Ep 5.4 - Atit Amin

Alvin and German conduct a great conversation with Fintech Investor at Pivot Investment Partners, Atit Amin, ’08. Atit works at the cutting edge of finance and tech, backing transformative companies that are changing the game at the intersection of wholesale finance and enterprise software. At Pivot, he helps founders scale businesses that have already proven product-market fit and are ready to grow with the right strategic partner. Before his current role, Atit gained a wealth of experience in the finance world—serving as a Senior Research Analyst at CEB, an Accounting Analyst at Chartis, and a Summer Analyst at NDC Capital Partners. He even got his start with an early internship at Lloyds TSB. He’s also an active member of the CFA Society New York, demonstrating his continued commitment to the financial industry. At Colgate, Atit was an editor for The Colgate Maroon-News and earned his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Affairs.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following podcast is being brought to you by the
Defile Life podcast Network.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Aftergate, Powered by the Defile Life Network.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Are you all Ready?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
Aftergate is a podcast series highlighting Colgate alumni of color
in their professional endeavors.

Speaker 3 (00:23):
Aftergate Are you all Ready?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Aftergate is hosted by Alvin Glim aka al and Herman
Dubois aka A Jerry.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
Are you all ready?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
We are doing Aftergate because Colgate University has produced innovators
who have changed the world every day, Yet many alumni
of color and the mainstream Colgate community are unaware of
the amazing accomplishments of alums of color?

Speaker 4 (00:45):
Are you all ready?

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Welcome? Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Aftergate, the podcast where we
are focused solely on interviewing alums of color, documenting, amplifying,
sharing their journeys. And it has been a fascinating ride.
We are creeping up on one hundred shows. Yes, and

(01:15):
that's the case. This is Alvin Glyn. I'm with my
co host mister Hedman Dubas aka Jerry. Sir? How are
you doing down in my ami?

Speaker 5 (01:25):
Miami is goood? We are in the thicker spring break,
so you know we've been invaded by young co eds
from across the country, of course, so it's good to,
you know, see them have that opportunity because I don't
remember any spring breaks like that when I was at Cogate.
You know, I was playing baseball for four years, so
I didn't have much of a spring break. But you know,

(01:46):
I was just happy to go home to the Bronx
on the weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Well, he was going down to Florida if I remember correctly,
for spring break on the baseball team. And I only
know this for real, for real in terms of remember,
it is because I actually road tripped down there with
Steve to enjoy Florida and check you out as well.

Speaker 5 (02:06):
Yeah, no doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
Amazing road trip. All Aftergate listeners, if you ever see
me and I have a drink in my hand or
you have a drink in your hand, please bring up
spring break when we ride down to see Jerry Bucket
of stories and.

Speaker 4 (02:25):
Absolutely but all is.

Speaker 3 (02:27):
Good here, man, The same thing spring is, you know,
spring is here. Pollen in Atlanta is the things I
think because of all these birthdays I had, I'm getting
some type of allergies. I've never experienced this before, but
I'm getting headaches and the little sinus thing. And it's interesting, interesting, interesting.

Speaker 5 (02:51):
That means you might be due for a trip to
some warmer weather, fresh air, sunshine, you know, elements of
the ocean. Yeah, you'll go you'll go back.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
Good is new, get back, get back to how it
used to be, refresher. But all speaking of refresh uh,
I want to get your blessing permission to bring our
guests in for this week? Can I can I bring
now guests into the studio?

Speaker 5 (03:21):
The aftergate clergy says, Amen, and welcome brother.

Speaker 3 (03:26):
A mean welcome to Aftrogate, my brother.

Speaker 4 (03:41):
Thank you gentlemen, Jerry, if I heard correct, you're from
the Bronx. Did I hear that right?

Speaker 5 (03:48):
Yes, sir?

Speaker 4 (03:49):
And raised tomorrow's opening day. How do you feel? I
believe we have mister Carlos Dna on the mound.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
Right opening day pitcher this year?

Speaker 5 (04:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean opening days always exciting. You know,
it's just that with hope and addition and you know
Yankees have been heartbreaking last that's recently, so uh, we
got to show up. We got to show up. Let's
get out the gate, you know, strong and and and
you know, have a positive opening day. But the Bronch
is going to be electric.

