The most promising ceos of 2019

+
DR. ANDY KHAWAJA
A PIONEER IN
THE DIGITAL
PAYMENTS SECTOR
The
Most
Promising
CEO’sof 2019
Vol. 06 Issue. 06 June 2019
Imparting Wisdom
Successful Personality
Traits to Learn from
Elon Musk
Bio Tech
Graphene: A Material
Marvel of the Century
Sustaining Entrepreneurial
Sprit in the Modern Era
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

E
or any individual at a coveted position like that of CEO of any organization, running a business is not a cake
Fwalk; it is full of responsibilities, challenges, and complexities. It takes a deep perseverance, ingenuity, and a
strong business acumen, accompanied with a compelling vision to fill the space of the role of a CEO.
Implementing these traits, the person who climbs the corporate ladder is the one who earns such respected positions.
To quote a famous author, Stephen Covey, “Be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem.” This statement better
defines the true essence of being a CEO. In reflecting upon what a team can do, and harnessing that potential in the time
of need, dwells the proficiency of a CEO.
A CEO is known for his or her ability to see beyond the challenges of today and sculpt a picture of tomorrow. John C.
Maxwell has exquisitely stated “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” The journey of
a CEO sums up well through these lines.
Be it countering an issue, identifying a new opportunity or handling a high-risk situation, how one reacts to these
situations is very significant in business today. And an efficient reaction to these complicated situations is what
comprehends the role of a modern CEO making them stand out from the rest.
With an intent to honor the contributions and inspiring journey of some influential CEOs, Insights Success has curated
a list of “The Most Promising CEOs of 2019”. These CEOs have set exemplary instances by shaping the future of
their businesses.
Towards Promising Future

These leaders have acquired all the necessary skills, such as vision, perseverance, dedication, and the ability to inspire
and nurture, that are important to thrive in businesses. They also bring the expertise, confidence, and a deep business
acumen that they have accumulated through their journey.
A pioneer in the digital payments sector, Dr. Andy Khawaja, the CEO and Founder of Allied Wallet, features as the
cover story of this edition. One of the world’s leading online payment-processing service providers, Allied Wallet offers
digital wallets, merchant payment solutions, and prepaid card programs. Under the direction of Dr. Andy Khawaja,
Allied Wallet has expanded from its initial West Hollywood, California, location to include offices in global hubs such
as Macau, Hong Kong, and London while serving more than 150 million customers around the world.
Delve into some inspiring stories and lessons from many such significant CEOs in this issue and reap the fruits of
motivation. Also, make sure to scroll through the articles written by our in-house editorial team and CXO standpoints
of some of the leading industry experts to have a brief taste of the sector.
Happy reading!
More than a designation, being CEO is a moral
responsibility that makes things happen.
“ “
Ishan Mittal

A Pioneer in the Digital
Payments Sector
Dr. Andy
Khawaja
24
Imparting Wisdom
Successful Personality
Elon Musk
Articles
Entrepreneurial
Ecosystem
Sustaining
Entrepreneurial
Sprit in the
Modern Era
34
46
Bio Tech
Graphene: A Material
Marvel of
the Century
COVER STORY
Strong Entrepreneurial
Professional and Mentor
Edwin Tay:
08
16 28 40
Leading from the front
by Stephanie Cooper
Gregg Rotenberg:
Leading by Example
Rob Leslie:
Leader’s TalkPitching Excellence Expert’s Outlook

18
44
22 26
32 38
Transforming Data into Insightful
and Actionable Information
Through Smart Visualization
Turning a Vision
into Reality
A Trailblazer Bringing
Vision to Reality
Exemplifying Steadiness,
Stability, and the Ability
to Motivate Innovation
A Leader to Rely for Human
Resource Management
Anton Baranchuk:
Austin Rosenfeld: Gary Olson:
Ingo Ernst: Nicole Martin:
An Expert in
Logistics Management
TODD DAVIS:

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June, 2019
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Dr. Andy Khawaja
Founder & CEO
Cover Story

A Pioneer in the Digital Payments Sector
Dr. Andy Khawaja
Allied Wallet always stays ve steps
ahead of the game.
“

Successful organiza ons are built by the exemplary
leadership of the CEOs of the companies. Great
leaders of the organiza on lead by se ng the
example worthy of emula on. Leadership is essen al
ingredient to the success of any organiza on. Generally
leadership is about being passionate for the right purposes
and being focused. CEOs of the great organiza ons are
resilient, hardworking, dedicated, and courageous. Great
CEOs help their organiza on move ahead even if there are
doubts from others around them. They are ready to go
beyond the comfort zone of safety. Great leaders don’t get
trapped by the seduc on of safety. Exemplary CEOs
consider that seduc on of safety is more dangerous than
the percep on of the risk. Great leaders take calculated
risks and they make best of the available opportuni es.
Courage, competence, and energy is contagious and it gets
imprinted on the other people in the organiza on.
Therefore it is essen al for the CEOs of the organiza on to
have these quali es to lead the organiza on effec vely.
The organiza ons are always in need to have a genuinely
exemplary leader to lead from the front and create a
profitable organiza on.
A pioneer in the digital payments sector, Dr. Andy Khawaja
has led as CEO and Founder of Allied Wallet since he
founded the company in 2005. One of the world’s leading
online payment-processing service providers, Allied Wallet
offers digital wallets, merchant payment solu ons, and
prepaid card programs. Under the direc on of Dr. Andy
Khawaja, Allied Wallet has expanded from its ini al West
Hollywood, California, loca on to include offices in global
hubs such as Macau, Hong Kong, and London while serving
more than 150 million customers around the world.
In addi on to his work in the digital payments sector, Dr.
Andy Khawaja stands out as a mo va onal speaker who
has given talks and seminars at such interna onal
universi es as Zayed University, Abu Dhabi University, and
Lebanese American University, as well as conferences
including the World Lithuanian Youth Summit. His
experience in the Middle East has also made him a sought-
a er consultant on topics related to global banking.
A commi ed member of the community, Dr. Andy Khawaja
supports nonprofit groups such as the United Service
Organiza ons, Wounded Warrior Project, and the Brent
Shapiro Founda on. Through his leadership posi on at
Allied Wallet, he also organizes a range of corporate
philanthropic and fundraising ini a ves.
Below are the highlights of the interview between Dr. Andy
Khawaja and Insights Success.
Give a brief overview of your background and evolu on
into a CEO.
From a very young age, I had an entrepreneurial spirit in
my bones. I’ve always been a leader and I’ve always had
the passion to work hard and reach my goals. But my first
ambi on to become a CEO came from my thirst for
improvement in the way people do business. I wanted to
create and innovate new methods for people to safely,
securely, and simply accept payments. I had a vision, and I
worked very hard to make that vision a reality.
How do you diversify your organiza on’s offerings to
appeal to the target audience?
Allied Wallet is a globally recognized payment services
company, and we enable businesses in 196 countries to
succeed by simplifying their payment acceptance solu ons
and enabling them to accept nearly any payment method.
We specialize in mul -currency solu ons, state-of-the-art
fraud protec on, and we lead the industry in innova on
because we’ve created a payment services company that
connects so many different payment methods. Whether
you need online credit card processing, mobile point of
sale, a digital wallet solu on, prepaid cards, or even ACH –
we can do it and you’ll have it all in one easy to manage
system. We make it simple to make money in an industry
that can be very complicated and confusing. That’s the
beauty in Allied Wallet.
Describe some of the vital a ributes that every CEO
should possess.
A CEO’s journey is never easy and running a global business
requires a lot of dedica on and hard work even in the face
of doubt from others around you. But it has been a
beau ful journey. I’ve been able to see businesses improve
and succeed and increase their profit beyond their dreams
and this is sa sfying for me. Making a difference and

