower them with sophisticated
analytics and data science solutions. The company enables
them to mitigate risk, reduce losses, increase profitability
and provide better customer experience. Delivering robust
and high-performing models is the topmost priority of the
company. This incorporates all the diagnostics needed for
defense of model in internal audit and regulatory exams.
The methodologies used are time tested and validated.
MATRiX works closely with its clients in development,
Anil Bandari:
We strive tirelessly
to be the leading custom
analytics solution
provider to serve
individuals, communities,
institutions and nations.
‘‘ ‘‘
34
Delivering Groundbreaking Analytics Solutions
|July 2018|

deployment and post deployment processes in every modeling and
analytics solution they deliver.
MATRiX’s solutions are based on the use of Statistical, Operations
research, Machine & Deep Learning, proprietary, best industry
known algorithms and state-of-art analytics business processes. Its
solutions leverage all possible data sources, which are, on-us bank
data, off-us credit bureau, and other available alternate data
sources.
Discovering the Light after a Walk through the Darkness
In the initial years of MATRiX, the only challenge for the
company was grabbing a chance from the big banks to having them
on-board as clients. However, the company eventually converted
couple of big clients and started working with them. The most
effective strategy of identifying right talent and people made it easy
for the company to tackle initial struggles. With the dedication,
professionalism and hard work of team to deliver the best to
clients, the organization was able to provide analytics solutions to
clients which far exceeded their expectations every time.
MATRiX has been and is growing day after day. The company
boasts a group of satisfied customers. The company is working on
building new analytics solutions for the client’s priority objectives
these days and at the same time pursuing acquisition of new clients.
The company has earned the trust of its clientele and converted
initial engagements into long-term partnerships.
The company’s first project rollout was with one of the largest banks in the
country. Being a startup, it was competing with some pretty big names in the
industry and the bank chose MATRiX. The company exceeded the expectation of
the bank in the first project itself and it became a hit within the bank. Banks’
internal team had multiple road shows demonstrating the value of Machine
Learning and Artificial intelligence across various departments within the bank. In
review meeting of final presentation to the bank, the company told that the results
and performance of its analytics solutions spoke for itself. The first project
transformed into a long-term partnership with the bank and today MATRiX is
working on multiple projects with the bank on an ongoing basis.
MATRiX was first to build inventory optimization solution in construction industry
and the optimization solution that led the retail company have 30% gain in their
cash flow in first year itself. The company has filed for a patent for the algorithm,
which digitizes very irregular structures with random space allocation in 2-
dimensional surface. The application will be available for architects in the retail
space.
Enlightening Aspiring Leaders
Anil believes that the most important characteristics which every leader should
possess in these days and age are Ethics and Innovation.
Anil’s advice to the young and ambitious leaders is to give their best to whatever
industry, kind of work they have chosen and funnel attention on the bigger picture.
Sometimes, it may need for the leaders to be patient to reap its benefits.
Anil Bandari
Founder & CEO
MATRiX ANALYTiCS CORPORATION
Solutions We Offer
Cross-Industry Soloutions
Credit Scorecards Strategy Optimization Fraud Anomaly Detection Dynamic Risk Control
Signal Detection Regulatory Modeling Governance Solutions Recommendation Systems
Product Sales & Vendor
Purchase Analytics
Transportation Problem Inventory & Pricing
Optimization
Genome Sequencing
Based Models
Strategy A/B Testing & Adaptive
Control
Customer Analytics Text Mining
|July 2018| 35

36
Anne Marie
Kirby:
A Born Leader Raising the
Bar for Everyone with
Humility and Purpose
“We support wellness
visionaries in their quest to
change the world one
employee at a time to
achieve healthy living.”
― Anne Marie
CEO & Founder
CoreHealth Technologies
|July 2018|

here are many different types
of leaders and leaderships
around the world. Some
believe in leading people and making a
difference in their lives. These leaders
are often admired and carry a warm
glow around them because they are
often in the limelight. However, others
are more subtle because they wish to
lead the world with their work and
silently raise the bar for the world with
their humility. One such outstanding
persona in the business world is Anne
Marie Kirby.
Anne Marie is the Founder and CEO
of CoreHealth Technologies, a
leading wellness software company
trusted by global providers to power
their wellness programs for corporate
clients.
She realised her inclination to lead
early in her career. During her long
career as a software engineer, she
always took initiative and led a life of
example with humility. Her passion for
understanding the big picture including
the business case, overall environment
and the people helped her quickly earn
the deserving position of leadership,
almost at every turn. She quickly
captured her opportunities to lead,
learn and grow as a leader.
The Big Picture and the Right Path
Anne Marie believes that every good
leader has an underlying purpose of
making the world a better place. In the
business world, this is often the most
under spoken truth. Often business
leaders have their ambitions and
motives in order to provide a service or
a sell a product. This honest statement
needs to be made more often because it
does not take away from the real
contributions of business leaders. In
the larger picture, business leaders and
their work often contribute positively
and make the world a better place to
live in.
Similarly, CoreHealth Technologies
develops and distributes a one-stop-
technology solution for corporate
wellness companies. The platform is a
state of the art SaaS solution and
currently serves more than 2 million
employees worldwide and over 1000
client organizations. Anne Marie
humbly accepts her motives for
changing her fortunes with the
successful business but also firmly
believes the product is making the
world a better place for everyone by
improving employee health.
A Dream and A Personal Journey
Apart from her ambition to become a
successful business leader, she also
faced personal challenges that made
her realise the need for preventative
health solutions to help people improve
their overall well-being. In the mid-
90s, she suffered from an immune
system disorder that was triggered by
undiagnosed food allergies. Using her
expertise as a software engineer and
her independent and initiative-seeking
attitude, she wrote a software program
to track and analyse food ingredients.
Her passion to find a solution for her
ailment motivates her to serve a
purpose much bigger than herself and
the industry she continuously
contributes to. Currently, prevention is
an underrated solution to medical
problems around the world.
Additionally, prevention could save
billions of taxpayer dollars when
people take personal initiative and
have the right tools at their disposal to
make the best decision regarding their
long-term health. Hence, Anne Marie
and CoreHealth Technologies are
transforming the world and raising the
bar for every business leader with their
work.
A Humble Leader
As mentioned earlier, what sets Anne
Marie apart from many business
leaders is her quality of quietly leading
a team while building a solid
foundation. It is perhaps these talents
that made Anne Marie walk a path
which is truly unique. In the current
business world, some women talk
about a glass ceiling they face. Anne
Marie never noticed such a ceiling
despite sometimes being the sole
woman in a large group in the field
dominated by STEM professionals.
Her determination to succeed and walk
through life with humility turned out to
be her reality as she was promoted and
ended up forming a successful
enterprise, which is a story envied by
others.
She has been an active listener in her
journey and has a few words of
wisdom for aspiring young
entrepreneurs around the world. She
said, “Every day when you get up,
think about the 2 or 3 most important
things that you can do to move yours
and your company’s agenda forward.”
Anne Marie believes that the world
around entrepreneurs is filled with a lot
of noise and it is important to take a
quiet step back before focussing their
energy on the most important agenda
of the day, every day.
Anne Marie reveals a hidden good side
of human nature. Human nature is
filled with many inconsistencies and
makes us often prone to committing
grave errors. However, there is a good
side to us as well. It does not lie in the
contemplation of what can be or how it
should be. It can come from a
relentless pursuit of objectivity and
truth in the larger picture. It can also be
followed by the determination and zeal
to achieve perfection in human nature.
When these qualities are put together
with a purpose, the world can and does
become a better place for everyone.
|July 2018| 37

O
ver the past 30 years, Byrne Murphy has
spearheaded a number of ventures. Initially
focussing on international property
development, Byrne’s first step into the European market
began by launching a successful range of outlet centres
and private resident clubs. It was while successfully
running these that his business and the world was forever
changed by the arrival of the internet.
Byrne quickly came to appreciate how important the
physical infrastructure was to the digital revolution.
Interested in where the virtual world meets the physical
world, he rapidly identified data centers as that pivotal
intersection point. This led him to start DigiPlex in 2001,
then a company with presence only in Norway but with
big Nordic ambitions that would redefine innovation in
data centers across the world.
Data centres operate at the heart of nearly all streaming,
‘cloud-based’ or network-based services. As the world
moves quickly towards wider distribution of Internet of
Things, cloud computing and Artificial Intelligence, the
demand for fast, secure and powerful data centres grows
exponentially each year. Today, data centres are
responsible for about 2 per cent of the world’s annual
CO2 emissions and 3 per cent of the world’s power
usage. Given that data centers are the heart of the
digitization, this is just a sliver of the impact the industry
may come to have on the planet in the years to come.
Businesses, and the data centers that support them, will
both need to take greater responsibility for their
environmental footprint.
The Nordics immediately interested Byrne as the place
to start and grow a data centre business, as the region
offers some of the lowest costs for clean renewable
power, and a climate with a low year-round temperature,
ideal for state-of-the art energy-efficient cooling. With
DigiPlex’s commitment to 100% renewable energy and
constant drive to innovate to reduce power consumption,
the company is pioneering sustainable practises within
the industry.
Mission driven from the beginning, today, DigiPlex is
one of the most cost-effective, secure and sustainable
data centres in the world, taking full advantage of
attractively low Nordic energy prices and clean
renewable power to build its compelling offer.
Innovation is woven into the company’s DNA.
Throughout its 17-year lifetime, the business has won
multiple awards for innovation and constantly adhered to
the concept of ‘there’s got to be a better way.’ As soon as
a project is completed, DigiPlex automatically leans into
tomorrow and starts to brainstorm around new
innovative ways to do the next project even better. A
good example of this is the recent modifications to
DigiPlex state of the art data centre in Stockholm. The
centre became operational in 2015 and is one of the
greenest and most energy efficient in the world, however
true to the DigiPlex innovation DNA the company took
the decision last month to modify the centre to recover
excess heat from the severs to heat the district. The
agreement is the world’s first where an already
operational data centre with an indirect evaporative air-
to-air cooling solution, will be retrofitted to recover
40 |July 2018|

Byrne Murphy
Chairman & Co-founder
DigiPlex
‘‘ ‘‘
excess heat to heat up for 10,000 residential apartments.
It is a virtuous cycle where everyday digital activities
that start a process in DigiPlex’s data centre, like
browsing or streaming video, turns into actions which
contribute to heating the district.
Byrne’s long career as a business leader and an
entrepreneur in international markets, has oﬀered him a
fair share of challenges and lessons learnt. Byrne’s piece
of advice for some of the young and aspiring leaders out
there is threefold:
Ÿ Recruit for ‘grit.’ To truly succeed in today’s fast-
moving world, every business leader needs ‘grit.’
When building your management team ensure you
recruit for the strength to never give up. If you don’t
fully commit and persevere it’s easy to fall behind.
This is a quality that DigiPlex looks for in all
management positions.
Ÿ Build the right organisation culture. Long term
survival requires the ability to constantly innovate.
Hence, innovation needs to be a collective state of
mind deeply rooted in the corporate culture. At
DigiPlex every department lives and breathes the
“innovate or die” maxim.
Ÿ Stop waiting! “If you really, really, have the urge to
be a business leader, take the leap now. You won’t
regret having tried, even if you fail. But, you may
bitterly regret it if you never even tried.”
|July 2018| 41