Speaker 4 (04:21):
Oh, it always is. And uh, we've been hitden pretty
hard by injuries and we haven't even played a single
game yet.

Speaker 5 (04:29):
It's early. It's early. It's early. It's early.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
The good thing with their budget is they have depth,
so they're not the Tampa Bay You lose a player
or two and call in Christmas Yankees. Yankees got budget.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
Let's let's get after it.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
So nice to see were all baseball fans. Uh, sounds
like Yankee fans. That's that's good to always be in
the presence of some bomber fans. But we're here tonight
to talk about you. So let's one one. I always
like to acknowledge the guests who it wasn't easy to

(05:10):
get on. There was a reschedule, a cancelation, a technical difficulty, something,
and in this case, it probably was all three, right,
But I appreciate your persistence, I appreciate your flexibility, I
appreciate your grace, and I always like the knowledge guests
who is not just pick a date, record the podcast

(05:33):
and it's that easy. So thank you, my brother, for
being willing to go through all of that.

Speaker 4 (05:40):
The feeling is mutual. Alvin and Jerry. I know this
has been the works since either October or November. I
believe sounds about that it's still a long time coming.
But I also want to acknowledge the fact that you
both of you were gracious and extending the invitation to me,
So this cuts both ways.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yes, thank you, sir. So in our tradition, we always
like to start off the show. Is this a case
where we go back? We know each other to my recollection.
I don't remember ever being in your presence before, and
so this is an opportunity for all of us, including
our listeners. But we'll be learning about you kind of

(06:20):
live and direct, So listeners get ready, am I right?
Let me just for the record, just a little sanity check,
because you know, in my fifties I do forget things.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
But I don't believe our paths have crossed because candidly,
I have not been to a single milestone reunion. Okay,
so I'm not sure if either of you have recently,
but unfortunately I haven't been to a five to ten.
Even my fifteen year recently I missed. So perhaps next

(06:50):
time we'll be able to get together at Colgate for
a momentous occasion.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
Sounds good. Sounds good, So let's let's start from the
beginning one. Where are you now and where are you from?

Speaker 5 (07:03):
Sure?

Speaker 4 (07:04):
So I am in work, has me in New York
City these days. Where I've been since twenty fifteen. Home
is right across the river in the suburbs of New Jersey.
I have two young kids. My wife and I met
in twenty seventeen. So after we met, we met in

(07:27):
New York City, and like a lot of folks these days,
we met on a dating app. Actually, wow, we're all
success stories. Yeah, we met in a dating app. We
got married in July twenty eighteen, and at that time,
first few years of our life, we settled down in

(07:48):
Long Island City because both of us were working in
mid Down at that time and Long Island City was
a great fit. Really loved it. But unfortunately the world decided.
Of course, they ceased to exist as we knew it
thanks to COVID in twenty twenty. So that simply accelerated

(08:09):
our efforts to find a more permanent solution for putting
down roots. And so we were one of those who
were fortunate to buy at the at the right time.
So we bought a house in northern New Jersey where
we've called home and we've raised our two kids. We

(08:32):
have a three and a half year old and a
seventeen month old, two boys.

Speaker 5 (08:36):
So I.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
Jokingly say I have a fraternity at home.

Speaker 5 (08:41):
There.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
It is congratulations on the wedding, and the children's tart
in the family is a blessing.

Speaker 5 (08:48):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
It's okay. So where are you from originally?

Speaker 4 (08:53):
Yes, so I am originally from New Jersey, so born
and bred, moved round in a few different parts of Jersey,
but spent the entirety of my childhood in Jersey.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
And it was.

Speaker 4 (09:14):
Fantastic childhood being born in the nineties. And I'm sure
a lot of millennials can appreciate and relate to what
life was like back in the day. Much different obviously
than it is right now. But I just remember so
much of what I remember in my childhood is after

(09:36):
school going out and actually it's just like playing in
the yard, shooting hoops, going out the field and maybe
tossing the football or the baseball around with friends. And
I think that sense of community and camaraderie has just
escaped much of our youth because of how quickly technol

(10:00):
has proliferated, and we can get into that and later
part of the show. But I just have such fond
memories of what the nineties were like as a child.