We’re positioned very
well in the market and
no one can offer all
that we offer all in one
great solution.
“
“

crea ng a solu on that truly helps
entrepreneurs like me is very fulfilling.
Every CEO should be resilient.
What were the past experiences,
achievements or lessons that have
shaped your journey?
The story at Allied Wallet has been a
story of success. I call it success
because there were definitely
obstacles in my way as I started the
company. Many financial ins tu ons
and older industry execu ves doubted
me. But we proved what we could do
and we innovated the industry for
people all over the world. That is
something that will never stop with
Allied Wallet. We always innovate for
the curve; and some mes, we make
the curve and innovate the industry as
leaders. But with payments becoming
more and more digital and augmented
and virtual reality experiences right
around the corner, we are innova ng
how the payment space will
support that.
In terms of market competency, how
do you strive for your organiza on to
be in a leading posi on?
The digital payments industry is only
going to get bigger. You see more
people paying with cards or with apps,
not cash, and that means more people

will need a way to send payments
electronically. Allied Wallet is
constantly improving and crea ng new
products so that we can stay at the top
of the game as one of the world’s most
reliable processors.
Allied Wallet always stays five steps
ahead of the game. Our technology
lets business owners reach their
dreams without limi ng them, and our
state of the art security features keep
out the fraud transac ons so that
transac ons. This is one of our biggest
strengths. We are the e-commerce
experts. We know how to prevent
fraud, and we have a proprietary scrub
system that protects merchants and
customers alike.
Where do you see yourself in the near
future and what are your future
goals?
Our short-term plans are to increase
the amount of payment methods we
support and con nue leading the
industry in global connec vity. We also
have many new features and
func onali es that we plan to release.
It’s important for us to simultaneously
innovate and protect users globally.
In five years, Allied Wallet will have at
least doubled its current size. Our
growth rate is amazing and we will
con nue to grow. I see Allied Wallet
con nuing its path to global leadership
in payments and industry innova on. I
also see Allied Wallet and myself
pursuing more charitable,
philanthropic efforts to make the
world a be er place.
What is your advice for budding and
emerging CEOs?
I would like to say to all of the
entrepreneurs out there that a vision
and hard work is the key to success. If
you work hard, and put in the effort
and the me, nothing can stop you
from reaching your goals. Every day
you don’t use to work towards your
goal day is a day wasted, work for your
future every day.
everything our merchants do is safe,
fast, and scalable. We’re posi oned
very well in the market and no one can
offer all that we offer all in one great
solu on.
What were the primal challenges and
roadblocks you faced during the
ini al phase of your career as a CEO?
Unlike the other processing
companies, we didn’t start with
investor funding. Allied Wallet was
built using my own funds because I
believe in this company, and with hard
work and dedica on from our team,
we created one of the most successful
processing companies in the world
today.
One of the biggest issues with e-
commerce is the lack of knowledge
and understanding with the industry.
Many banks don’t know how to handle
merchants and e-commerce
Follow your
dreams and
work from
the heart. “
“

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Edwin TayStrong Entrepreneurial Professional and Mentor
Take good care of
your clients and they
will help grow your
business. A growing
business will in turn
enable better support
for your employees;
who will in-turn
provide better service
to your clients.
“
“
www.insightssuccess.com16 |June 2019

n an Interview with Insights
ISuccess, Edwin Tay, CEO and
Co-founder of EasyUni Sdn
Bhd, shares contribution of him
through EasyUni which is Asia’s
leading education site. Edwin along
with his team helps students and
parents search, compare, shortlist,
prioritize, and apply to universities or
colleges of their choice. He started
EasyUni with the aim of making the
process of choosing a university easier
for potential students. He is
experienced Start-up founder with a
demonstrated history of working in the
digital marketing, internet and
education industry. He is Skilled in
Marketing Management, Digital
Strategy, Start-ups, and Advertising.
He provides mentorship and advice to
other young startups.
Below are the highlights of the
interview between Edwin Tay and
Insights Success.
Give a brief overview of your
background as a CEO.
I’m 45 this year. Graduated as a
Materials Engineer and was working as
an R&D Engineer before I left and
started my first company called
Netinfinium. This was back in 2000.
Netinfinium is a digital agency and
email technology company. Led and
grew the company for 10 years before
finally exiting via trade sale, after
nd
which I started EasyUni, my 2
startup. On the side, I also mentor
other startup founders that came my
way, sharing my experience and
knowledge of the market, funding and
operational strategies. I am also an
Endeavor Entrepreneur
(www.endeavor.org), working to give
back to the community, as I have
benefited tremendously from many
hours of help rendered to me by many
mentors through the years.
How do you diversify your
organization’s offerings to appeal to
the target audience?
For us, it’s not just the quantity of
information (institution database) but
also localization of content – is key to
providing good user experience. Hence
for those non-Anglophone countries,
we localize our content and
information – not only by translating
the content into local language but by
having a local indigenous content
writer to write original contents to suit
the local psyche and style of writing.
We find that this not only helps our
user experience but also helps improve
our ranking on search engines.
Describe some of the vital attributes
that every CEO should possess.
Ability to see the bigger picture and
communicate ideas/strategies to rally
followers to be aligned with the overall
objective. Able to see intrinsic
strengths in your people and utilizing
it. Work smart and inspire your team
and organization to constantly be better
tomorrow. Work harder than yesterday
if you want a better tomorrow.
How do you strategize your game
plans to tackle competition in the
market?
Our niche and strength is our location.
We are in a hurry to entrench ourselves
deeper into the region and win the
market, by having on-ground local
presence with local staffs. We have
done so in Malaysia and Middle East
and are now replicating our success in
Vietnam and Indonesia. In addition, we
tend to look forward and chart our path
for the future; more than looking over
our shoulders at our competitors. Our
biggest competitor is ourselves. How
do we ensure we constantly improve
ourselves and provide better
value/service to our clients the
students? If we get that right, we are
confident things will sort out by itself
and EasyUni will grow.
What were the primal challenges
and roadblocks you faced during the
initial phase of your career as a
CEO?
There was a lot of trial and error
st
initially. I started my 1 company when
I was 26 years old. Being young, I did
not have extensive network to rely on.
In addition, there wasn’t any structure
in place to help young entrepreneurs.
Not many investors are ready to invest
in un-proven startups. You would have
to quickly be profitable or you would
have to close down. The co-founders
and I had to hustle and grow the
company in any way we could. As our
business grew, so does our network
and experience
Where do you see yourself in the
near future and what are your future
goals?
EasyUni is growing well but there is
still so much more to be done. I am
currently busy growing our managers
and identifying future leaders to help
propel EasyUni to the next level.
Ultimately our goal is to be the No.1
platform that students in South East
Asia and Middle East goes to, when
searching for tertiary institutions.
What is your advice for budding and
emerging CEO’s?
Truly understand why you want to start
your own company. It can be any
reason and it can even change as time
pass by. Just remember to constantly
remind yourself of this reason and
persist in chasing it. Be humble always
and don’t be shy to ask for help and to
give help. Treat your staffs as your
business partners that should profit
from the growth and not as stepping-
stones to your goals. Take good care of
them, and they will in turn take good
care of you and your company.
Pitching Excellence
www.insightssuccess.com 2019| 17June