Passion is the drive, ambition and the love
for what you do and who you serve. It
provides you with a unique ability to
identify the undeniable possibilities of
innovation. Notable examples include Steve
Jobs, who had the vision of a phone with one
button on the front; or, Amazon Tycoon, Jeﬀ
Bezos, who had a vision for a store that sells
everything.
Every successful leader must have an inherent
passion that drives them forward -- a core belief
that keeps him or her pressing on. Such undying
passion always leads the way and enables
individuals to stay ahead of the curve.
Another prime example amongst such extremely
passionate individuals is Dan McFall. From his
very ﬁrst job as a product support engineer for a
supply chain software company, McFall has had
a passion for helping companies solve problems
with software and integrated technology.
An Exceptional
Product Evangelist and
Passionate Leader
Without curiosity,
there is no room
for growth
and that is
when everything
falls apart.
42 |July 2018|
Dan McFall
President & CEO
Mobile Labs

Today, he is the president and CEO of a leading provider of
mobile device cloud technology, Mobile Labs. McFall has
helped some of the largest companies in the world to design
and implement complex optimization solutions for their
mobile testing labs, while providing leadership of Mobile
Labs’ technical sales, marketing, development and partner
management teams.
Mobile Labs: Your Appium Success Company
Mobile Labs is a leading provider of mobile device cloud
technology for the enterprise. Easily deployed either on-
premises or in a hosted cloud infrastructure, Mobile Labs’
deviceConnect™ allows development and testing teams to
accelerate their mobile application release cycle with
utmost confidence in application quality and performance.
Additionally, deviceConnect enables teams to accelerate
mobile test automation strategies by enabling a wide variety
of both commercial and open-source automation tools to
run on their platform for mobile app and mobile website
testing. By connecting remote teams of developers, testers,
automation engineers, and quality assurance, Mobile Labs’
solution allows its customers to considerably decrease their
time spent testing. deviceConnect has perceptively
increased collaboration by enabling teams to share the same
pool of real devices for improved mobile DevOps.
For companies that are interested in building their
automated testing strategy around Appium, Mobile Labs
positions itself as ‘Your Appium Success Company’ by
providing a built-in Appium server as part of deviceConnect
that makes working with Appium easier and more
productive. It particularly emphasizes on improvements to
Appium architecture which can enhance performance and
reliability of the platform. Those who are ready to make the
shift to automated testing leveraging Appium, are further
assured by Mobile Labs’ world-class support and training
services.
Transforming a Pre-product, Pre-revenue Organization
into a Market Leader
McFall realized that everything was going mobile in late
2011. He envisioned that everything was eventually going
to be mobile, resulting in all apps and mobile websites
having to be tested on real devices.
Mobile Labs was a pre-product, pre-revenue organization
when McFall first joined the organization. There was an
unsure product-market fit and no go-to-market strategy for
deviceConnect. This made for a challenging environment in
not only selling the solution, but for determining what the
ideal profile of new sales team members would need to be
for success.
McFall’s true growth as a leader came when he joined
Mobile Labs as the vice president of sales in 2012 and
decided to take the plunge into a true start-up environment.
In this role, he was directly responsible for acquiring the
company’s very first customer and also its largest customer
to date. At the same time, he developed a full cycle field
sales team which dramatically increased the customer base
and revenue of the organization. With his passion for
solutions, McFall often played and continues to play the
role of ‘product evangelist’ with several speaking
engagements, webinars, and industry events to his credit.
In 2016 McFall was promoted to the role of president where
he took over expanded responsibility for all aspects of the
business, including sales, development, marketing and
customer care. In 2017, Mobile Labs showed a significant
growth in both new subscription business and customer
acquisition, culminating in McFall’s appointment as the
president and CEO by the Board of Directors at the start of
2018.
Curiosity: The Core to Everything
According to McFall, a leader must be curious, and not just
about market opportunities. Leaders need to be curious
about what their customers, employees and competitors
think, in addition to focusing on what is happening adjacent
to the company’s industry.
He notes that, “Leaders today also need to have the
confidence to admit when they do not know something.”
They are not expected to have all of the answers about
every aspect of the business. However, they must be
capable of creating a team that can find those answers. He
also adds, that aspiring leaders should trust in their team’s
experiences and wisdom. They must be able to collaborate,
and to go forward steadfast in their ability to integrate those
experiences into a meaningful strategy for the business.
|July 2018| 43

egends never need an introduction. They tend to be
Lvictorious despite of their uneventful histories. They
stick to captivating traits such as Discipline,
determination and self-belief which help them accomplish
wonders in the long run. One such example of an extra-
ordinary person is Elon Musk, a South African Business
Magnate, Investor and an engineer.
Musk is the founder, CEO, and chief architect of SpaceX;
co-founder, CEO, and product designer of Tesla Inc.; and
co-founder and CEO of Neuralink. As of February 2018, he
is the 53rd-richest person in the world and has a net worth
of $20.8 billion, which is far more than the net GDP of
Greece taken into consideration.
While each entrepreneur possesses a unique set of traits that
makes him/her successful, this Tech founder has a few traits
much different from any other ordinary CEO, which has
allowed him to build some of the world’s most respected
and innovative organizations. Musk once quoted, “When
something is important enough, you do it even if the odds
are not in your favor.”
Let’s have a look on these personality attributes and
characteristics that make him a contender for the most
innovative intellectual entrepreneur of the century alive.
Hard-work and Characteristic Work Ethics
Elon Musk is a hard-working innovator, working for about
100 hours a week, and has been productive since many
years. He may even be considered as the hardest working
employee of the company, setting standards for his
colleagues to follow and implement. Since the field of work
lies inside his radius of interests, he enjoys it to every
moment and bit when it comes to learning and execution.
Strong Risk Tolerance
Founding a start-up involves a great deal of uncertainty and
risk. A study found that after 10 years of being in business,
96 percent of the start-ups fail. Going by the statistics,
Musk must have faced the same odds against him, when he
had decided to leave an otherwise comfortable life to start a
risky and uncertain business venture.
For instance, Musk left his PhD program at Stanford
University to find a company called Zip2 with his brother in
the year 1995. Later, the company was sold to Compaq
computers, profiting Musk a bit over $20 million.
Following this, Musk once again took a great risk by
investing millions of dollars to found a company called
X.com, one of the world's first online banks.
‘Always Be Learning’ Attitude
An astounding and less-known fact about Elon Musk is that
he is self-taught in programming and in many advanced
level subjects. He read and understood a variety of books,
which helped him gain endless and persistent knowledge
and understand diverse concepts.
The best piece of advice on learning and implementation is
to constantly think about how things could be done in a
better manner and question self to seek the answers.
Feedback Loop
It is of prime importance to recognize the present symbol or
otherwise ‘status quo’ in the market as an organization and
re-position accordingly. Musk solicits constant feedback of
the companies and executes ‘self-analysis’. He induces
efforts and divergent strategies to improve customer
feedbacks and strives towards perfectionism.
46 |July 2018|

For example, he seeks out his critics
and tries to converse with them. This
habit of self-reflection at regular and
considerable periods is pivotal for any
entrepreneur or organization to succeed
in the long run.
Tendency for Vertical Integration
Vertical integration is a strategy where
an organization or a firm acquires
business operations within the same
product vertical. Both Tesla and
SpaceX embrace this concept. For
example, Tesla not only produces
electric cars; they also generate public
awareness about their cars via Tesla
showrooms across various countries.
And SpaceX does not only have the
primary goal of rocket propulsions;
they develop their own rocket
architecture as well.
Faith in Self and the Founding Team
Musk undoubtedly possesses a
profound belief in his own capabilities
Tesla Motors, a far headed firm headed
by Elon Musk, is anti-ordinary. Its
compelling marketplace has become a
one-stop destination for potential
buyers where they can interact about
product specifications. They also have
video testimonials that far outperform
in the sales-dominated industry.
There is no ambiguity that Musk, by
far, has been a pillar of inspiration for
budding entrepreneurs and investors
because of his prolific and optimistic
approach towards life
All these traits possessed by Musk, in
some manner or the other, coincide
with most of your habits. The only
thing that stands as a potential barrier
between these two is identifying your
strengths and working on them on a
continual basis. Go on, apply these
traits into your daily life, and you may
become the next big CEO the world is
in need of today!
as well as the potential-seeking factor
of its founding team. He does not
hesitate to gamble on large scale unless
he is genuinely aware of the expected
end-results.
It is equally essential to maintain
clarity of doubt in any large scale
organization. Under his supervision,
Musk encourages in creating a positive
and comprehensive environment across
his firms.
Preferring to Stand Out From the
Crowd
Musk elects to bring up innovation at
every level of his understanding. He
tends to impart theoretical knowledge
at the base level, applying changes and
executing the same on the practical
level. He relies more on transitional
aspects such as research and
development, thereby increasing the
probability of ground-breaking
inventions.
Imparting Wisdom
|July 2018| 47

48
Danielle
Warner
A Brilliant Team
Leader and Disruptor
“Nothing excites me more as a
leader than watching people ﬁnd
their inner drive and lighting that
ﬂame inside them. It’s what gets me
up in the morning – it keeps me
powered by purpose.”
— Danielle Warner
Founder & CEO
Expat Insurance
|July 2018|

