From Startup SD to 10x Leader & Cross-Industry Consultant | Lynne Levy Coaching Review

When things don't go right, it's not you. There are always opportunities for you to grow and learn and be better, but it's not you. Like, it's just the environment you're in or the setup or the circumstances. Nothing is ever too good or too bad. It just is. And so it's up to you to adapt to that and build that internal muscle to just keep going.

Ashwin, I'm so excited to have you talk to potential folks out there. Usually I like to have lots of structure to these, but I feel like I've known you for a couple years. You've been through a lot, and I would love you just to tell the folks out there your journey and what you've been through, where you were when you started, where you are now, and how, how the program and the coaching has helped you through it. So I'll turn it over to you.

Absolutely. Thank you, Lynne Levy. So yes, like you said, I have been, I've been with you in the program for a while now. I would, I wanna say 2 years, if not longer. When I joined the program, I was a senior director of product at a at a startup where we were in the process of scaling and figuring out whether to raise venture capital and continue scaling or go the acquisition route. And for me, I needed a little more structure and guidance on like, as a leader, how do I— where do I take the company and where do I support my team? So that was the original premise of why I came to the program. Since then, yeah, it's— last couple years have been amazing and crazy with the pandemic and everything. The program has been amazing for me because like while I was learning those leadership skills and how to better support the team and the company and, and all of that, I was also really challenging myself or working with you and my cohort to kind of like get out of my comfort zone. And so that's really where I was able to take things to the next level. My startup I was at, we were acquired. I joined this Ventures Group where I was head of platform for another early-stage startup, and that was going through its own ups and downs. It was very early stage. I was one of the founding members, and a lot of what I was doing there was focusing on figuring out product market fit. Is this idea viable or not? And it was an amazing opportunity again with like very bright talented people, but it wasn't a good cultural fit for me. And when the idea pivoted from like a platform, like a SaaS platform-based company into more B2C type of product, I was trying to figure out my place in the company, whether I should stay or not. The CEO wanted me to stay on in like a head of strategy type position, but having gone through, you know, so much, you know, turmoil and ups and downs over the last couple of years, I was feeling really burned out and I was actually thinking of just taking a break to figure out my next steps. But along that time, I was very lucky, you know, You, Lynne, you kept me in mind, and there was this great opportunity with one of my peers in the program who, you know, he was amazing, and, you know, I've worked with for, or I've known now as well, like, just like me for 2 years now, to kind of like join them in a consulting capacity. This company—

That took you out of your comfort zone, the whole idea. I know we talked about Ashwin as consultant was a little, well, should I or should I not?