Anton
Baranchuk
Transforming Data into Insightful and Actionable
Information Through Smart Visualization
Business acumen when accompanied with technical
knowledge makes an ultimate combination that can
take IT companies to the new heights. Anton
Baranchuk, CEO at AnyChart America, is one such
blend of business and technical expertise, who has been
transforming the industry with his novel approaches.
Inception Tale
AnyChart was started in 2003, at the times of Adobe Flash
and the early age of the Extensible Markup Language (or
simply XML), when future AnyChart teammates realized
that literally any data from literally any source can be
extracted in the XML format and then be interactively
visualized using the Adobe Flash technology.
Implementation of this approach laid the foundation of the
AnyChart business. Flash was everywhere, so indeed
AnyChart succeeded as a one-fits-all data visualization tool.
Back in the 2000s, both Flash and XML were on the rise
while still quite young, meaning the company had to deal
with a number of inherent bugs, security shortcomings, and
other issues. That is where the first big clients appeared to
be of great help.
“When Oracle introduced our data visualization component
in APEX, we started getting a whole lot of feedback from
users, which greatly helped us in quickly shaping our
product development, technical support, and business
tactics to the best possible extent. So I can say it was
essentially important for us as a tech business to quickly
roll out a product and earn our first big clients,”
Anton recalls.
Sharp Curve to New Success
AnyChart managed to take lead in interactive data
visualization. But after the fall of Flash as a universally
used environment, the company had to switch to HTML5,
which was a huge challenge. Finally, AnyChart added
support of SVG and released the first version of its
JavaScript charting library.
Nowadays, the company continues to support its Flash-
based charting components. However, the vast majority of
AnyChart’s customers already adhere to HTML5, the
backbone technology of the contemporary web.
Acknowledging what their entire team already did to get
where it is currently positioned, Anton proudly asserts: “I
am happy we’ve done it with such a success and are
currently among the few absolute leaders in the global
interactive data visualization software market.”
He adds: “It is crucial for a technology company to stay in
the know of what’s going on out there, predict any possible
changes that can affect it, follow the trends, and of course,
always do your best to fully satisfy the needs of your clients
at all times. That’s the way we have been and will keep
doing our best to follow.”
Flexible Data Visualization Solutions
Now, AnyChart is a flexible JavaScript (HTML5) solution
that allows businesses to create interactive and great
looking charts of any kind out of any data — in full
accordance with what the name “AnyChart” implicits. It is
fully cross-browser and cross-platform, intended for
everybody who deals with the creation of dashboards,
reporting, analytics, statistical, financial or any other
visualizations for the purpose of smart, data-driven decision
making. Graphics rendering in AnyChart is powered by
GraphicsJS, AnyChart’s own open-source JS library for
SVG/VML-based graphics and animation.

AnyChart JS charts work everywhere including PCs, Macs,
iPhones, iPads, and Android devices, enabling businesses to
transform operational data into insightful, actionable
information.
Prominently delivering a powerful JavaScript charting
engine, the company markets it as a product family
comprising four JS visualization libraries, each inherently
optimized to serve a specific data viz purpose: AnyChart —
for basic charts (over 70 chart types are available out-of-
the-box), AnyMap — for maps and seat charts, AnyStock
— for stock and financial charts, or basically any date/time
charts, AnyGantt — for project and resource charts (Gantt,
PERT, etc.). But essentially it is one versatile data
visualization tool.
Leading Data Visualization Globally
Anton’s constant efforts as the CEO at AnyChart America,
the company’s forefront, resulted in framing AnyChart
among the global leaders of data visualization tools.
AnyChart has earned more than 75% of the Fortune 500
members and over half of the top 1,000 software vendors
worldwide. Overall, thousands of companies and
organizations use AnyChart, including enterprise giants like
Oracle, Microsoft, Samsung, Volkswagen, Bosch,
McDonald’s, Reuters, Rolex, Lockheed Martin, and many
others. Also, it has been widely recognized by technology
experts worldwide and received multiple awards for the
best and most promising in JavaScript and data
visualization.
This year has been particularly exciting for the company.
AnyChart has recently announced their new technology
alliance partnership with Qlik, adding three new product
extensions for Qlik Sense. The partnership enables Qlik's
community of data analysts to be provided with more than
30 new chart types and features such as tooltips natively in
the Qlik environment, with no coding required.
Keeping Up with Trends is Essential
Anton believes that in this fast-paced industry it has always
been essential for the technologists to keep up with the
tech-enabled trends.
Emphasizing upon AnyChart’s distinctiveness in the
market, he asserts: “Due to a big number of ideas and
solutions out there in almost every single field, it is
important to properly analyze everything and see what’s
going to work best in each particular case.”
Invaluable Advice
Considering the essential attributes of leadership, Anton
asserts: “I believe maybe the most important thing is
openness, in the widest sense. To your teammates. To your
customers. To new ideas, experiences, and information in
general. Then, analyze what you’ve learned or thought
about and think how it can actually be applied in what you
are doing, and not only for now but also for later stages.”
Anton advises aspiring entrepreneurs to analyze the overall
market and think several steps ahead to withstand the
complexities. He believes that in order to experience a
principle work-ethical environment, a professional and
enthusiastic team really matters. Addressing a proverb
saying “Fall seven times and stand up eight,” Anton asserts:
“Don’t give up if something goes worse than expected and
in case of any failures.”
Bright Future for AnyChart
With many thousands of happy clients, from startups to
corporate giants, AnyChart’s future plans are about working
more and more to make the company’s data visualization
solutions even better and further justify the trust of
the customers.
Anton Baranchuk
CEO at AnyChart America
AnyChart empowers people
and companies worldwide
to let their data speak
““

Austin RosenfeldAustin Rosenfeld
Turning a Vision into Reality
Acompelling vision, accompanied by the ability
to see beyond the challenges of today and sculpt
a picture of tomorrow, is what fuels success.
Carrying such qualities, Austin Rosenfeld, the Founder
and CEO of Macedon Technologies, has set his
company on a mission to transform businesses digitally.
Austin started his career as a software developer. He was
one of the first team members working on a new
software platform at Appian—who provides a low-code
development platform that accelerates the creation of
high-impact business applications—and realized that
very few people understood how to use it. A natural born
leader, Austin started Macedon and set out to hire the
most suitable and capable staff. He built a consulting
company with in-depth knowledge in the Appian
platform, solving real-world business problems. This
approach paid off quickly. Macedon Technologies has
grown considerably over the past decade and has offices
in both Reston, VA, and in Austin, TX. Austin, together
with his team has established a flourishing business with
significant footprints in the financial services,
manufacturing, education, energy, and pharmaceutical
industries.
Accelerating Digital Transformation
Austin notes that the organization has honed a lot of
expertise in the Appian platform and has applied that
skillset across a diverse clientele. “We compete in
several markets, we can show large enterprises we
understand their IT processes,” Austin says. “Using our
analytical skills, we can quickly build a demo
application, showing the power of the software.” For
large, complex applications with multiple complicated
integrations—or processes across several
divisions—Macedon provides specialized services that
focus on resolving these challenges, scaling operations
collectively with the client.
For government clients, Macedon has amassed an
impressive number of certifications and credentials in the
Appian space and has teamed up with organizations that
have significant government project experience. For
smaller commercial firms, Macedon starts as a
consultant, first analyzing their IT landscape finding the
best fit for Appian. Small businesses find Macedon’s
hybrid roles incredibly valuable.
Keeping an Ample Bench to Support Growth
Balancing the twin pipelines of recruiting and sales is a
considerable challenge, particularly for start-ups. Since
its inception, Macedon has tried to keep an adequate
bench to support its growth and invests a lot in training
resources and retaining a healthy and agile bench. Now
that the company has turbocharged its recruiting
machine, it can hire dozens of people a year and support
all of its priorities more efficiently. Macedon currently
has over 100 employees and is set to reach 150 by the
end of this year.
Striving to Reach New Milestones
"The Appian platform continues to grow in scope and
popularity, and it is moving into adjacent areas including
Robotic Process Automation and DevOps,” Austin says.
“We see clients take on more ambitious digital