Business Leader is a rather
coveted title. Most individuals
in the world of
entrepreneurship like the idea of being
seen as a business leader. However,
establishing and leading a successful
company is difficult; it calls for a
diverse set of skills - an undying
passion for the business idea,
significant management and
communication abilities, the capacity
to build an amazing team of
employees, and a relentless desire to
learn new things and gather
knowledge. It is a prerequisite for any
business leader to always be on the
leading edge of the learning curve and
have an unwavering approach to client
satisfaction. Danielle Warner, the
Founder and CEO of Expat
Insurance is the consummate business
leader. She founded this world-leading
insurance company in 2009. The
Singapore-based firm caters to the
needs of more than thirty thousand
satisfied customers.
In addition to being a successful
entrepreneur, Danielle is also the
author of a well-known book,
Bulletproof: Building Better Employee
Benefits. She was always a thoughtful
leader but today, she stands tall as a
successful disruptor, author and
speaker as well. Danielle has blazed
her own trail and made an impact on a
global scale by breaking the status-quo
in a stale industry. Her astonishing
career and motivational words have
inspired hundreds of individuals from
Singapore and around the world.
A Period of Exploration
The inception of Expat Insurance was a
result of Danielle’s struggle to find
travel insurance for her family’s
frequent trips to Asia. Additionally,
Danielle left New York and her job at
AIG and moved to Singapore. She
subsequently witnessed the lack of
coverage options for expats living in
there, and as a result of which Danielle
started Expat Insurance. Expat
Insurance is an independent insurance
brokerage firm in Singapore that tailors
medical, life, home and travel
insurance packages that are relevant to
the globally-mobile lifestyle of expats.
Immigration restrictions and the
soaring cost of living in Singapore
have reduced expat relocation
packages significantly in the last five
years. As a result, enticing the best
talent to move to Singapore has
become a tougher ask than it was
previously. From 2015, Expat
Insurance has begun to provide
premium group coverage on behalf of
companies so that their best talent feels
protected, secure and valued during
their time in Singapore. Today, Expat
Insurance offers more than two
thousand products and has long-term
partnerships with twenty-seven of the
world’s best insurers. These products
are so reliable that the relatively new
and fairly small company already has
more than 30,000 satisfied clients.
In 2015, the company collaborated
with the French insurance giant, Siaci
St. Honore to elevate the Expat
Insurance brand to the international
level. The tireless efforts of Danielle
and her employees were recognized in
August 2016 and 2017, when Expat
Insurance was named as the Broker of
the Year for two consecutive years at
the Asian Banking and Finance
Magazine Awards. From being built at
the back of Danielle’s apartment room,
Expat Insurance has come a long way
to be known as a leading insurance
provider in Singapore. The company
has witnessed unprecedented success
within its short span of operation and
one of the prime reasons behind this
can be owed to the never-ending
passion of Danielle and her resolute
team of professionals. Danielle recalls,
“We began running out of a room in
our apartment and grew quickly, which
prompted us to relocate to the building
where our offices are currently. Now
we are an office of 30 people and still
growing!”
A Visionary Leader with the Perfect
Team
The financial services industry is a
really tough industry in which to stand
out. The right innovation at the right
time is the key to success. Danielle has
several family members with a
background in insurance and that
allowed her to understand the industry
very early. It gave her the vision to
grasp the right opportunity. However,
she recalls that finding the right team
could be problematic initially, “My
biggest challenge was getting that
balance exactly right and finding those
people.” When handpicking every
team member, Danielle makes sure that
the individual can help the company to
stay authentic and true to its goals. She
also emphasized on the desire within
the individual employee to learn, to
push boundaries, and to try new things.
“Every time we interview and onboard
a new team member, I make sure that
they watch Simon Sinek’s ‘The Power
of Why’– I’m all about the ‘Why’. It’s
the focus of everything that I do as a
leader and as an entrepreneur.
Surrounding myself with people that
also ask ‘Why?’is essential for me,”
she reveals.
Danielle believes having trust in
yourself and your people is one of the
best qualities of a leader; it keeps the
company growing, evolving and
changing. Danielle also recalls a
brilliant support of her general manger
that run a tight ship to bestow the
company with a team of best people.
She also advises other leaders to
surround themselves with a team of
capable people. The people who can
ask themselves ‘Why?’ She believes it
is the best gift that any leader can give
to their team.
B
|July 2018| 49

Dave Fletcher:A Transformational Leader with a Purpose
Companies are the empires of the modern age, and
they rise and fall in the same way. Just like
empires, some companies last considerably longer
than their counterparts. The reason for their success is also
the same – good leadership.
Great leaders have the ability to motivate employees, help
others see and believe in a vision, and lead innovation in
their company. Every entrepreneurial journey is marked by
ups and downs. Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that
it is difficult to contend with the moments of doubt and
failure.
However, successful entrepreneurs today are beginning to
see the value in opening up about their journey for the
benefit of the next generation. One such leader is Dave
Fletcher, CEO & DEO of The Mechanism.
Dave is the quintessential inspirational business leader, and
has consistently demonstrated his power and ability to
create, nurture and transform.
Charisma and Passion
Dave Fletcher is a visual problem solver, creative thinker,
committed futurist and a graphic designer. In 1995, while
working as a creative director for a computer manufacturer
in Cleveland, OH, he shifted his priorities from analog to
digital experience design, realizing that his survival in the
creative profession would involve a modicum of
programmatic cognition.
Dave worked with several dot-com consultancies before
launching his own digital design, branding and strategy
firm, The Mechanism, in 2001. His career has taught him
50
Our internal mantra is to
“generate the wave
that others ride.”
In other words, we stay
far enough ahead of the
curve so that we can
be predictive with our
design and technology
solutions rather than
play catch up.
“
“
Dave Fletcher
CEO & DEO
The Mechanism
|July 2018|

practical lessons about the value of
good leadership and the consequences
of poor leadership.
Most agencies in the late 1990s and
early 2000s did one thing well: they
developed corporate identity or brand
marks, or launched online interfaces to
represent a brand mark.
With his background in visual identity
development, Fletcher instead believed
that a company’s entire brand DNA,
not just a digital manifestation of the
brand, was its sweet spot. He ran with
that premise and it proved to be a good
strategy right out of the gate.
He has built strong relationships with
visionaries, entrepreneurs and
individuals from diverse backgrounds
on his journey, and has continued to
learn and seek advice from many of
them over the years.
A Difficult Start
The Mechanism was established in
New York City a few weeks before the
9/11 terrorist attacks which changed
the world forever. It was not the best
time to start a technology-dependent
company anywhere.
However, the vibrancy and resilience
of the city’s tech industry, thanks in
part to a technology-focused CEO-
turned-mayor, Michael Bloomberg,
created a conducive atmosphere for
The Mechanism to grow and thrive in
the following years.
Struggles and Motivations
Dave Fletcher has performed the dual
roles of both CEO and DEO (Design
Executive Officer) for The Mechanism
since its inception in August 2001.
Living in the city after 9/11 taught
everyone lessons in human kindness
amidst the horror. It gave Dave the
perspective, poise and desire to not
only lead but to follow the lead of the
Change is Good!
People are generally wary of change.
Dave, on the other hand, views change
- a new market, a new organizational
structure, or new leadership - as a
positive opportunity.
He has learned over the years that
empathy is an invaluable element in all
design. Whether designing an app, a
website or a hybrid user interface,
Dave makes sure to remember the fact
that there is a human being on the other
side, looking to build an enduring,
relevant relationship with a brand,
individual or product.
Advice to Budding Entrepreneurs
A good leader in the technological field
advances everyone’s potential, not just
their own, through innovation and a
clear understanding of what it is to be
human in the digital age. Aspiring
leaders must help elevate individual
potential, and deliver on the promise
that every interaction we have with
devices must be useful, helpful and
empathetic.
Dave reiterates a truism: the opposite
of movement is inertia, stagnation and
eventual failure. He believes that one’s
sole purpose as a leader should be to
move forward and to move the
organization forward. Building a
company is not a sprint, it is a
marathon.
He also underlines the importance of
building meaningful relationships. Just
as things connected to the Internet need
to provide value, leaders must do so
also if they are to engage and redefine
this ecosystem.
From a digital design and development
perspective, Dave advises that one
should not forget that on the other side
of the client’s device, there is a human
being looking to be astonished and
wishing to be connected to something
bigger than themselves.
brave individuals that helped get the
city and the country back on its feet.
His company has weathered
technological and financial storms over
the years, and witnessed trends come
and go. Most clients don’t have time to
keep up with every innovation or
technical trend; they just want an
effective digital solution and the
technological guidance to stay ahead of
their competition. Dave believes that
experience is a differentiator,
strengthening The Mechanism’s ability
to predict changes in the diversified,
evolving business ecosystem.
The Mechanism has witnessed many
disruptions, too. The way businesses
start up is very different from the
scenario ten years ago when most
companies were funded purely by
venture capital. Today, crowd-sourced
companies follow almost a starter
model.
Dave recognizes that creativity
continues to play a dominant role in
the success of any business.
Services Offered by The Mechanism
The Mechanism uses technology to
develop authentic and affectionate
interactions between human beings.
They are the creative conduit between
an audience who wishes to engage with
a brand, individual or product, and the
individuals that manage it.
As an innovative and early force in the
digital design and development
industry, his company devised some of
the first strategies for online digital
publishing before it became a
necessity. They are honored to have
produced websites and mobile apps for
popular bands like Flight of the
Conchords and My Morning Jacket.
The Mechanism also works directly
with the biggest real estate companies
in New York City and Big Pharma to
help formulate their digital and
creative strategies.
|July 2018| 51

Cindy Jutras
President
Mint Jutras
Expert’s Viewpoint
52 |July 2018|

Digital Transformation
About the author: Cindy Jutras is a widely recognized expert in
analyzing the impact of enterprise applications on business performance.
Utilizing 40+ years of corporate experience and specific expertise in
manufacturing, supply chain, customer service and business performance
management, Cindy has spent the past 12 years benchmarking the
performance of software solutions in the context of the business benefits of
technology. In 2011 Cindy founded Mint Jutras (www.mintjutras.com),
specializing in analyzing and communicating the business value enterprise
applications bring to the enterprise.
Adding Intelligence and Agility to
have been watching evolving
Itrends in enterprise applications
for many years, trends that impact
the software you use to run your
business. These trends include cloud,
mobile, social and analytics (often
associated with big data). These have
been somewhat unique in that seldom
has an entire market agreed on what
trends are most influential. Not only
has the market reached an
unprecedented level of consensus, but
these trends have had some staying
power. While their influence has not
diminished over time, today they are
simply woven into the fabric of our
global, digital economy.
The Internet forever changed the
business world, creating the digital
economy and bringing new ways of
conducting business. In many ways it
created unprecedented opportunities
and leveled the playing field, allowing
any company, large or small, to create
a global presence. But with these
newfound opportunities comes new
challenges and new trends. The pace of
business has accelerated, along with
the pace of change. While automation
helps you connect and survive in this
new world, in order to thrive you and
those enterprise applications that run
your business, need to be smart and
agile.
AGILITY
Face it: We live in disruptive times.
The 2016 Mint Jutras Enterprise
Solution Study found 88% of
companies believe they face some
level of risk in their businesses and/or
|July 2018| 53