Absolutely. It was definitely out of my comfort zone. Because, you know, a lot of my background was focused on fintech and like fintech-related products. And suddenly I was going to like a Hollywood talent agency, which was a whole different world. And, you know, part of me was so obviously very nervous about making the transition to A, being a consultant. Getting away from like that structured type of full-time type of work that I'm used to doing and be a complete, like completely different world, Hollywood. I was also intrigued, I mean, as a person who loves music and movies and that stuff is really exciting. So the space is really interesting, but also the opportunity to really come in as a consultant with all this product skills and to kind of help this organization try to mature their product org and like help structure things as a consultant was just like too good to pass up. It was an amazing opportunity. I'm so glad I've been doing it. It's been like 9 months now. And, you know, I wouldn't have had the courage to do this if you, Lynne, hadn't in a way challenged me. It kind of like pushed me out of my comfort zone. And so I'm so glad I did it because yes, it was not easy. There were times I was so nervous. I'm like, oh God, what am I doing? I'm figuring all this out. But the learnings have been so incredible, not just about the space, but also I've been able to actively practice so much of what I learned in the program. Things like dealing with SCARF, things like matching communication skills, things like being able to identify your own, you know, internal monologue and like understand, you know, sometimes that self-doubt is really imposter syndrome. And in a way, like, I was able to— it's like building a muscle. I was able to develop that agency required to do my best work, even in an environment that itself was going through a transition. Because if you think about, you know, this Hollywood talent agency, they themselves are going through cultural transformation, digital transformation, a lot of M&A activity, a lot of people coming and going. So they're Everyone there at all levels have their own level of scarf. And so for me coming in as a consultant, having the calluses and the scars that I've developed as an entrepreneur in the startup world over time, plus the fine-tuning that I've learned through the program, in a way I was able to come in and make impact and support the PMs, the product managers, and the consultants and all the individuals who are here already to let them know that they're not crazy and that they can get through this. But B, also to have the courage to better explain that here's why you need to do things a certain way and have the courage to kind of like withstand blowback or disagreement, but not kind of stand down just because somebody disagrees with you. And it's very easy when you have that imposter syndrome to just be like, oh, you know what, I'm wrong and step away. And in many ways, it's really a muscle that you develop. And honestly, to me, I've grown as a leader because of those skills to be able to better identify those things and be able to better have the tooling to adopt And it's really because of the program. And in a way, now that I'm 9 months in here, what's really cool is the world is kind of opening up because my background is so interesting and fascinating where I'm this guy who, yes, started in a traditional maybe financial services industry, transitioned to fintech, did some really cool entrepreneurial things, took a company from zero through acquisition, was in a ventures group at a hedge fund. And now at a Hollywood talent agency. And so when I talk to people, when I talk to, you know, hiring managers and recruiters, you know, they're so intrigued by my background and seeing how multifaceted I can be and the kind of things that I can bring. And I'm able to show because I have range, I'm a quick study, and I can quickly, quickly learn new spaces and domains, identify problems, and opportunities for how to better improve companies. And so it's not just about what I had before were the technical skills, but really what I've developed now is, um, the strategic skills, the leadership skills, the soft skills, and the self-confidence needed to really grow 10x for that VP level, that SVP level, and beyond.

There we go. Literally. So the program helped you grow 10x and navigate through the complexities of being a leader in tech.

Absolutely. Absolutely. And a lot of it, it just comes down to— it's a mental game. It is everyone's trajectory because I feel like, you know, especially in product management, there's a lot of noise right now because there's a lot of people who are trying to become PMs. PMs are trying to grow. People who are just trying to like figure things out. And the thing with product management is that no two PM roles are the same, not even like in different companies, even in like in different teams within the same company. And so because of that, every, everyone's like, every PM is like a snowflake. It's so, they're so unique and different and they're all trying to figure things out and they're confused. So some of it is like, how do you develop that internal muscle, the self-confidence to like take a bet on yourself? Like I, I came in as this head of product managing like the 7-person team of PMs and designers and, you know, contractors at a startup. And I felt so unsure of myself sometimes, even though like, you know, my leadership loved me and they trusted me. Like I felt like I wasn't prepared for it. And that's how I ended up in the program. But, you know, a lot of it over time is like just learning, not just hearing it, but like actually learning to take a chance on yourself. And not being afraid. And so I think that to me is vital to succeed, especially as you want to grow, not just as a PM, but as a leader, because I view the current cohort of product managers as not just PMs, like they could— people can stay as product managers if they want, but if you— I view this as people coming out of this program or this program as kind of like this training ground for really becoming a C-level leader, like a general management leader, whether that's a COO, CPO, CEO, CMO, doesn't matter, but like everything revolves a certain amount of like risk tolerance and believing in yourself and the ability, the building the resilience to bounce back. When times get tough, because invariably it will. It's never gonna— it's not always gonna be easy and straightforward. There are always gonna be setbacks. And what differentiates the good PMs from the best PMs is really that resilience to kind of like build that self-confidence in yourself. And that it's not— when things don't go right, it's not you. There are always opportunities for you to grow and learn and be better, but but it's not you. Like, it's just the environment you're in or the setup or the circumstances. You shouldn't— nothing is ever too good or too bad. It just is. And so it's up to you to adapt to that and—

there we go—

and learn to build that internal muscle to just keep going. And it's really hard. And this program honestly has really helped me, and that's why I continue to stay on like as an alum, you know, 2 years out.

Ashwin, I, I could hardly wait to see you at South by Southwest or on this stage talking. You are the leader we need in tech to have 100 plus, 200, 1,000 people working for them to inspire them. I'm so excited.

Ashwin, I'm excited too.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, and we will talk soon.