transformation initiatives allowing us to serve as holistic
consultants, contrary to the past when enterprise
applications were often built in silos.” As an authorized
Appian Reseller, Macedon provides the full platform
capabilities to small- and medium-sized businesses as
well, equipping them with the same power to advance
their technology and harness efficiencies as they grow.
Austin’s focus is on building Macedon’s expertise, rather
than getting distracted by competitors. Austin says, “We
want to generate great ideas that add value for our
customers, not worry about the competition.”
Enlightening Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Austin believes that vision and leadership are vital
attributes a CEO must possess. “Leaders should have the
ability to tell people ‘here is how we are going to climb
that next hill’and get everyone to come along
enthusiastically,” he reflects. “A leader has to energize
the team. The reason why I am so actively involved in
every hiring decision is my dedication to building the
right team to execute the vision.” Austin firmly believes
that the CEO has to set the tone for the culture. “At
Macedon, I’d like to think we are all nerds. Most of us
have computer science degrees, and we tend to have a
lot of traits that go with that,” he adds. We have a Harry
Potter theme around the office, play pranks on each
other, and try to have fun as much as we can!”
Austin’s advice for emerging entrepreneurs: “Try to see
your business from all angles at once. A spreadsheet that
adds up is great, but you need to see how and when the
team needs to grow, what customers expect, and where to
find them. Ask yourself which processes need to scale
beyond what you can handle in a spreadsheet, so when
you are in over your head, you can rely on a good CPA,
lawyer, or other specialists.”
Focus on execution,
and everything else
will fall into place.‘‘
Austin Rosenfeld
Founder & CEO
Macedon Technologies

Successful
Personality
Elon Musk
Legends never need an introduction. They tend to be
victorious 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.
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 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.
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!
Imparting Wisdom

A Trailblazer Bringing Vision
to Reality
Gary Olson
n an interview with Insights Success, Gary Olson,
ICEO of shares his valuableGHO Group LLC
insights from the experiences he gained in his
entrepreneurial journey. Moreover, he broadly discusses
the services offered by the company.
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted
between Gary and Insights Success:
Give a brief overview of your background as a CEO.
While I was engaged launching a satellite transmission
facility and part of the team launching the first video
fiber network, I was asked to design a new shopping
network. I used this opportunity to start my first
company. We began designing and launching new
satellite and television cable networks. In the early days
of Internet, we designed the first live cable news
network with a person doing real time on air research.
As my company continued to grow and we received
requests from visionaries starting television networks in
countries that did not have commercial television, only
state TV. We designed and launched the first
commercial television in Trindad and sucessfully
designed, built and launched new national television
“When asked
if it can be done -
Always answer
Yes and always
get it done -
(don’t get caught)!”
Gary Olson
CEO

networks in Czech, Poland, Romania and Slovenia.
Building on that success, I built GHO Group a boutique
consulting company that provides strategic guidance,
technology design and project management in media and
broadcast technology. Helping companies implement and
adopt to computer based media from proprietary
technology.
How do you diversify your organization's offerings to
appeal to the target audience?
GHO has a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills. This
enables GHO to offer a large variety of services. These
include but are not limited to designing new systems,
project management, strategic guidance in technology
decision making, budgeting, RFP development and
technology adoption.
Describe some of the vital attributes that every CEO
should possess.
Building a company is the same as building a team. As the
CEO, you are leader, visionary, coach and deal maker. A
good CEO understands their own strengths and surrounds
themselves with strong competent people who can
collaborate and work together. One of my favorite
expressions is “I don't need to know everything, I just need
to know who to call!”
The term CEO or definition of a Chief Executive Officer
has changed with start-ups and small businesses. My father
was a business owner and had partners – no titles. Small
and mid-size companies had presidents and vice presidents.
Public corporations had CEO's. Now every size business
entity has a CEO.
How do you strategize your game plans to tackle
competition in the market?
By continuing to learn and explore new technologies and
the application of new technologies. One example is the
need to have cyber security in the media ecosystem. I am
part of a security task force in the live sports technology
industry. As machine learning deep learning and artificial
intelligence are becoming familiar terms, it's important to
fully understand the technology and where it is applicable.
What were the primal challenges and roadblocks you
faced during the initial phase of your career as a CEO?
It is always challenging finding the right talent that can
collaborate and support each other. Being the CEO is a
combination of knowing when to do and when to delegate.
As the company grows, it is critical to allow people to do
their jobs and support them. A good manager takes a step
back, not micro manages, letting others learn and grow.
Where do you see yourself in the near future and what
are your future goals?
I have been accused of re-inventing GHO and myself every
few years. We are going thru a change phase now, moving
into artificial intelligence and into a new industry sector of
Public Safety and Security. I am in the process of building
my next business as we are applying our extensive media
knowledge to an industry overwhelmed by video and
struggling to analyze it for useable information in the
prevention of incidents and attacks.
What is your advice for budding and emerging CEO’s?
Recognizing strengths in people and encouraging and
empowering their development creates a team to solve
problems. A large organization is like a pyramid, if you are
at the top you can see what’s happening across the
organizations and manage. If the pyramid is upside down
because the CEO is also doing everything, they are crushed
by the weight of the organization.
I have an eclectic background and am one of the few people
who always worked for myself building my own businesses
in my professional career. My career has been spent solving
interesting challenges that typically look outside of the box
for innovative solutions. I am both a visionary and help
visionaries realize their ideas.

Leading from the front
—by Stephanie Cooper
& Shari Sanders
Gregg
Rotenberg
o lead from the front – you
Thave to trust your team.” Gregg
Rotenberg, President and CEO
of Smart Wires, believes that a strong
team thrives on a combination of
freedom and responsibility: “It’s a bit
of a risk, but the rewards pay off.” For
Rotenberg, a leader is visibly engaged
at the front lines; that is right where he
needs to be, in order to generate the
momentum he needs to focus on the
big picture which is a mission to save
the planet. Smart Wires has developed
an innovative technology that
meaningfully improves the efficiency
of today’s power grids around the
globe. We deploy our revolutionary
technologies to “re-route power”
around overloaded lines and address
the most serious problems challenging
our transmission system.
Rotenberg finds that a culture based in
freedom and responsibility guarantees
rapid innovation combined with
systematic execution. Smart Wires
doesn’t track hours worked per day or
per week. Following Rotenberg’s lead,
the focus is on what you can get done
for the people who are counting on you
to succeed. Smart Wires’ highest
performers thrive on the freedom to do
their jobs without tight supervision.
Designated superstars, these
contributors grow their roles to fit their
passions, while always balancing the
needs of the organization and their
teammates.
Consequently, Smart Wires spares no
effort to identify superstars during the
application and interview process. The
unique application process tests an
applicant’s ability to have a keen sense
of detail, be forward with their
accomplishments but also express an
ego-less attitude. Every candidate is
offered the same experience when
applying for any position at Smart
Wires because the bar is set extremely
high and only the true Superstars who
are willing to go the extra mile truly
shine. Part of the application process
requires the candidate to create a deck
presentation answering five questions.
There are no rules other than to answer
the questions, but we encourage
everyone who make it to this step to be
as creative and analytical as they want.
This assignment not only challenges
them to think outside the box but also
introduces them to Smart Wires very
special culture and gives them another
way to engage with several members
of the leadership team.
Headquartered at the Jim Davis Global
Research Center in Silicon Valley,
Smart Wires actively cultivates the
kind of mentorship Rotenberg most
values. It all starts with the Guiding
Principles that make up the basis of
Smart Wires culture. Rotenberg
encourages his team to actively include
Smart Wires’s Guiding Principles in
everyday conversation. “If you ever
want to discuss our GPs with me, send
me an email with the subject line GPs,
and I promise you I will engage.”
Rotenberg not only lives by these
Guiding Principles, he ensures that all
candidates looking to join the team
read and understand them, before
continuing conversations in the hiring
process. The 11 Guiding Principles are:
Safety, Judgment, Communication,
Impact, Curiosity, Innovation,
Selflessness, Passion, Integrity,
Courage and Do No Harm to the Grid.
Rotenberg and the entire team believes
these practices give Smart Wires the
best chance at changing the world.
Rotenberg’s mission-oriented focus,
backed by a culture that gives a high
level of responsibility coupled with
trust, empowers Smart Wires’
contributors to act like true owners. It
gives the person owning the task or
project the responsibility to take it
across the finish line but also strive for
the good of the organization and
mission as a whole. “By hiring
Superstars we are consistently securing
incredible additions to our team who
bring new ideas and help drive our
mission forward.”
“