industries being disrupted by new innovative products, new ways of selling or pricing existing products or services,
entirely new business models, or some combination of all of the above. Early results from my 2018 study indicates this
percentage has increased to 93%. For that 7% that feels there is no risk, consider this question: How do you think the
taxi industry would have responded on the eve of the launch of Uber?
All this disruption has had a cascading impact on business application requirements, making agility - the ability to
easily innovate, evolve and change - even more important than current functionality. Change is inevitable, bringing
about new requirements. As your business changes, along with the world around you, the speed with which new
features and functions can be developed, delivered and consumed will clearly impact your agility. The days of slow
and limited innovation are long gone. The cloud plays a key role here, as well as new microservices and component-
based architectures.
But software must not only be agile today, it must also be smart.
“SMART” SOFTWARE
We all use the terms “smart” and “intelligence” a lot today. We talk about smart devices, smart machines and even
smart cities. Enterprise applications vendors refer to artificial intelligence (AI) as a feature and call their solutions
“intelligent applications.” The technology that can make enterprise applications smart is no longer the stuff of science
fiction. However, just as there are different levels of intelligence in human beings, there are different levels of
intelligence in enterprise applications.
So, what does it take to make an enterprise application smart? Any application is smart in that it’s not dumb. It can
follow instructions – instructions like, IF <this condition> THEN <do this>. The assumption is: If the condition does
not exist, simply don’t take that action. Or you can make it just a little smarter with IF <this condition> THEN <do
this> ELSE <do that>. Business applications have been built on IF THEN ELSE statements since the earliest computer
programs were developed. They were intended to automate processes and procedures that followed clear rules, such as
accounting processes and manufacturing procedures. And they were intended to report on status, operations and
transactions.
Applications got a little smarter as analysis tools were added and also as they became better communicators. Early
enterprise applications were notorious for being far easier to get data into than information out of. You had to know
exactly where to look and how to get there if you had any hope at all of getting answers to business questions. And
you had to ask all the questions because the solutions didn't offer up much to notify you of issues.
When most solution providers today talk about intelligent applications, they really mean new ways of interacting with
the solution and analytics that help you derive more and better insights from the data. But this is the minimum of what
you should expect today. You need to be taking those first baby steps towards real intelligence, whether it is through a
digital assistant, understanding the analytical capabilities or weighing in on what you expect now and in the future.
You don’t need to be a data scientist, or understand the bits and bytes of the underlying technologies. But you need to
make sure your vendor does.
If your current solutions are not headed down the path towards intelligent applications, if they aren’t agile and
adaptable, now might be a good time to start looking for new, smarter ones.
54 |July 2018|

TelaDietitian offers telehealth medical nutrition therapy
consultations over a HIPAA compliant platform. A
patient can find the right specialized registered dietitian
and speak with them over phone or video at a time
convenient for them. There are 100’s of registered
dietitians on the platform and it provides weekday night
and weekend hours for convenient consultations.The
platform also covers insurance with select health plans.
The platform was built to help patients and regular
individuals find the right specialized registered dietitian
and make an appointment seamlessly. Jackie was
undoubtedly helped by her qualities, experience and
drive to succeed. Additionally, she also names one more
thing which helped her build an outstanding foundation
to achieve her dreams.
Jackie said, “Vision was very important in helping me to
stay focused as a leader. Because I was a registered
dietitian first, it was helpful for me leading the product
development team since the product was built by
registered dietitians for registered dietitians.”
Jackie faces various challenges every day to transpire her
vision into reality. Telehealth is still in its early stages
even though adoption is growing rapidly. Additionally, as
Being a guiding light to many is a tough task for
any mortal. But, being a leader requires us to
overcome our emotions and biases to see the
world in an objective manner and keep a positive attitude
at all times. It also requires us to let go of our own
insecurities and let our experience flow within us to
allow ideas and thoughts reach their concrete destiny.
Finally, being a leader is about seeing the plight of others
and rising against all odds with persistence to solve real
challenges.
A person who embodies these various qualities elegantly
and applies her real experience to solve real world
challenges is, Jackie Arnett Elnahar.
Jackie started as a TelaDietitian while working at a
hospital as a clinical registered dietitian. She saw
patients leave the hospital and rue the need to see an
outpatient registered dietitian but would not see one due
to limited access and possible in-convenience.
She then realized telehealth would be a perfect solution
for providing more accessible medical nutrition therapy
consultations. She then rose to meet the plight of patients
against all odds to start, TelaDietitian.
Jackie Elnahar:
Rising with Persistence and
Optimism to Change the World
56 |July 2018|

the platform is evolving; keeping pace with clients is
becoming the growing need of the hour.
Another major challenge is building the right team.
According to Jackie, this is bound to be difficult but it
provides for good growing points as she gets to shape
her own team.
Another obstacle is overcoming the different telehealth
laws that differ throughout the different states.
So, how does she mitigate these uncertainities and keep
moving ahead?
She replied with a simple but a powerful word,
“Persistence.” She said, “I like John
Rockefeller’s quote, “I do not think
there is any other quality so essential
to success of any kind as the quality of
perserverance.”
Jackie finds solace in this quote because she
has learned through experience that to
withstand challenges and shortcomings, we
need to have persistence and keep moving
forward everyday.
She also offers a few wise words of advise for the
young and aspiring entrepreneurs of tomorrow.
According to Jackie, it is essential for business leaders to
reach out to their customers as early as possible. Jackie
believes the path to creating a successful product and
doing so in the most efficient manner requires a genuine
input from customers. This can be obtained through
feedback and validation from customers early to set
goals and plan efforts accordingly.
“Being mindful and proactive has been helpful in letting
TelaDietitian be a pioneer in the field as we are a leader
in the telenutrition space that is shaping its future as
well.”
Jackie also tells young entrepreneurs to enjoy their
journey since it is a gruelling path to adapting to
evolving goals everyday. If her achievements are
anything to go by, it is also an inspiring journey.
Being mindful and proactive has
been helpful in letting
TelaDietitian be a pioneer in
the field as we are a leader
in the telenutrition space
that is shaping its future as well.
Jackie Arnett Elnahar
Founder
TelaDietitian
“
“
|July 2018| 57

The synthesis of passion and ambition drives the
creation of a significant business leader. To make
practical use of one’s potential and to derive success
out of collective efforts determines the efficiency of a
leader. Realizing opportunities and crafting pioneering
works of art out of them should be a leader’s definition of
achievement. A beacon of inspiration, an amicable co-
worker, and the enthusiasm to be the torch-bearer of an
organization’s vision, are the evident traits of a complete
leader.
Karen Contet Farzam, Co-founder of WHub, is one such
exemplary business leader. While describing her muse of
innovation, she quotes, “the Chinese word for ‘crisis’is
composed of two Chinese characters respectively signifying
‘danger’and ‘opportunity’. The financial crisis of 2008 was
a key turning point in my journey and forced me to reinvent
myself by choosing a new career path. This worldwide
crisis turned out to offer me the best opportunity in my
life.”
Karen started her career at JP Morgan as an Equity
Derivative trader. She moved to Hong Kong in 2010 to
reflect on the path she wanted to follow. Along with her best
friend and now co-founder Karena Belin, she dived into
the startup ecosystem and started WHub which is now
Hong Kong’s biggest startup community and connector.
With a mission of building successful ventures in mind, she
started to speak at different types of local events and
international conferences such as JSconf, Vivatech and
RISE. During this time, she attended a lot of web developer
meetings and founded WomenWhoCodeHK. It started as a
women web developers gathering and later became a
professional community for women in tech that provides an
avenue for women to pursue a career in technology, help
them gain new skills, and foster environments where
networking and mentorship are valued.
Karen is also a founding board member of the FinTech
Association of Hong Kong which is composed of 12 board
members, 14 committees and over 950 members. “It has
been an extraordinary journey building a new community
Karen Contet Farzam:Karen Contet Farzam:
A Leader Crafting Leaders
from scratch with passionate volunteering people,” states
Karen while describing her achievements.
Fostering Innovation Globally
WHub.io is Hong Kong’s biggest startup community,
gathering more than 75% of Hong Kong startups on its
platform. It is based on 3 pillars to help nurture and grow
the ecosystem: Connecting the community – connecting
startups with other startups, corporates, universities,
government, accelerators and incubators; Recruitment –
enabling startups to build their team; WHub has organized 9
Job Fairs for Tech & Startups; Education – organizing
events and supporting global conferences, as well as issuing
white papers on the Hong Kong Startup Ecosystem and
Hong Kong FinTech Ecosystem.
WHub also connects corporates for innovating startups
through Hackathons, startup competitions, workshops, top
executive seminars, helping entrepreneurs prepare to raise
capital, creating employment and building innovation.
The Conception of a Pioneering Idea
WHub’s tagline is #StartupPassion, as WHub’s mission is
to help startups innovate, scale as well as foster the growth
of the entire community.
“Everything began around a cup of coffee on a Monday
morning. Sitting with Karena Belin, who would later
become my co-founder, we wondered why so many talented
people could not find a job they really cared about,” were
Karen’s thoughts during the time, she was looking at
several opportunities to start her own business.
WHub’s startups, corporate clients, investors and other
stakeholders recognize the company for making a true
difference in providing quality access to resources and the
ecosystem in a most efficient and transparent way. WHub
has received several awards including Talent Unleashed
Award by Richard Branson, Women of Hope Award, 10
Best Female Entrepreneurs of the World award by True
Global Ventures, and has also achieved strategic
partnerships with leading startup accelerators, organizations
and conferences worldwide.
58 |July 2018|

Overcoming Adversities
While describing her initial struggles as a leader, Karen
expresses, “dealing with the unknown difficulties,
loneliness, team building, decision making and consistency
are the most encountered obstacles in an entrepreneur’s
lifetime.”
“Being an entrepreneur is lonely. That is why I feel lucky to
have my co-founder Karena Belin, someone trustworthy to
discuss honestly and deeply about the problems we
encounter and who has complementarity skill. Karena is not
only my co-founder but the runner with whom I have
achieved 2 night trail marathons and a 60km ultra trail
race in Nepal,” expresses Karen, while describing her
companionship and partnership with Karena Belin. Finding
the perfect co-founder to share the ups and downs is a key
trait of a successful leader according to Karen.
“With entrepreneurship, what matters the most are the
efforts you put in every day. You need to learn new things,
meet new people, and reflect on yourself and your business.
Successful entrepreneurs and runners don’t give up and do
not talk about failure but about opportunities to execute
differently, which at the end results in a winning and
successful outcome,” is what Karen asserts while
expressing her views on the attribute of consistency in a
leader.
Passing on the Key of Success
“When leaders are sincerely enthusiastic and passionate,
that’s contagious” quotes Karen.
While guiding the aspiring generation of young leaders and
entrepreneurs, Karen expresses her views, “Get surrounded
by people that are smarter than you. Smart people make
you smarter and better. They spark interest in you,
introduce you to new ideas, concept and opportunities you
have never thought of. Be strong and decisive but stay
humble. Humility is a proof of strength and it will enable
your team to come up with ideas and constructive
feedback.”
“Listen carefully to everyone but make up your own mind.
Train hard, build strong foundations every outcome will
depend on it. This is where races are lost and won and
where companies succeed or shut down.”
Using the example of Emil Zatopek, she states, “he is one
of the greatest runners of all times but he was not
genetically gifted. He made sacrifices and he won. As an
entrepreneur and a leader, you will lose friends, spend less
time with your family, but you can’t have it all at the same
time.”
When leaders are
sincerely enthusiastic
and passionate,
that’s contagious.
‘‘
|July 2018| 59