Speaker 5 (10:10):
Wow. Although album and I both are familiar with Jersey,
for many of our listeners who who may or may not,
could you give us a little breakdown of what you
said you moved around different parts of Jersey if you
can identify a few and then share with folks maybe
sort of like what would the demographics like in those
various neighborhoods, so they can have a sense of what
your childhood environment was like before we get to Kogi

(10:32):
for sure.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
So I grew up in a town called Bloomfield, which
is in northern Jersey, Essex County, and much like a
lot of parts of Northern Jersey, it's a cultural melting pot.
So you got folks from all different walks of life,
and it was really strong community of immigrants at that

(10:57):
time as well. And I'm the product of first general
I'm a first product of first generation immigrants came to
this country in the eighties and at that time.

Speaker 3 (11:11):
Just hold on from they came from what country?

Speaker 4 (11:15):
My parents were of Indian descent, so my parents immigrated
from India, yep. So growing up in that type of community,
everyone has like similar upbringing, similar roots, and similar more
or less I would say, similar customs, and so it

(11:38):
was real easy to get along with kids and just
be being able to make friends. So I grew up
in Bloomfield, spent the first eleven years of my life there,
so up through seventh grade, and then at eighth grade. Parents.

(11:59):
I have a younger sister. By the way, there's a
five year age gap between us. So I was in
seventh grade where I was jumping into eighth and my
sister was moving into third and my parents, for a
variety of reasons, moved us to down south to a
town called Marlborough, which is in central New Jersey. Part

(12:24):
of their thinking was to try and challenge us more academically,
but also we had sort of outgrown our house at
that time. It was a fantastic starter, single family home. Incidentally,
where I live now in northern New Jersey, it's ten

(12:45):
minutes away from Bloomfield. So just the sentimentality in me
when we initially moved here, I actually went to go
visit that house just to see lake and it brought
back such great memories. Anyways, So once we moved down
to Marlborough, it is a little bit of a of

(13:07):
a resettling period because obviously you're you're a teenager. You're
leaving behind all your friends, everything, you know, everything that
you grew up with and just having to start again
from scratch. And as a as a fourteen year old,
I think I was at that time, that's that's not easy.

(13:28):
It wasn't easy. You know, your your fresh face, where
whereas everyone else has known each other for quite some time.
And it's daunting to be in a new place, new environment,
and have to make new friends and get acclimated to
effectively a new society. But that's that's what we call life, right,

(13:51):
and that's part of growing up, that's part of that's
very much part of what makes you you, and it
very much shaped who I am, and frankly it was
a very different type of experience. Candidly, some folks say that,
you know, they made some of their most formative friends

(14:15):
during high school. I wasn't really like that.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
I have.

Speaker 4 (14:19):
I can count on one hand the number of friends
that I still keep in touch with from high school.
And it was it was a worthwhile opportunity, But for me,
I just think of it as a stepping stone to
get to where I needed to, which ultimately obviously led
me to Colgate.

Speaker 3 (14:40):
Fascinating, And it's interesting because my children probably have a
similar experience. They started in a starter and then they
moved to another community and we've been there ever since,
and so be curious to kind of hear their perspective
one day on what that transit. So it's kind of

(15:00):
interesting to hear an adults share it as well.

Speaker 4 (15:03):
I anticipates as time goes on, my wife and I
will probably make the same move because right now we're
in a great place, but I imagine we'll want to
perhaps move to a different part of the state or
maybe even a different part of the country for a
variety of reasons. Work could take us there, unfortunately, just

(15:26):
given the chaos of the country that we live in
right now, which is a matter for a different episode entirely.
But who knows what the future holds. So as much
as we love where we are, I don't think it's
our quote unquote forever home.

Speaker 3 (15:43):
Gotcha. How did you hear about Kogi?

Speaker 4 (15:46):
Yeah, so, very good question, Alvin, very good question. So
when I applied or when I started to apply to schools,
I put together a list of about ten to twelve
schools that I knew of, I visited, and I was

(16:07):
really passionate about attending. Truth we told Colgate wasn't initially
on that list. I had not heard of Colgate. I
was not familiar with Colgate, and frankly, as I charted
the course of my career of what I thought I
wanted my career to be, I wanted to go into finance.