Gregg Rotenberg is the President and CEO at
Smart Wires Inc. a Silicon Valley company
dedicated to providing grid optimization
solutions for electric utilities worldwide. This
unique product essentially acts as a “valve” on
the transmission line, allowing the manager of
the grid to route power to where it is needed
most.
Prior to joining Smart Wires, Gregg led the
Strategic Alliances Group at Chevron Energy
Solutions (and Chevron’s Renewable Power
Group). His Strategic Alliances team carefully
reviewed over 1000 companies in clean-tech
over that time period and they identified only
three companies that they believed were truly
"game changing" to the clean technology
industry. One of those three “game changing”
companies was Smart Wires.
“We believe that Smart Wires will ultimately
change how power grids are managed at
nearly
every utility in the world. Smart Wires
solutions allow utilities to “route” power
to where it is
needed, ending the days where
electricity just flows to the path of
least resistance inherent in the grid.
The result will be higher reliability in
our power grids, with considerably
lower cost of power and significantly
expanded use of renewable energy,”
said Rotenberg.
He is passionate about developing
strategy and building a
remarkable team committed to
making the world
a better place.
About the Leader
Gregg Rotenberg
CEO
at Smart Wires Inc.
Leader’s Talk

Exemplifying Steadiness, Stability,
and the Ability to Motivate Innovation
Ingo Ernst
Ingo Ernst
CEO
CEO’s that emerge and manage businesses that
engage in our ever-changing, fast-paced global
online ecosystem require significant virtues
composed of steadiness, stability, and the ability to motivate
innovation. They are constantly managing outside forces
from savvy competitors, technology demands, investor
relations, regulatory evolution, and economic changes.
Nonetheless, they are empowered to keep driving change in
a continuous and steadfast manner. Ingo Ernst, the CEO of
4Stop, and a committed Fintech entrepreneur has proven
these significant virtues alongside his unwavering, modest
leadership style.
From the conception of 4Stop back in 2016, he has been a
driving force to 4Stop’s success. Leveraging his excellent
technical knowledge, operations management and
supervisory skills gained over 15+ years and unrelenting
focus, he ensures business objectives and results are being
met, while always bringing keen insight for his team and
stakeholders. His charismatic self inspires, instills
confidence, and motivates his team for optimal innovation
and performance. Aligning everyone around the value goal;
producing product solutions that truly solve industry risk
management pain points and will better serve B2B / B2C
online engagement.
Ability to Adapt a Shifting Environment
One of the biggest tests of any leader is their
ability to adapt to a shifting environment.
Through the ambiguous online payment
ecosystem and regulatory changes, 4Stop being
a world leader in global data-driven KYB,
KYC, compliance and anti-fraud technology
requires to be the most adaptable to change.
Ingo Ernst is a high-performing and highly
adaptable CEO who consistently makes
decisions earlier, faster and with greater
conviction and passion to support 4Stop’s
developments.

Furthermore, Ingo has proven
paramount reliability. He is always
clear and concise with expectations
and works closely with each business
department ensuring development,
focus, budgets, and strategies are
clearly defined and targets are met in a
realistic manner. He is always ready to
roll up his sleeves and solve a business
performance dilemma or an industry
pain point through collaborative
innovative discussions to bolster the
4Stop technology solutions. He is a
true leader with the success of his team
and the business at the very heart of
everything he does.
Charismatic Nature
As all the founders of the company
have collectively over 60 years of
experience within the risk
management realm, they understand
the need for a simple, fail-safe,
future-proof solution that
businesses can effortlessly
manage risk requirements with
efficiency and confidence.
However, as with most start-
ups, ensuring the right team
with a common drive and
passion is vital to bolster the
technology and service the
online risk management
industry in a world-class manner.
Secondly, ensuring that all
departments of the business are
aligned with the business objectives
and have instilled the accurate process
in place for optimal operations,
development and to support
accelerated growth.
4Stop has been in a fortunate position
where the basic challenges of a start-up
where not greatly present. The entire
team is well versed in the industries
need for a true all-in-one global KYB,
KYC, compliance and fraud
prevention provider and are
passionate in driving the solution
offering. Ingo’s charismatic nature
has always been able to easily
align, motivate and encourage
his team to perform at their
greatest potential, while
ensuring that every innovative
idea is heard and equal collaboration
is met.
Future-Proofing Solutions
4Stop continues to monitor, discuss
and stay abreast of industry
innovations and regulatory demands.
The company ensures that its product
remains at the forefront of premium
global risk management solutions to
support the on-going explosive
eCommerce growth. It continually
expands its technology and understand
which key features, data sources, data
aggregation or product solution is
required for expansion and is all
backed behind articulated industry pain
points and feedback provided. 4Stop
strives to have a leading global risk
management solution that genuinely
enhances businesses risk-based
controls in a true automated and future-
proofed manner, regardless of where it
transacts across the globe.
Enhancing Businesses’ Risk
Management Processes
The industry’s pain-point of managing
required KYC for fraud defense and
compliance has been an on-going
hurdle. It is becoming more and more
difficult for businesses to stay abreast
and integrate the required KYC and
data points required for compliance.
Managing multiple 3rd party
integrations to obtain required data
points puts a strain on businesses
internal development resources, brings
additional costs to the business and
impacts the time and ability to enter a
market. Furthermore, the merchant
underwriting processes are much more
complex, and currently, companies are
managing KYB through a great deal of
human intervention and review.
4Stop changes all that. They specialize
in providing leading KYB, hundreds of
KYC, compliance, data science and
their proprietary anti-fraud technology,
all available from a single API
integration. Whether businesses want
to cut the costs on underwriting
businesses, expand their global
data points and KYC coverage,
monitor transactions or a
complete packaged solution,
4Stop is designed to integrate
in a frictionless manner.
Enhancing businesses’ risk
management processes with
leading fraud prevention tools
and automated risk controls
they can activate on-demand.
Valuable Insights
In his advise to emerging leaders, he
says. “As CEO’s we all know what our
objectives are, but we may or may not
know what our finish line illustrates
and getting there will always come
with difficult times. However, doing
something you are passionate about
will automatically instill the drive and
perseverance you require to succeed.
We are leaders for our business, our
people, our industry. We cannot shy
away from failure as it is within failure
that innovation is drafted. We are there
to guide, to teach, to empower and
motivate through clear communication
and reasonable performance
expectations. When you’re leading a
business you have deeply invested in,
these responsibilities become second
nature and when done thoroughly it
will be the anchor to your success.”
Our global KYC
and risk
management
platform brings
together global
premium data
sources in a
single integration.
“
“