Editor’s Pick
60 |July 2018|

TheGlassCeilingEffect:TheGlassCeilingEffect:
Another Perspective on
Women and Leadership
The glass ceiling is a barrier so subtle that it is
transparent; yet so strong that it prevents women
from moving up the corporate hierarchy”
---Ann
Morrison, American Author
The term “Glass ceiling” can be defined as an
unacknowledged upper limit in corporations and other
organizations, above which it is difficult or even impossible
for women to reach out to the highest ranks.“Glass ceiling”
is a popular metaphor widely used for the hard-to-see
informal barriers that prevents women from getting
promoted or achieving further opportunities in leadership
positions. The metaphor of “glass ceiling” has also been
used to describe the limits and obstacles faced by racial
minority groups.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s 1991 definition of glass
ceiling is “those artificial barriers based on attitudinal or
organizational bias that prevents qualified individuals from
advancing upward in their organization into management-
level positions.” (Report on the Glass Ceiling Initiative.)
Famous American actress cum author Ann Morrison defines
the concept of the Glass Ceiling as:
“The glass ceiling is not simply a barrier for an individual,
based on the person’s inability to handle a higher-level job.
Rather, the glass ceiling applies to women as a group who
are kept from advancing higher because they are women.”
The Elements behind the Glass Ceiling:
It is pretty obvious that women are facing a lot of hurdles to
break through the glass ceiling and reach to the highest
leadership position throughout the ages. Preventing both
women and organizations from reaching their full potential,
the invisible “Glass Ceiling” denies us all of the maximal
benefits of gender diversity in leadership. Some of the most
common barriers are highlighted below:
Job isolation:
Women are offered the same kinds of job roles like staff,
public relations or occasionally finance specialties that
rarely lead to the more powerful management positions.
Over time, women are eventually excluded from jobs in the
mainstream of business, the route taken by CEOs and
presidents.
Old-boy Network:
There are many instances when men gets the managerial
powers in an organization who manages greater numbers of
people, enjoys more freedom of hiring and firing, and
controls the company’s assets directly while women are
deprived of such authorities and powers.
“
|July 2018| 61

It is the “Old-boys” of the organization that makes all the policy; where the women are kept virtually absent.
Sex Discrimination:
In a recent survey, working women were asked about the greatest obstacle they had to overcome to achieve
success; “simply being a woman” was the most frequent response. In another survey by the Wall Street Journal,
women leaders quoted their most serious obstacle in their business careers to be “male chauvinism, attitudes
toward a female boss, slow advancement for women, and the simple fact of being a woman.” These instances
are enough to prove the prevalence of sex discrimination in the workplace.
Sexual Harassment:
Sexual harassment remains one of the biggest barriers for women in managerial roles. A corporate environment
that tolerates sexual harassment intimidates and demoralizes women executives. Even after the adoption and
enforcement of numerous laws against sexual harassment, women do not feel sufficiently encouraged and
empowered to speak out for fear of compromising their work.
Benefits of Women in Leadership:
Studies found that inclusion of women in business leadership has significantly improved such factors as firm
value, financial performance, economic growth, innovation and social responsiveness and philanthropy.
The additional benefits of women in corporate leadership include stricter monitoring and supervision and fewer
legal infractions such as fraud and embezzlement. A better balance among women in leadership positions can
create a more diverse team of leaders with different perspectives and a greater ability to contribute new ideas
and thus enhancing the profitability. The transformational leadership style often used by women tends to be a
good option for contemporary organizations, as it encourages employee morale, motivation and performance.
Overcoming the Barriers: Strategies
Women’s progress up the corporate ladder is still limited by the “glass ceiling” despite the myriad of
Government policies and programs which have been introduced to ensure that their talents and skills are
recognized and accepted.
Women can help themselves to overcome this career hurdle by:
Ÿ Acquiring appropriate business skills and know how;
Ÿ Taking up line-management positions rather than management service roles;
Ÿ Gaining the necessary experience through “apprenticeship” and “acting positions”;
Ÿ Seeking career counseling;
Ÿ Volunteering for leadership and executive positions;
Ÿ And lastly, acquiring the ability to measure their operating effectiveness in the workplace.
An awareness of the emergence of new barriers to their progress is also worth considering. The current
socio-economic situation is creating different “glass ceilings” in the form of the downsizing of organizations,
new differentiated and self-directed career paths, the advent of the contractual worker, and the care of aged
parents.
Conclusion:
th
Since the latter half of the 20 century, women have made great paces in increasing their representation in the
work force. However, a considerable gap remains in achievement of leadership positions across different fields.
Renowned feminist Gloria Steinem stated it best: “Clearly no one knows what leadership has gone undiscovered
in women.” It is far past time we strive to find out and finally shatter the glass ceiling.
62 |July 2018|

Fostering Positive Organizational Culture
Mark Sawyier:
The traits of confidence, perseverance, creativity,
effective communication, and a knack for
innovation are all essential to the personality of a
good business leader.
Good leaders set realistic goals and strive to achieve them
while keeping in mind prevailing economic conditions and
the limitations of the business. They implement
revolutionary ideas, attract positive attention, and leave a
lasting good impression on the people with whom they
interact.
Mark Sawyier, the CEO and Co-founder of Bonfyre, is a
great example of an accomplished and widely respected
leader. He is a dynamic problem solver proficient at
product, strategy, and business development.
Mark founded his first company, an off-campus apartment
website, as an undergraduate at Washington University in
St. Louis. Today, the avid entrepreneur delivers his unique
brand of inquisitiveness, inventiveness, and expertise to
companies ranging from Fortune 500s to early-stage
startups.
Mark is also active in local charities such as COCA,
Saint Louis Art Museum, and Peter & Paul
Community Services.
Talking about Bonfyre, he reveals that its focus
stems from his personal philosophy of business
leadership, “I believe people are the most valuable
asset of any successful company. Maintaining a
workplace culture that benefits employees has
become my passion for the sake of the employee as
well as for the continued growth of the
organization.”
Transformational Leadership
Over the last decade, Mark has consciously and
continually strived to develop personal characteristics
critical to the success of his employees and his business.
However, he acknowledges that the humility to
acknowledge what one does not know, and to recognize that
one cannot do everything are also important traits of a
successful leader.
Mark Sawyier
Co-founder & CEO
64 |July 2018|
Bonfyre

“Success requires a great team and humility is an important
part of teamwork,” he explains.
Mark stresses on the importance of creativity in determining
what the vision of a business is, and also in navigating
challenges along the journey. He believes in perseverance
and optimism through the tough times that will inevitably
come - those traits have the power to inspire a team to
overcome great odds.
A Paradigmatic Innovation
Bonfyre has its headquarters in St. Louis, where it was
founded in 2012. It is a mobile-first communications
platform designed to support employee engagement.
Bonfyre empowers people to connect, communicate, and
engage.
Bonfyre’s concentrated focus on human interaction enables
organizations to leverage their investments in human
resources, events, communications, and employee
engagement. This leads to more actionable intelligence on
which investments in the workplace are having a positive
impact.
The platform is designed to support dynamic, interactive
communications upwards, downwards, and across
organizations to engage every employee, regardless of
department or title.
Bonfyre’s platform helps companies like Express Scripts,
Schnucks (a regional grocery store), and Commerce Bank
foster relationships that give leaders powerful people-
intelligence to keep their culture moving forward.
The company’s co-founders started the platform as a way
for people to communicate with people they cared about,
organized around topics about which they are passionate.
The organization has stayed true to this vision and focused
on bringing it to life within the workplace. Although
Bonfyre began as a social communications platform, it
quickly evolved to meet the growing needs of the enterprise
technology marketplace.
Today, Bonfyre’s team and its portfolio have grown
exponentially, creating a platform that helps companies
around the globe build an engaged workforce and promote
vibrant work culture. It aims to change the way workplaces
develop and thrive.
From Simple Beginnings
Bonfyre was first launched with limited resources and, in
one of its early iterations, was a corporate event app that set
itself apart by focusing on attendee communication.
The company’s pivotal moment came when the co-founders
saw that event users continued to leverage Bonfyre as a way
to communicate beyond the event. They realized that there
was a powerful connection between company events, a
‘bigger picture’ culture, and employee engagement
priorities.
This marked the company’s transition from corporate events
to a communications platform, with events becoming one of
many avenues designed to drive and bring together key
culture points such as employee communication,
recognition, and surveys.
Finding Balance
Devising an effective, practical strategy to overcome
obstacles and differences is a vital part of a leader’s business
responsibilities.
Heading a startup with limited resources, Mark wore many
hats in the early years, striking a balance of the pursuit of a
long-term strategic and financial vision for the company
with the flexibility required to make it successful in the
short term.
Mark reveals, “As a young leader, my biggest obstacle was
limited experience. The first company I founded gave me a
solid foundation, but Bonfyre was a very different
endeavor.”
Passing the Baton
When asked what advice he would give the next generation
of aspiring business leaders, Mark says, “The only thing you
know for sure about your business plan is that it’s wrong.
Over time, you’ll have to reshape your plan to account for
the marketplace and organizational growth. Everything will
become more predictable as the foundation of your business
becomes stronger and the path to achieving the long-term
vision becomes clearer.”
Success requires a
great team
and humility is an
important part
of teamwork.
‘‘
‘‘
|July 2018| 65