(16:28):
So to no surprise, the schools I wanted to go
to were like at that time, since I was living
in Jersey, the Rutgers Business School or NYU Stern or
Pace University, et cetera, et cetera, all these schools that
have pretty decent finance programs where I could build the

(16:49):
foundation of my career as a student. So when it
came time to thinking about this liberal arts school, I
wasn't honestly sure what I was getting myself into. And
the original genesis of it getting on my radar was
my father. So my father had heard about Colgate through

(17:11):
some through a network of his so he actually he's
the CEO of a single family office and in the
course of his work. He's known Dan Denton tangentially his
entire life, or for most of his professional life, I

(17:32):
should say, and Dan Benton, being an illustrious Colgate alum
Colgate donor, had had mentioned, look, if your son is
considering going off to going off to school in the fall,
this is a great place that he should consider. It's

(17:54):
going to challenge him academically, He's going to have opportunities
to really grow as a man in many different ways, etcetera, etcetera.
So effectively he was the whisperer to my dad, and
my dad mentioned, why didn't you take a look at
this school? And it wasn't until I went on an

(18:17):
April visit days that full appreciation of just how awesome
of an opportunity this could be.

Speaker 5 (18:26):
I know.

Speaker 4 (18:28):
Not everyone has a chance to go on an April
visit day, but that single handedly made the decision for me.
Right then and there, I knew that this was the
lace I wanted to be. So I went on my
April visit days and I had the opportunity to meet

(18:51):
with the people who I still considered to be some
of my closest friends. I got an opportunity to take
in a class or two and just be a part
of the community for that short period I was there
and I didn't need to see anymore, and they sold

(19:13):
me right at that point. Now, obviously that was the
that was the easy part. The much harder part was
getting in. And at that time I knew about this,
so it very much daunted me. My high school graduation
class was about six hundred and my valedictorian ended up

(19:36):
going to Colgate and another classmate of mine, who was
ranked like eighth or ninth by GPA, also ended up
going to Colgate. So I didn't apply early to Colgate.
I applied regular decision to Colgate. So I wasn't I

(19:57):
wasn't exactly sure if I would be able to get
in with my credentials, but thankfully I suppose a little
bit of perseverance, luck and determination and got me in.
And it was It was singlendantly one of the best

(20:21):
decisions I've made in my life.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
For one, I mean, I think having returned to Colgate
as an alumni council guy and been in the arts facility,
the entrepreneur innovation arts facility that Dan Bentton wrote an
amazing contribution to help create. I mean, you just kind
of mentioned his name, but I do just want to

(20:49):
let folks know you google Dan Benton because he's that
facility to me, is going to change so much for students, artists, yats, innovators,
musicians in the future of Coviate. Fascinating story. Fascinating story
a lot of us that April visit was the hook

(21:13):
line and sinker that got us to commit to Kgate.
So you're not alone.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
Thankfully it wasn't snowing at that time. It was. I
think I would have thought twice about going there.

Speaker 5 (21:24):
I think they're very intentional about scheduling in April too,
makes you to allow you to see the campus in
bloom before you catch the campus in Blizzard. But I'm
curious when when you were at Kogate how to transition
to Colgate academically. Did you feel prayered culturally, socially coming

(21:47):
from you know, city where you know numbers are clearly
far greater than Hamilton, New York. What was that like
for you? Share a little bit about.