Businesses operate, survive and progress in a highly
dynamic economy, where change is the rule, not
the exception. The change may be slow, sudden or
almost extensive. One of the important forces of change is
the change in technology. Most of these changes are used to
enhance human capabilities to accomplish meaningful
work. These changes are sometimes thriving on the
entrepreneur.Asuccessful entrepreneur works to visualize
these future changes rather than waiting for it and create a
moredesirableenvironmentintheorganization.
Technological breakthroughs do occur and it takes courage
for an entrepreneur to accept the change and its
implication. Technology breakthroughs like computers,
color television sets, electronic sets, fuel-efficient vehicles,
etc. have encouraged entrepreneurs to manufacture these
products. Thus changes in technology from time to time
pose several alternatives before the entrepreneur.This is an
ongoing process in which the entrepreneur sets goals and
strategies to meet changes in technology. But for strategies
like marketing, human resource, supply chain, financial
and legal strategies, etc. connection with people is
important. Entrepreneurs define the formal relationships
among people and specify both their roles and
responsibilities. Because the end product is an integrated
system of people & technology and to administer these
systems, entrepreneuris required.
Technology is helping us solve problems where human
power alone is not enough. Different types of businesses
require different technologies, but again, it is impossible to
solve all integration needs with a single technology. This
article will help you understand, that technology is only the
part of the original solution and how in different sectors the
entrepreneur'ssurrounding reallymatters.
Ÿ Accounting
Technology allows us to complete tasks faster. It replaces
the tiresome tasks of manually storing, compiling, sorting,
etc. and the ability to use data with a simple digital
solution. For example, Sales ledger in the early days was
time-consuming, expensive and all paper-based process.
Technology helped increase productivity with the
development of spreadsheet software like Microsoft
Excel. Employees today are far better at finding what they
need when they need it. Though only this will not achieve
the outcome. Here, let's take a clear look at how the
entrepreneur's spirit is really helping to achieve the desired
goal.
Technology is good for bringing the change not forcing it.
It cannot make employees more efficient. Yes, the right
technology can help to make the work easier, but if an
employee is truly falling behind or is just inefficient, all the
technologyintheworld willnotsolvethissituation.The
in the Modern Era
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Sustaining

truth is such employees can be sometimes inefficient due to
either inexperience or laziness. An entrepreneur can
identify this problem by improving communication in such
departments. This explains why human interference is
important to address this situation, where technology is
just a bandage, fix the problem for a short time. Adding
new and faster technology will not fix the problem.While a
better solution is sitting the departments down together and
talking about the problem with the entrepreneur will be a
realsolution.
Ÿ Retail
Technology allows retailers to be available day and night
interacting with customers how, when and where they are
ready to shop. Retailers depend on technology to manage
inventory, track customer-purchasing habits, predict
trends and deliver goods and services. Wireless
communication, QR codes and Augmented Reality are
some of the changes in technology to the retail industry.
Ultimately, the entrepreneurship element remains central
even if it is embedded within AI, advanced analytics, etc.
Because a customer's shopping experience is more
important than price and product quality. Entrepreneur
encourages employees to use their creativity to ensure
every customer experience is memorable. Entrepreneur's
human interaction adds the value to the company and
maintainsloyalcustomers.
Ÿ Communication
In virtual workplaces, employees can interact and develop
ideas by connecting through the use of video conferencing.
This may include training and important meetings from far
places to the employees. Technology can also be used as
real-time feedback from the employees which allows the
entrepreneur to improve the needs of the employees.
Entrepreneur's good communication is necessary to allow
efficient flow both internally (among employees) and
externally(using technology).
Ÿ Automation
The robots are coming and can actually help us, to be more
productive,freeingus frommostof thetime-consuming
Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

and repetitive tasks. One of the most important areas of
application of automation is computer-aided
manufacturing. Today CAD/CAM technology has been
applied in many industries including machine
components, electronics products, and equipment design.
Even banking and financial institutions have embraced
automation technology in financial transactions. But just
because technology is advancing it does not mean it will
replace human. Technology can do an adequate job, but we
still need humans. It is certain that people to people
communication remains fundamental where the
entrepreneur'scontactinthevariousstagesis required.
Ÿ Security
Technology becomes even more critical when operating
the business online. It is important to protect the businesses
from cybercriminals who could steal data or lead to
website downtime. Encryption and decryption protect
information from being accessed by a third party or
cybercriminals. It takes only about a minute without
slowing down anyfileor document.
Ÿ Storage
Technology has led to the development of cloud computing
to store business information and has been accepted by
many in the world of business. Cloud Computing is cost
effective and convenient to the company management and
employees can access data from anywhere by just using a
device that can access the internet. It helps entrepreneurs to
trust these technologies and build a strong trust among
internalmanagementof thecompany.
Overall Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain technology,
Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, 3D printing, etc.
today are helping entrepreneurs to use this technology in
every field to grow their businesses. But technology alone
cannot create a company culture, where human
interactions are valued. Because it is people who are
assigned to work on this technology and to encourage them
the entrepreneurs keeps their spirit alive. By creating an
interested working environment, interactive dialogues
among employees, support and motivation to the
employees, reward system, etc. reflects the culture of the
company. It is an entrepreneur who understands what the
needs of the company are, by creating a connection with all
the stages of management that brings the desired output.
Hence, entrepreneurial spirit and technology should go
hand in hand. Therefore we need evolving technology as
well as intelligent humans. We need guided missiles as
wellas guidedmentocreatethebetterworld.

Nicole MartinA Leader to Rely for Human Resource Management
Presence is
more than just
being Present.“ “
Nicole Martin
Founder & CEO
H R B O O S T
TM
TM
Analyze, Optimize, Emphasize
TM

Through valuable experiences, a
leader can learn and
implement new innovations for
enriching the organization. Such
experience is very well absorbed by the
Founder and CEO of HRBoost,
Nicole Martin. With over 20 years of
experience in the arena of human
resource from small start-ups to big-
league organizations, she stepped in to
initiate her own company envisioning
to offer a dedicated resource and best
advisements that many internal HR
departments lack.
She inherently comprehends the
necessity of offering systematic human
resource management to deliver skill-
equipped workforce to her clients. Her
deep knowledge on HR services and
enthusiasm to disrupt the customary
practices helped to tackle the cutting-
edge competition in markets.
Currently, her venture, HRBoost offers
over 170-line item services, which
highlight how small mistakes in HR
can devastate the bottom line when
overlooked. Her team of professionals
provide clients with proven,
measurable outcomes.
It was in 2010 when Nicole realized
that she wanted to end her corporate
career thus established HRBoost, LLC.
Her initial desires were to find leaders
who want to be the next Best &
®
Brightest employer whilst supporting
on-growing businesses facing a myriad
of workforce challenges. By 2012, she
expanded her team while 50% of
yearly growth outcome made her clear
that HR outsourcing was not HR as she
knew it and that HRBoost had found a
niche.
Enticing the Targeted Audiences
The company tends to diversify its
offerings by allowing its clients to
engage on an ala carte, project or
retainer basis. Nicole’s and her team’s
mission is to meet clients wherever
they are on their journey to become a
best place to work. They prefer not to
make their clients adjust to the
services, but rather, they work to meet
client’s expectations helping them to
create an attractive work environment
and retain top talent to thrive in future.
What requiresbeingaCEO!
Nicole says, “As I look back, I recall I
didn’t even call myself a CEO until 2014.
Titles are cheap.” Through this
statement she wants to exemplify that
the real attributes of an individual at the
helm of their business is the curiosity.
She states that she never intended to
build a business rather sought work that
fueled her passion and in turn created a
perfect intellectual playground full of
challenges. Nicole believes and advises
that one must love his/her work, as the
business becomes an extension of
oneself it truly can be all-encompassing.
Whether it may be processing out the
work or providing the services, one must
commit him/herself with grit.
Emphasizing on risks, she expressed
that risks are taken but more important
than the risks are the willingness to fail.
Often it is the leap of faith grounded in
belief that one is doing something
greater than itself and something good,
so that one day, a leader might see
his/her team follow the same ideologies
and work with the same passion. She
says, “Then, and only then, did I feel
comfortable calling myself a Chief
EmpowermentOfficer.”
Cutting the Slack of Competition
She is attentive towards her clients and
always prefers to stay abreast of what
is happening in her industry
surrounding. She states that her
experience of rapid growth made her
realize the potential and enjoyed the
pace of word of mouth. She takes pride
to put forth that her company has a
proven track record and she is ready to
reveal its capability through her
client’s results.
Through explaining her initial
challenges of being CEO, she states
that human capital and financial capital
is one of basic need as well as
challenge to face. She makes a
statement that many will not grow
because they are not investing in talent
and often it is the CEO’s job to bear
debt. Moreover, she made a calculated
risk to invest in her talent and invest in
her bench strength. She shares through
her experience that it can be a
challenge to orchestrate work life
integration if one reacts to a business
as a mother or wife. She now realizes
that earlier when she put down the
process, hired capable talent, and
disappeared to let them work, the
process proved through: and now, she
can repeat it. She also advises to
readers, one must trust the people one
hires, and one must trust the process
too. As when it is time to take a
calculated risk, one invests and does
everything to increase the odds.
Embracing the Future
Nicole states that currently she would
be focusing on expanding the
company’s retainer services and offer
Small Business Bundles for clients that
typically do not have access to
strategic HR day one, employee one.
For the large clients, she feels excited
to watch them grow and reach their
Best & Brightest recognition. It brings
great joy to her knowing the company
facilitates joy and purpose through its
work for clients and for the people who
choose to work for them.
Conclusion
Nicole put forward a question for the
leaders, in her own words, “There is an
acronym I learned in my Vistage circles
in recent years that sums it for me. It is
GAS. You must have it to be a CEO. If
you figure out what it stands for,
message me!”