66
When the thought of a successful leader
springs up in our mind, we most certainly
think of an individual who is self-assured
and confident. We tend to think of someone who doesn’t
ponder upon the ‘WHY’ of their actions or someone who
doesn’t contemplate on their past mistakes.
Truth be told, leaders, just like all human beings, don’t
necessarily boast all the answers, and are often mistaken
or fundamentally flawed with their methods. The true
difference for successful leaders lie is their self-
awareness. They realize their current position and are
able to face and overcome challenges, and march
towards success.
Meet Nicole Martin, the CEO and Founder of
™
HRBoost . A self-aware leader who stayed true to her
vision and went on to build a human resource
consultancy that provides its clients with proven and
measurable results.
Fresh off from being nominated amongst The 30 Most
Inspirational Business Leaders to Watch, 2018 by
Insights Success, Nicole Martin, the self-titled
‘accidental entrepreneur’, shares her journey as a leader
and highlights some of the key traits that led her towards
success.
Being in the corporate world for so long, what
™
prompted you to found and start HRBoost ?
Nicole: I consider myself the accidental entrepreneur.
When I left the corporate world, I was on a mission to find
another business that wanted to create a winning workplace
™
through their people. I essentially created HRBoost by
doing what I love to do.
What was the pivotal movement that led you towards
success as a business leader?
Nicole: It was back in 2012, when I began to articulate my
value proposition. I walked into three prospect meetings,
only to find out that I had closed three deals, doubling my
revenue in less than seven days. I knew I needed a team and
a business plan at that point. The fact is I considered myself
as a freelance consultant for several years. That was until a
client sought to invest in my “business”.
What were the hurdles and obstacles that you had to
face and overcome during your initial years as an
entrepreneur?
Nicole: The greatest enemy of success is fear. My business
had high growth and with high growth comes challenge. I
had to get access to financing, attract skilled talents that
believed in the brand promise and the most difficult
challenge was overcoming fear. Being a disruptor in the
industry, you can get attention from big competition and
calls can come in for acquisition before you even realize
you are profitable. Staying true to the vision, my personal
values and keeping the faith led to a solid team, and
together we bring joy and purpose to people through their
work.
What is one of the most important characteristics that
every leader should possess in this day and age?
Nicole: Every leader must align their personal values to the
Nicole Martin
A Self-aware Leader
Translating her Vision
into Reality
|July 2018|

organizational values and define
success clearly so that every person
can connect their role to a transcendent
organizational purpose. The number
one competency today is Generational
Agility.
Finally, what would be your advice
to some of the young and aspiring
leaders out there?
Nicole: Looking back, I worked and
attended school simultaneously. I feel
it is imperative to get hands on
experience doing what you seek to
learn. Make sure it brings you joy
before investing time, energy and
dedicating your life to it. Enjoy the
journey and be prepared to learn,
unlearn and relearn.
About the Company
™
Founded in 2010, HRBoost
understands the changing needs of a
firm upon expansion and growth and
strives to smoothen the sail through its
suite of human resource services. The
solutions of the company are based
upon some of the best practices and the
latest innovations in the field of human
resource management. Whether one is
simply on the lookout for some HR
related guidance or one needs to
implement an entire human resource
support system, HRBoost is ready to
meet your needs.
— Nicole Martin
CEO & Founder
™
HRBoost
|July 2018| 67

Omnichannel Agent
and Customer
Engagement Solutions
Simplify and personalize the customer experience,
empower agents and achieve business success
with one workspace for all channel interactions,
application integrations, and CX reporting.

n mid Sept, I received a
Iconfidential report from the
Norwegian Consumer Council
(NCC) stating that they hired a cyber
security company to run tests on the
Gator watch and found vulnerabilities.
I was actually delighted to receive this
report as they are rarely done by
startups due to high cost. I started
acting on the vulnerabilities with the
engineering team the very next day. I
thanked the NCC for the report and
told them I would go back to them
shortly when the issues were fixed.
Product safety is extremely important
to me as I am also a mother and so I
took this report very seriously.
Just one week short of completing
most of the fixes and only one month
after the report was sent to me, the
NCC took a headline that would
invoke a lot of fear in parents and sent
it to the media without our knowledge.
Industry standard allowed companies a
minimum of 3 months to work on fixes
before disclosing them so I was in
shock as to why I was given one
month.
As the NCC unilaterally decided to put
my customers at risk by exposing our
vulnerabilities to the public, we
worked around the clock to finish the
remaining fixes and a new app was
launched in under 1 week. I did not
have a PR team or lawyers as again it
is very hard for a startup to employ
such teams on a full-time basis, but I
called everyone in PR and legal that I
had met along my entrepreneurial
journey. The response was phenomenal
and I was offered PR and legal help
free of charge. Most people just
couldn't believe what had happened.
I then hired an independent cyber
security firm in London, Intruder.io to
do an independent penetration test. I
did not want to simply read a report
given to me by a third party at this
stage. I wanted to know first had what
the vulnerabilities were and to fix
anything outstanding.
‘my view is that with the fixes they
have currently put in place, your child
is safer if they have this watch than
without it’ – Chris Wallis – Founder of
Intruder.io
This cyber security firm decided to
write a blog post about what happened
as they were in disbelief. In fact, many
experts in the cyber security world are
shocked at the turn of events. The IoT
Security Foundation is looking to do a
case study on what happened to me
and my business as this is not how
consumers are protected and this is
most certainly not how startups are
encouraged to do business.
The day the media headlines came out,
I sent an email out to all customers and
investors explaining what had
happened and confirmed that there has
NEVER been a breach of data. We
were never maliciously hacked and
have never been. I made the decision to
offer full refunds to customers even
though the headlines were very much
one sided and only 3 customers
returned their watches. ALL investors
backed me as they are fully aware of
how responsible disclosure works.
Techsixtyfour Gator watches sold by
us now are all end to end encrypted
and our servers and all data are stored
with Amazon Web Services. Our
systems are now reviewed monthly by
Intruder.io to ensure that we are always
up to date with our security.
This December was the best sales
month on record. I am very honest and
open with my customers when they ask
me what happened. Once they know,
the headlines no longer mean anything.
All technology companies have the
potential to be hacked. It is how you
deal with it that matters. When the
media reported my story, I was in tears
every night. I felt that no matter how
hard I worked and with the highest
level of integrity and honesty,
something as unpredictable as this
could come along and kill my business.
But what doesn’t kill you really indeed
makes you stronger.
As I start 2018, I am more confident
than ever. I have learned that being an
entrepreneur means being resilient and
to prepare to fight battles that you can
not even foresee happening. And just
be honest with your customer every
step of the way.
Expert’s Talk
70 |July 2018|

Colleen Wong, Founder
of TechSixtyFour, is a
admired tech lady who
held the position of Vice
President in sales in two
big shot investment
banks in UK, and also
worked in Asia for 10
years as both an
entrepreneur and a
senior government
oﬃcial for Canada.
About the Author:
|July 2018| 71

72
Fascination and curiosity are the essential elements of innovation. A fascination with AI and IoT, fueled by
curiosity, has made Nush Khan, Key Account Manager at Uniﬁed Inbox Pte. Ltd. (UIB), an expert and a
trailblazer in a rapidly growing industry.
Nush was pursuing a rewarding career in Finance and Accounting when the opportunity to work for a global,
multicultural team presented itself. Toby Ruckert, the CEO of UIB, oﬀered her the opportunity to work for the
company and Nush’s eagerness to dive into an ocean of new technologies motivated her to accept.
As Nush dove deeper into AI and IoT, she realized how these emerging technologies were already beginning to
integrate themselves into our lives. She was fascinated by how technology was transforming how all of us around the
world live, work, and play. Upon joining UIB, Nush overcame numerous challenges and she feels an immense sense of
pride in helping the young company to achieve its critical milestones.
Nush Khan:
From Fascination
to Success
Dream. Be curious.
Nush Khan
Key Account Manager
Unified Inbox Pte. Ltd.
|July 2018|

UIB – Transforming People’s Lives
UIB is a global software and services
company. It invented the
UnificationEngine™ intelligent IoT
messaging platform to solve the
problem of communications between
cloud-connected software, services,
chatbots, and devices
This breakthrough has enabled global
enterprises to transform their
business results and given
governments and smart cities the
capacity to transform their citizens’
lives.
Adding a UnificationEngine-powered
SmartContact to a smartphone’s
address book allows users to talk to
any connected ‘thing’ or ‘service’ in
any language using natural language
text and voice messaging. It also
enables people to control and to
receive alerts and notifications from
their things on over 20 of the world’s
most popular communications
channels, including WhatsApp, SMS,
Facebook Messenger, email, WeChat,
and many more.
UIB’s intelligent IoT messaging
helps home appliance manufacturers,
hospitality companies,
telecommunication providers,
airlines, hospitals, and others to
increase revenues, decrease costs,
and delight users.
A Determining Stage
It is no surprise that advanced
technologies and the emergence of
smart devices are making our world
smarter and have already changed
how all of us live.
With technology’s ever-shorter cycle
times, Nush could see how ground-
breaking and disruptive
communications technologies are for
people, companies and governments.
It was at that pivotal moment she
decided that she wanted to lead the
transformation and put her own mark
on the global market.
Initial Struggles
To reap the benefits of any new
technology, whether through costs,
growth or customer satisfaction, the
critical success factor is people being
willing and able to embrace change.
This is where Nush has faced
immense challenges as a leader.
It is often tough for people to
understand a disruptive new
technology when they have little or
no reference points, and no
experience with similar ideas. Nush
has spent much of her time listening
to UIB’s customers’ technical and
organizational concerns and
understanding companies’ unique
cultures to enable her to lead and
facilitate people’s journeys to where
they want to go.
Nush explains that while a
technology can be great for a
company’s bottom line (often
creating new high-margin services),
each company must actively manage
the change process as the technology
breaks long-held assumptions about
their business models.
By thoroughly understanding users’
needs, wants, and fears, and the
company’s unique history and
culture, it became easy for her to pull
together the right mix of technologies
and people. With that, she could
build holistic, cohesive solutions for
her customers, which they could then
implement within their existing (but
rapidly evolving) cultures.
Characteristics of the Leader
Leadership is the art of helping a
group of people to achieve their
common goal. It is about assembling
a diverse team and removing the
internal and external obstacles to
effective teamwork. Regardless of
discipline, leaders help each
individual team member to realize
their true potential. It is team
members’ own growth and
development that enables the
business’ growth and development.
According to Nush, the ability to
continually learn, adapt and grow is
the “must-have” skill every leader
must now possess. She says, “All of
us are seeing our challenges,
markets, and models evolve faster by
the day. As company and industry
leaders, it’s our ability to be fluid, to
be able to recognize and seize
opportunities created by these
changes that enables our own and our
businesses’ success.”
At the end of the day, she believes
that the key to making it all work is
not just identifying great people but
also valuing them by helping them to
succeed.
Advice to Aspiring Leaders
Curiosity fuels passion and enables
people to achieve their goals. Taking
this into consideration, Nush
concludes by advising aspiring
leaders to, “Dream. Be curious. And
carefully look at the changes your
business is facing to identify the
opportunities they create. No matter
how high the hurdle, curiosity, drive,
and passion will get you over it!”
|July 2018| 73