Leading by ExampleLeading by Example
Everything starts and stops with you, the founder or
CEO of the business, the person who everyone
looks to when it comes to setting an example. As
the leader of your company, your job is to inspire the people
around you to push themselves and, in turn the company, to
excel in everything they do. To do this, the leader must
show the way by doing it themselves, by walking the walk
and talking the talk.
Warren Bennis was an American scholar and organizational
consultant. He is widely regarded as a pioneer of the
contemporary field of leadership studies and is known to
have created the famous quote “Managers are people who
do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing.”
As the leader, you know that keeping your team together,
working towards a common goal, getting them to support
and help each other is your job. If you succeed, they will
succeed; morale will rise and more success will follow.
There’s almost nothing worse for company morale than
leaders who follow the “Do as I say, not as I do”
philosophy. When this happens, the loss of enthusiasm,
energy and goodwill among staff is like watching a tyre
deflate with frustration, cynicism and mistrust replacing any
positivity that previously existed.
No matter what the situation, double standards, where
people do one thing, and then say another is always a recipe
for a disaster. It can be very destructive. If this has ever
happened to you, I am certain the feelings that you
remember are of deep frustration, a sense of disappointment
and total let-down. It can be energy sapping and very hard
to break out of once it has happened.
As a leader you know that you have a responsibility to your
team. They look to you for guidance and strength; it is the
essence of what being a leader is. And a big part of your
responsibility is to lead them with and by your own actions.
So, why is it so important and what happens when you fail
to do this?When you lead by example, it is the creation of
the art of the possible. People can look at you and say,
“Well, if he is willing to do it, then so can I.” When you set
the tone of any activity, you become a source of inspiration
and you make it easy for others to follow you.
This brings me on to Trust. It is the inevitable by-product of
having done your job as a leader well. Trust takes time to
nurture and build. But, when you stay true to your beliefs,
to your core principles and when you keep your word your
staff will know. Consequently, your team will follow your
lead. They will put their trust in you, even when things are
tough in a business. By opening yourself up to your team
and showing them the way, the odds are that they will
follow you anywhere.
Good leaders drive their people forward with energy,
excitement, vision, inspiration and trust. A team without
trust in their leader will see poor productivity, higher
absenteeism and greater staff turnover. Enthusiasm may
disappear and the team may fall apart. The vision you’re
trying so hard to make happen will lose its appeal, all
because your team doesn’t trust you anymore.
Good leadership takes real strength of character and a firm
commitment to do the right thing, at the right time, for the
right reason …..even if it is hard. This means doing what
you say, when you say it. If your team can’t trust you,
you’ll never be great and you wont succeed. It’s like
running a race with your shoelaces tied together. If your
team knows that you’ll also do whatever you expect from
them, they’ll likely work hard to help you achieve your
collective goal.
Great leaders have changed the world because they lived by
their own example. They made accomplishing great things
the norm and not the exception. So, if you ask a colleague
to do something, make sure you are willing to do it
yourself. Make sure you set the example. Look closely at
your own behaviour. Show respect to others and that respect
will be returned. If you want people to listen to all opinions
and points of view, make sure you listen yourself. We were
given two ears and just one mouth for a reason!

Rob Leslie is the Founder and CEO of Sedicii. Rob is a
serial entrepreneur has a successful track record of
establishing and growing businesses to considerable
scale.
Sedicii was founded in 2013 and has won over 15
technology and innovations awards to date including,
most recently, the BBVA Open Innovation “Fintech for
Future” Award. BBVA is the oldest and largest Fintech
Innovation Program in the world and has highlighted
Sedicii as “the start-up with the greatest potential to
transform the financial sector in the next 10 years!” Sedicii
has developed a patented zero knowledge proof protocol
to help people and businesses prove their identities in
real-time without compromising their right to privacy.
Rob is a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer for
his work on the zero-knowledge proof protocol and has
spoken at Davos on cybersecurity, digital identity and
other technology issues affecting the world’s economies.
Prior to Sedicii he co-founded Kyckr (ASX:KYK) which is
now listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and provides
organisational identity services for KYC & AML services to
banks and other regulated financial institutions across the
globe. Rob was also part of the original management
team in Dell Japan that established and grew the business
to almost 300 employees and $300M turnover in its first
4 years.
About the Leader
Rob Leslie
Founder & CEO
Sedicii
Expert’s Outlook

In an interview with insights
success, Todd Davis, President
and CEO of FARO Logistics
Solutions, Inc and FARO Cargo
Handling, LLC shares his vital
knowledge on logistics and making it
efficient, fast and affordable.
Below are the highlights of the
interview between Todd Davis and
Insights Success:
How do you diversify your
organization’s offerings to appeal to
the target audience?
We’ve created an organization that has
generated appeal to a diverse group of
clients within the logistics and
fulfillment industry. Business is always
in constant motion. To not only survive
but excel, we have to be agile enough
to meet these ever-changing needs. We
have the unique ability to tailor
solutions to our customers that stay
within the framework of our business
philosophy and financial goals. While
all customers have the same basic
needs, we understand that each
customer is unique and may put an
emphasis on different facets of the
business. Our management team
researches, listens and constructs a
plan that is built around the customer’s
wants and needs. This includes
everything from automated IT
transactions, reporting to billing. We
thrive in tackling our customer’s
complex problems with innovation and
strategic partnering.
Describe some of the vital attributes
that every CEO should possess.
I believe it is imperative that the CEO
knows all aspects of the company
including Operations, Sales, Finance,
Real Estate, HR, IT and Legal. No one
person can singlehandedly manage a
company of this size and diversity. It
takes a team of highly committed and
professional individuals to deliver
positive results. Being a CEO requires
the ability to assemble such a team as
well as the ability to listen first and
react second. I believe that finding
passionate, driven team members is the
key to building a successful team.
Knowledge and experience are nice
traits, but if someone is not driven and
doesn’t truly care about their job and
the company’s success then they will
eventually let you down. A successful
CEO surrounds themselves with smart,
innovative and passionate people.
How do you strategize your game
plans to tackle competition in the
market?
We look at each new venture as an
opportunity to build relationships,
build trust and eventually a
partnership.
We deal in a high volume, low margin
industry. A lot of our competitors take
on customers for market share with
little or no regard to the “hidden costs”
associated with the industry. Our
experience in the market allows us to
expose these costs early on in the
customer engagement process. We feel
this open dialogue from the beginning
is key to establishing the trust needed
to succeed in the market and in
business. And as I stated earlier, we
believe in partnering with the customer
to ensure from the beginning they
know we are vested with them and will
tailor what they need to them
specifically and not make them fit into
a cookie-cutter type program.
What were the primal challenges
and roadblocks you faced during the
initial phase of your career as a
CEO?
Good question, I feel that changing the
legacy culture that existed at the time I
became CEO was of great challenge.
Human nature has instilled in us that
change is bad, but I tend to think of
change as an opportunity. Change takes
time, is never easy and it starts from
the top down. Assembling the right
team to embrace a new culture and
direction was challenging. It still is,
complacency will drive a company into
the red quicker than getting fired by a
customer. I wanted to make sure that
our team felt part of the company and
were not just spinning their wheels to
get a paycheck. It takes time for people
to see and buy in to a new culture, but
when they do it changes everything.
Where do you see yourself in the
near future and what are your future
goals?
My future is here with FARO. I, along
with the other shareholders have been
TODD DAVISAn Expert in Logistics Management