Some people are born innovators. While most of us
can identify problems, it is this remarkable minority
that goes a step further and works actively to find
solutions. Their vision of bigger, faster, better and more
reliable products and services improve every facet of our
lives, every day.
That innovative bent is what drives Richard Rabins.
The Innovation Habit
Richard’s affinity for crafting pioneering solutions is a
family trait, as is entrepreneurship.
In the 1990s, the Rabins family built a software company
from the ground up. Their product was a rapid application
development platform that was sold using direct mail. After
distributing over half a million licenses, they sold the
company.
However, the desire to innovate remained. About a decade
later, as the trend of a departure from Windows to the web
accelerated, they realized that mobile technology faced the
very same issues of complicated applications development.
Only this time, the problem was even more dire because
mobile apps are significantly harder to develop.
“Apps must work offline, they must work on small screens,
support rich media and there is the requirement to operate
with one hand with no keyboard or mouse,” explains
Richard as he discusses the challenges.
“We saw that the existing solutions were complicated and
time-consuming. They had been designed with professionals
in mind – you had to be highly-skilled to build business
apps.”
On the other hand, Richard’s focus was on the average user
and his goal was to dramatically expand the base of people
who could build these apps.
It was then that he met Joe Alsop (founder of Progress
Software) and Dan Bricklin (co-inventor of the first
spreadsheet Visicalc). Incidentally, they were interested in
solving the same problem. Dan, in particular, had a knack
for finding elegant but powerful solutions to complex
problems.
“We found that together we had the key ingredients in terms
of right people, the right experience, and funding to pursue
this venture,” recalls Richard.
Founding Alpha Software
The fruit of their collaboration is the Alpha Software
Corporation. Alpha software offers the only unified mobile
and web development and deployment platform with
distinct “no-code” and “low-code” modes.
A Formidable Combination
of Innovation
and Determination
Richard
Rabins:
Richard Rabins
CEO
Alpha Software
74 |July 2018|

This unique feature allows line of business (LOB)
professionals to work in parallel with IT developers on
smartphone apps. This eliminates the traditional bottleneck
in the mobile app development process and accelerates
digital transformation.
One of the key concerns that defines the digital age is
security, and Richard’s team has worked proactively to
develop an effective solution. The result is their Alpha
Anywhere platform.
Alpha Anywhere gives IT developers the power to add
additional security or authentication features to protect
corporate data.
Balanced Leadership
Richard is an accomplished leader and drives the
company’s strategy with a focus on global growth.
He served as CEO of SoftQuad International from 1997 to
2001. Richard is one of two co-founders of the
Massachusetts Software Council (now the Massachusetts
Technology Leadership Council), the largest technology
trade organization in Massachusetts.
He has served as its President and Chairman. He has served
on the boards of Silent Systems, Legacy Technology and
O3B Networks. Richard’s experience in the industry
includes the role of project leader and consultant with
Information Resources, Inc. (IRI), and of management
consultant with Management Decision Systems, Inc.
Richard holds a Master’s degree in System Dynamics from
the Sloan School at MIT. Prior to that, he earned a
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s
degree in Control Engineering from the University of the
Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
That extensive executive experience and formal education
does not detract from Richard’s true personality as a warm,
positive, and supportive leader. He has a penchant for
bringing that warmth and flexibility to work and creating an
environment that fosters innovation, cooperation, and out-
of-the-box thinking.
An example is his desire to bring his Irish setter, Clifton, to
the Alpha office every day. His efforts have made the
company a dog-friendly workplace. Clifton has now been
promoted to ‘Chief Sniff Tester’, a role that they actively
advertise. This unique strategy makes Alpha much more
relatable and helps nurture existing business relationships
as well as forging new ones.
Richard is always eager to share to share his strategies for
leadership that promotes individual development while
stimulating company growth.
“At the end of the day, it is all about people,” he says.
“Good leaders remind their colleagues that office politics is
akin to civil war – it weakens the organization and
resources that would otherwise have been devoted to
everyone’s success are squandered. By focusing on the real
competition out there, every employee’s skills and abilities
strengthen the company, lay the groundwork for personal
and professional progress, and make a real difference to the
industry and to the world.”
Richard believes that a good leader has to have the ability
to manage his or her team’s focus and to use that focus to
win the battles that matter.
He also assesses leadership by an individual’s hiring skills.
“Be willing to hire people with more knowledge and skills
greater than yours,” he adds, “Don’t be threatened by
bringing in super-talented people.”
Richard’s spectacular success in his professional life is a
testament to the fact that his approach really does work.
At the end of
the day, it is all
about people.
|July 2018| 75

It was after this, in 2012, when Rob joined FRT with an aim
to drive its growth and spread its presence across the world.
Solutions that Echoes Quality
FRT’s comprehensive suite of services enables global
monitoring of all types of investor recovery opportunities,
from securities class actions to antitrust and global group
litigations. Applied to these opportunities are industry-
leading filing capabilities, sophisticated pre-filing analytics,
and reconciliation of all payments to maximize client
returns. When combined with FRT’s online, dynamic
reporting platform, users gain unprecedented transparency
and confidence into their securities litigation recovery
program.
A Brief Look at FRT’s History
FRT was established in 2008 to help investors recover
money from securities class action settlements. It is an
affiliated company of The Cross Country Group LLC
(CCG), a privately-held organization comprised of several
independent operating companies with common ownership
of the Wolk family.
Prior to the creation of FRT, Sidney Wolk was often
burdened by completing the paperwork, obtaining proper
documentation and submitting claims for the securities class
actions that affected his investment portfolio. For one claim,
Mr. Wolk received a substantial recovery, providing
evidence that the time and effort it took to submit the claim
was all worth it. Based on that experience, the Wolks
determined there must be a way to use technology to
automate and scale the settlement recovery process to
relieve the burden investor’s face in addressing securities
class action recovery opportunities.
Two Pivotal Moments of Success
Amongst the many monumental moments of the company,
two pivotal events have stood-out in the company’s
transformation from a start-up to a world-class service
provider.
The first of which was back in 2012, when the largest
sovereign wealth fund in the world had put forward an RFP
to identify a new vendor to service its securities litigation
claims. Recalling this moment, Adler says “This was one of
our first “institutional” clients, and its recognition of our
team, expertise, technology, and commitment helped build
With years of hands-on, entrepreneurial experience
and an immaculate track record of success, Rob
Adler foresaw a vision for Financial Recovery
Technologies (FRT) to lead it towards where it is today.
Over the last twenty years, Adler has cofounded four
technology companies and maintained an active presence as
an advisor, investor, and mentor for several Boston-area
growth companies.
As an entrepreneurial leader with extensive experience
creating companies from the ground-up, Adler had to adapt
his approach to building a business when he took the helm
at FRT. With limited background in the industry but
aggressive growth targets, Adler built a team of seasoned
professionals with legal expertise, class action knowledge
and technological experience to achieve FRT’s goals.
Today, as the CEO of FRT, Adler oversees an industry-
leading global organization which is singularly focused to
maximize recoveries for eligible investors in securities class
action settlements. Nominated amongst The 30 Most
Inspirational Business Leaders to Watch, 2018 by Insights
Success, we took a brief look at this inspiring individual
and the company he leads.
The Road towards FRT
In 1997, Adler co-founded CCBN, which was a pioneer in
direct internet communications between public companies
and the investment community. He served as the President
of the company from inception to successful exit upon its
sale to Thomson Financial back in 2004.
CCBN brought many web-based and compliance related
innovations to the market, including live webcasting and
full-text, real-time transcription of thousands of corporate
earnings calls every quarter.
Following CCBN, Rob founded 80108 Media, known as
go2Media later on, which is a mobile media company that
provides users valuable and compelling information fine-
tuned for their mobile device. He then joined WordStream
as its founding CEO, a venture-backed start-up providing
search engine marketing software solutions to small and
medium sized businesses around the world. Like CCBN,
Wordstream announced in May 2018 its acquisition by
Gannett.
A Tech Entrepreneur with a Passion for Client Service
Rob Adler:
78 |July 2018|

the brand of FRT as an industry leading company despite our modest size at the
time.”
The second is one that is currently unfolding in the marketplace, owing to the
outcropping of Supreme Court decisions in 2010 and 2017. These two decisions
are forcing significant changes for securities litigation around the world (not just
in the US), and introducing a brand-new set of challenges.
Innovation is at the heart of FRT
To address these specific challenges, Adler and his team at FRT have reimagined
what technology, analytics, and client service can be for an institutional investor
in this new and more complex era. FRT empowers its clients with the
information, insight, and transparency to carry out their fiduciary obligations to
shareholders with a scalable system for managing decision-making process as it
relates to securities litigation. The Supreme Court decisions re-shape what is
required for an institutional investor to act as a fiduciary in the area of securities
litigation; FRT is the first company to recognize this, and has invested to create
services and capabilities designed specifically to help these investors manage as
efficiently and effectively as possible.
Molding a Great Leader and Advice to Aspiring Individuals
In today’s fast paced environment, with customers demanding solutions
that are better and more cost-effective, service providers are facing
an array of challenges, one which they have faced never before.
Adler says, “Key to the success of every service provider is
having a team of individuals capable of thriving, not merely
surviving, in this highly competitive environment.”
Great leaders need to inspire their teams to remain focused on
client-centric problem solving, and empower continuous
improvement and learning. Open communication, trust, and
respect for individuals on the team are vital characteristics for
leaders today.
Adler concludes by advising aspiring and budding leaders
with a thoughtful message, “See the world and your
competitive situation as it is, not as you want it to be. Build a
culture inside your company upon a foundation of openness
and respect for the individual, but also where performance
is measured and each employee is accountable. Remember
that without a team of great people you can’t build a great
company. And finally, be humble. Through humility we
keep our eyes and ears open to ways we can improve.”
See the world
and your competitive
situation as it is,
not as you want
it to be.”
“
Rob Adler
CEO
Financial Recovery Technologies
—
|July 2018| 79

systems. “In order to get to that point and make digital
voting a reality, we first need to be able to verify online
identities,” he asserts. This ideation is the force behind
Civic.
Civic’s identity verification and management service
enables consumers to protect and authorize the use of their
identities in real-time, without the need for usernames or
passwords. The system is designed to protect a user before,
during and after an incident of identity theft.
Verified Civic IDs ensure quick but secure login to web and
mobile apps of Civic’s partners. Consumers are able to
upload and verify documents required for Know Your
Customer (KYC) procedures safely. Additionally, they can
securely log in through the Civic Mobile App which allows
the company’s partners to validate and retrieve data
protected by end-to-end encryption.
Civic has protected various businesses with its consumer
identity solution and boasts a client list which includes
several world-renowned global companies like Progrexion,
BitGo and WikiHow. Numerous multinational banks, credit
card companies, online lenders, wireless and cable
providers, tech companies, and employee verification
services also put their trust in Civic’s proven platform.
To meet the security needs of this diverse range of clients,
Civic also offers a wide array of additional features,
including ID theft monitoring, monitoring alerts, fraud
support and ID theft insurance. Together, this ever-
expanding suite of services gives the company’s clients and
their customers also, the digital peace of mind so necessary
in our interconnected world.
he desire to establish a business usually stems from
Tone of two perspectives. For some, it is the
potential for growth and financial gain while, for
others, it is the desire to translate a vision into reality.
Someone with such an idea and impeccable desire mostly
succeeds and flourish their business idea to best possible
level with unending passion and perseverance
One such example of adept startup is Civic, a pioneering
identity verification system poised to revolutionize the
industry. It is the brainchild of its Founder, Vinny
Lingham an ingenious internet entrepreneur.
Civic was designed by Vinny to give individuals a reliable
identity verification platform. It is now spearheading the
development of an ecosystem specially designed to
facilitate on-demand, secure, and low-cost access to identity
verification services through Blockchain technology.
An Active Technology Investor
Vinny Lingham is a well-recognized South African internet
entrepreneur who moved to California a decade ago. He is
an active technology investor, chiefly in Silicon Valley, and
a General Partner at Multicoin Capital.
Vinny was born in South Africa and personally witnessed
apartheid, where individuals were denied voting rights due
to racial discrimination. The lack of access to voting cards
for much of the population created an identity verification
nightmare.
A geek-at-heart technologist, Vinny wanted to use digital
technology to change this situation by creating a better
platform that would ensure fair and secure digital voting
Vinny
Lingham:
80
Success through
Bravery, Passion
and Perseverance
|July 2018|

Talent shouldn’t
chase money.
Money chases talent.
Do what you love
and the money
will follow.Vinny Lingham
Founder
Civic
A Versatile Startup Enthusiast
Vinny Lingham is 360-degree entrepreneur who has
invested heavily in various tech startups over the years.
Prior to Civic, he was the co-founder and CEO of Gyft, a
mobile gift card company founded in 2012 which was
backed by Google Ventures. Within two years of inception,
Gyft become the leading player in the arena and was
acquired in 2014 for over $50M by global payments giant,
First Data Corporation.
He also co-founded an investment fund in South Africa
called Newtown Partners. At Newtown, he has led early
stage investments into successful and notable startups such
as Sweep South and Augmenters.
Vinny has appeared as a Shark on Shark Tank South Africa
and has also contributed as a Dragon on the South African
edition of Dragon’s Den, the longest-running UK
investment reality show. He has been an “Angel” in the
non-profit spinoff of Undercover Boss, National
Geographic’s Undercover Angel.
He is an astute individual who has inspired many ambitious
entrepreneurs to start and lead their own companies through
these shows. Vinny is a co-author of ‘I’m In: Essential
Advice for Entrepreneurs’, a book which has given
thousands of business enthusiasts piercing insight into the
entrepreneurial journey.
Balance and Perseverance
It is normal to face challenges in the initial stages of
building an innovative business; how you overcome those
challenges is what matters the most - it improves you
personally and professionally. Vinny recalls, “One of the
toughest challenges I’ve faced was trying to raise capital
for businesses that were ahead of their time. Disrupting the
status quo is difficult, but rewarding.”
Though it’s tough to balance personal and professional life
while working so hard every day, Vinny has successfully
managed to do so with his characteristic perseverance and
never-ending passion.
A Grounded Visionary
Vinny says that it is essential for leaders to be strategic and
visionary, but grounded as well. He adds that one must take
the right chances bravely. He truly believes that fortune
favors the brave, and if something goes south, then
perseverance and grit will help it find the right way.
He also stresses that a good leader should always motivate
and inspire their team to be the best they can be.
The fearless entrepreneur reveals that he has agreed to
lower salary packages for himself just for the chance to
work in a field about which he is passionate. His advice to
budding entrepreneurs is to focus on an area for which they
have a real passion and to learn as much as they can about
it; the money will follow!
“
“
|July 2018| 81

Leadership is about using the
power of a position to
empower a group of people
in order to attain a common goal. A
leader’s task is to implement the
plans that usually look good on
paper, through a delegated team, in a
specific time with an ongoing
motion. She/he may use the
traditional method or may think out
of the box. It depends on the leader
as how to do it; the ultimate motive
is to get the job done. Although, each
and every individual has a different
approach on leadership, some might
say it is about setting examples,
some might say it is about sharing
the authority; what matters is, taking
the right decision when it is most
needed.
Leadership varies from one
organization to another. An
organization is a dynamic body and
The Transformational Leader
A transformational leader inspires
the team through effective
communication and an intellectual
environment. However, these
individuals require more detail
oriented managers to successfully
implement their strategies.
Transformational Leadership is
considered among the most effective
employees of the organization. One
of the examples of this type of
leadership is when a leader is
assigned on a higher level for
effective environment.
The Transactional leader
The transactional leadership, as the
name suggests, enables the leader to
incentivize the team corresponding
to their performance. The team gets
rewarded when it attains the goals
and the Leader has the power to
review the results and act
creates new probabilities every now
and then. And with new
probabilities, come new challenges.
Although, it is impossible to
overcome every challenge, the
business environment has adopted
certain leadership styles for the
efficiency of business:
The Participative Leader
Participative Leadership is the
process of sharing authority with the
work force in order to get optimum
efficiency. The team, after getting
access to certain powers, works
responsibly to accomplish the goals
set by its leader. The shared
leadership also helps in case of any
requirement of change, as the
employees adapt quickly in such
environment. Incidentally, this style
of leadership fits best in a scenario
when there is a limitation of time.
Good
Attributes
of a
84 |July 2018|
The Art of Leading

accordingly when the team fails to
do the same. The goals and the
strategy to attain them are decided
by the leader and the team itself.
The Situational leader
Situational leadership is a theory that
the best leader will adapt to the
required leadership style according
to need of the hour. A Situational
leader may adopt democratic style
while discussion business with
senior executive, but may switch to
transactional at the time of team
review. However every individual
has a natural style of leadership and
it may be difficult to switch roles at a
certain point of time.
Qualities of a good leader
There is an old proverb that says,
“Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed
Him for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish,
and You Feed Him for a Lifetime.”
So is the case with leadership. One
of the basic qualities of a Leader is
to pass on the leadership skills.
Following are some of the qualities
of a good leader:
= Communication Skills
Communication is the basic
requirement for efficiency in a
business. As the level of hierarchy
elevates, the requirement of
communication grows. Especially,
when it comes to leadership, there is
no scope for lack of communication.
A Leader who fails to develop this
skill is looked up as incompetent,
because it is his job to send the
message loud and clear. Although, it
is also important to listen as it is an
integral part of communication.
= Decision making
There is risk in decision to making.
Great leaders take great decisions
when the stake is high and it is the
success of those decisions that make
them great. To add up, a good leader
takes right decision at the right time.
In conclusion, a good leader can be
defined by the dynamics of his style
in leadership, the values that he
brings to the organization, the
methods he uses to make the best of
the resources, and the kind of
decision he makes in the given
situations. At the end it is about the
attitude of an individual to bring the
change for good.
= Integrity
C.S. Lewis said, “Integrity is doing
the right thing, even when no one is
watching.” Be it giving credit to one
of the team members or be it
admitting a mistake, a leader wears
integrity as a badge of honor. They
do what is right, no matter what.
= Empowerment
As mentioned earlier, Leadership is
about using the power of one’s
position to empower a group of
people in order to attain a common
goal. A good leader shares his
authority with the team in order to
get the job done. By doing this, he
shows confidence in the team and
obliged by the gesture, the team
works with full enthusiasm to
accomplish the goal.
|July 2018| 85

Zohar Ben Ner:Zohar Ben Ner:
Delivering Intelligent Agriculture GloballyDelivering Intelligent Agriculture Globally
SupPlant changes the basic concept of
irrigation methods; its unique technology
helps saving water and improves
productivity and yields.
‘‘
‘‘
Zohar Ben Ner
CEO & Founder
SupPlant
86 |July 2018|

Good leaders pave a path to progress with the
ultimate goal of implementing and executing
revolutionary ideas while inspiring their
subordinates. Integrity, emotional intelligence, a clear
vision, and an exuberant delivery of ideas and goals are all
integral to a good leader’s personality.
Zohar Ben Ner, the CEO and Founder of SupPlant is
one such individual. His ideas, innovation and leadership
are revolutionizing the agricultural sector.
Zohar grew up in the agricultural community of Kfar
Yehoshua in the Jezreel Valley; farming is in his blood. He
chose subjects at school that were focused on agriculture
and this love continued into his career. His contributions to
greenhouse technology through the Netafim company in
the late 80s’ are still applied in the agricultural industry
today.
Zohar was given the opportunity to establish a Netafim
branch in Korea, from where he managed the company’s
sales and projects in Korea and Japan. He introduced
revolutionary technologies, specifically soilless culture
practices, irrigation control and fertilization, that have
changed the way vegetables are cultivated in S.Korea.
The Bucket list of Success
With more than 30 years of experience in developing,
marketing, sales, entrepreneurship and management of
agricultural technology, Zohar is an industry stalwart. He
was the VP of Marketing in the first company to offer plant
indices for the management of growing boundaries in
modern agriculture.
In 2002, he established his own company named BF
AGRITECH which specializes in the study of the unique
genetics of lycopene-rich tomatoes. It also exports
agricultural measurement technologies to universities and
research institutes, mainly in the Far East, China and Japan.
In 2006, Zohar contributed to the establishment of
KAIIMA, a company that works in the field of genetics and
cultivation. As a CEO and later as VP, he was part of a
team that developed a unique technology for breeding
varieties of plants. He later began to put together a team
which would become part of SupPlant in 2012.
Over the past few years, Ben Ner has dedicated himself to
AgroWebLab. This company has created an online
platform and smartphone application to collect real-time
sensor data from farms and provide continuous, actionable
feedback to farmers.
“Basically, our product provides online information on the
plants through sensors that are placed directly on the
plants,” explains Ben Ner. The company takes things one
step further by automatically controlling the water supply
according to the information coming in from the sensors.
Seeding Soils with Innovation
SupPlant is a world leader in applying IoT technology to
agriculture. It offers growers a unique product called GBI
which optimizes irrigation to ensure robust yet sustainable
yields. GBI is an artificial intelligence system which
analyzes data generated from crops through sensors and
translates this data into irrigation commands.
By changing the basic concepts of irrigation, the
company’s unique technology saves water while improving
productivity. The company is now in the final testing stages
of testing its technology and implementing it for
smallholder farmers at an economically competitive price.
SupPlant also handles turnkey vertical projects and works
with large companies to implement proof of concept R&D
testing.
Coherent Decisiveness
The pivotal moment for Zohar in Agritech was in 1996 – it
was then that he realized that people have the ability to get
returns from plants and understand objectively what the
best treatment is. It took till 2012 to secure the funds to
actualize this vision.
Zohar believes it is important for leaders to create for their
company a coherent vision based on connecting people to
positive action. He understands that it is critical to give
employees the feeling that they are an important part of the
puzzle.
“It is equally important to have employees who embrace a
positive attitude towards action and social added value,”
adds Zohar.
Imparting Leadership
The journey of a leader is incomplete until their ideology
and their traits of determination, dedication, sincerity and
compassion are passed on to the next generation of aspiring
leaders.
Summing up that responsibility, Zohar explains, “A good
leader is a charismatic and optimistic person who
genuinely believes in the path he leads; someone who
believes that failures are part of the process of learning
and growing. Don’t be afraid to be bold.”
|July 2018| 87

The 30 most inspirational business leaders to watch, 2018

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