committed to this company for a long time and will
continue to be for a long time to come. We have a great
group of people working for us and with us. The logistics
business changes constantly, that’s part of the passion and
excitement around it. Our future goals will be targeted
expansion as we continue to work with current and
potential customers on their logistics and fulfillment needs.
We are in an industry which is in constant flux. If you don’t
change, grow and adapt, you will not survive.
What is Todd Davis’s advice for budding and emerging
CEO’s?
Patience and Trust. Both are extremely difficult traits in this
fast-paced business environment. Successful CEO’s have a
clear vision on goals they’d like to accomplish and how to
lead a company to the next level of success and beyond.
They also realize that they can’t do it alone. Hiring and
retaining quality people will continue to be one the CEO’s
biggest challenges. Hiring people takes trust and
commitment. A CEO can never be content, they must
always be looking years down the road and try to see the
future coming and plan for it. A CEO that is just reactive
and not proactive and visionary will not prevail in business.
Care about what you do and
how you do it, treat the
business like a family and
make sure you lead with
vision and integrity.
“ “ Todd Davis
President & CEO
About the Leader
Todd Davis, President, and CEO of FARO
Logistics Solutions, Inc., After graduating from
Penn State with a degree in Logistics and
Marketing, Todd joined FARO in 1991 as a
warehouse supervisor. He has held many
positions within the organization and became
CEO in 2012 after serving as the company’s CFO
for a number of years. He has been an active
board member since 2004 serving as Secretary,
Treasurer and now President.

he simplest observations are
Tsometimes the greatest
discoveries. Watching an apple
falling from its branch, Isaac Newton
discovered the famous law of universal
gravitation. Almost three centuries
later, science could take another leap
forward with... a roll of tape.
There is a new wonder material in
town that might change our future.
Imagine a coffee cup that streams the
day’s headlines in real time. Or a
cooking pot that can detect the
presence of E. coli bacteria that could
make you sick. Or a television screen
that is as flexible and thin as a piece of
paper. All of these applications could
be a reality if the wonder material,
named Graphene, lives up to its hype.
A Complicated Narrative
The story begins in 2004 in the
laboratories of the University of
Manchester. Fascination with this
material stems from its remarkable
physical properties and the potential
applications they offer. Although
scientists knew one atom thick, two-
dimensional crystal graphene existed,
no-one had worked out how to extract
it from graphite.
That was until it was isolated in 2004
by two researchers at The University of
Manchester: Prof. Andre Geim and
Prof. Kostya Novoselov. This is the
story of how that stunning scientific
feat achieved while peeling layers of
graphite using adhesive tapes, and why
Andre-Kostya duo won the Nobel
Prize in Physics for their pioneering
work. This is the beginning of a
scientific and engineering renaissance.
Unboxing Graphene
Graphene is a material that can be
perceived as a form of graphite, and
therefore a carbon allotrope that is
distinguished by its crystalline
organization. In simple terms graphene
is a sheet of a single layer (monolayer)
of carbon atoms, tightly bound in a
hexagonal honeycomb lattice. It is the
building-block of Graphite but
graphene is a remarkable substance on
its own - with a multitude of
astonishing properties proving the title
of ‘wonder material’.
Graphene is the thinnest compound
known to man having size equal to one
atom thick, the lightest material
known, the strongest compound
discovered surpassing diamond, the
best conductor of heat at room
temperature and also the best
conductor of electricity known to exist.
The Material of the Future
Graphene is a disruptive phenomenon;
one which could open up new markets
and even replace existing technologies
or materials. It is when graphene is
used both to improve an existing
material and in a transformational
capacity its true potential can be
realised. The vast number of products,
processes and industries for which
graphene could create a significant
impact, all stems from its amazing
properties.
Ÿ Biomedical
Graphene’s unique properties allow for
ground-breaking biomedical
applications; Targeted drug delivery,
improved brain penetration, DIY
health-testing kits and ‘smart’ implants
can be mentioned out of many
possibilities.
Ÿ Composite Materials
One of the simplest and most effective
ways of harnessing the potential of
graphene is to combine it with existing
products - so called composite
materials. By combining with paints, a
unique graphene coating can be formed
which could signal the end of the
deterioration of ships and cars through
rust. Additionally, it can do wonders in
the field of weather-proofing,
packaging, sports equipment and
creating lightest, strongest, safest
structures.
Ÿ Electronics
Graphene has the potential to create the
next-generation of electronics
exploring spheres of Sci-Fi technology,
faster transistors, semiconductors,
bendable phones, wearable gadgets and
other electronics.
A Material Marvel
of the Century

Ÿ Energy
With its inﬂuential properties and capabilities, graphene is
surely an innovation with distinct future prospects. Bearing
this in mind, one might be surprised to know that carbon is
the second most abundant mass within the human body and
the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass,
after hydrogen, helium and oxygen. This makes carbon the
chemical basis for all known life on earth, so therefore
graphene could well be an ecologically friendly, sustainable
solution for astronomical energy demands. Imagine fully
charging a smartphone in seconds or an electric car in
minutes. That’s the power of graphene batteries and super-
capacitors.
Ÿ Filtration Membranes
Imagine clean drinking water for millions in developing
countries. A global toll of 3.4 million deaths each year is a
serious concern which underlines the gravity of clean water
requirement. The development of graphene-based
membranes has brought that possibility closer like never
before.
Ÿ Sensors
Ultra-sensitive sensors made from graphene could detect
minute dangerous particles helping to protect potentially
dangerous environments. Its inherently micro-sized
structure allows for the creation of hair thin like sensors
which can be incorporated to detect biological agents like
drugs in our body, stresses and strain levels, atmospheric
changes caused by decaying food, and many more.
Future
It must be a wondering question that despite of graphene’s
prodigious abilities why it has not hit the ground reality.
The problem that prevented it from initially being
unavailable for commercial uses was that the creation of
high quality graphene was a very expensive and complex
process. “Its industrial production is not yet based on
reliable methods to obtain large quantities,” claims Alberto
Bianco, a researcher at the CNRS and the University of
Strasbourg. It was estimated in 2008 that the production of
a square meter of this miracle material cost a whopping
amount of 600 billion euros.
However, studies in 2012 found that by analysing its
interfacial adhesive energy, it is possible to eﬀectually
separate graphene from the metallic board on which it is
grown. As the techniques continue to evolve in nearby
future, on the account of its high productivity, a sharp
decline in price is expected to be achieved.
The range of industries where graphene research is making
an impact is substantial. And this is only the beginning.
These are only the baby steps. Although, it’s important to
consider the span within which it is likely to exist in
customary life, one simply cannot overlook the
inconceivable and endless potential of this supernatural
material. With continuously growing necessities and
depleting resources of the contemporary world, graphene
will certainly turn out to be a panacea of all remedies.
Bio Tech

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