Speaker 4 (21:55):
That for sure, Jerry, I'm glad you asked this, and
it was it was a rough adjustment. Very candidly, I thought, well,
let me let me start by saying that I knew
it was going to be difficult because once I got in,
I realized that this is I realized just how onerous

(22:19):
of a responsibility this is going to be in terms
of being able to fulfill the commitment of being a
student at Colgate and achieving solid marks. So I knew
that I was going to have my work cut out
for me. It wasn't until you stepped foot on campus
and you actually enroll in classes and you start to

(22:41):
take exams and write papers that you realize, Wow, this
is this is a much different beast than what we were
faced in high school. Even even your AP classes, right,
you take as many AP classes as you can as
a high school student to try and prepare you for

(23:01):
what life would be like as a as a college student.
I don't. I don't think I came close to taking
a single AP class that was similar to pull game.
So it took me, actually, very transparently, three semesters to
start to feel comfortable academic. And the proof isn't, frankly,

(23:24):
in my grades. I I probably didn't do justice to
myself because since I had taken a fair amount of
AP glasses in high school, I skipped into like too
one econ or toul One calc et cetera, et cetera.
So perhaps I didn't make it easy on myself, but

(23:45):
I also didn't want to either. So if I was
going to challenge myself, I wanted to make sure that
I did everything possible to make sure that I was
going to put myself through the through the ringer. So
those first my entire freshman year, I was extremely stressed.

(24:06):
I can still tell you to this day that I
probably spent eight days out of the week in the
library and just being knowing that in order to I
felt like in order to keep up with the rigor
of the other students, I needed to outwork them because

(24:28):
they were I felt like there were so many other
people who were more talented, smarter, and more intellectually disciplined,
were intellectually proven than me. So the best I could
do is just work my tail off and try and
compete with them at that level. So that's what I did,

(24:49):
and frankly, I sold myself to the library. God, I
forget the name of our prior library. I think it
was case right. It wasn't the new one is case Guyer.
But I think we during our time we had case.
I forget if that was the name of it.

Speaker 3 (25:10):
You was there so much, you remember that it was
even that it had a name. I just called it
the library. So I do have a question though, like,
so what motivated your choice to take that approach in
terms of putting yourself through the ringer? I mean, you
know what I mean, Like, not every student makes that choice.

Speaker 4 (25:32):
It's I wanted to. I think what I wanted to
achieve through my college education was to realize the best
possible version of myself. I know it's a cliche, but
to become the best and fulfill my quote unquote true potential.

(25:53):
I knew I needed to challenge myself and I wasn't
going to do that by taking the easy route. I
could have taken the easier route, by taking you know,
filling up my schedule with electives and the like, but
rather than doing that, I wasn't interested in that path.

(26:16):
I wanted to make sure that I got the best
out of myself, and I was going to make the
most of this opportunity because as we know, this is
a very privileged opportunity that we have to attend Colgate,
and I want to make the most of it. And
so I thought no better way to do that than
throw myself into the deep end.

Speaker 5 (26:38):
Do you call where you resided for the or four years?
O Colgate?

Speaker 4 (26:40):
Absolutely so. During I think it's in July or August.
They send you like your questionnaire forms about what you
what you're like, what your preferences are, et cetera. And

(27:00):
I made it very clear that I wanted to live
in East Hall, and at that time East Hall I'm
not sure if it's still the case, but East Hall
was the dorm for students who didn't partake in alcohol.

(27:21):
So I felt like that really aligned with who I
was and frankly the type of people I wanted to
be surrounded by and the roommates that I wanted to have,
And unfortunately I didn't have the best pairing initially, so

(27:43):
we were able to we made a clean break after
the first month or two I think, and then I
got paired up. I had actually the opportunity to select
my next roommate, and I got a chance to meet
with two or three other freshmen, and I ended up
picking uh Uh, a fellow first year who I lived

(28:06):
with for the remainder of my four years, who was
whose wedding I attended, who's one of my closest friends
to this day. He came, he came to my wedding.
We keep in touch on a very close basis. So
I'm very great selection, very grateful that our pats crossed.

Speaker 3 (28:31):
First of all, who knew you could interview roommates and select.

Speaker 5 (28:36):
Must have been a new policy because that certainly wasn't wrong.

Speaker 3 (28:38):
Were but to get those type of results they might
want to look at maybe shifting some of their practice.

Speaker 5 (28:45):
It was.

Speaker 4 (28:46):
It was a very uncomfortable situation which had unfortunately arisen
between my original roommates and myself. So I think the
Colgate presidential stat for they were accommodating in my request
to see if there would be better alignment, and thankfully

(29:11):
I rewarded their trust in me because the the student
I selected, he was he was an excellent fit, excellent
fit for the culture that East Hall sought to bring
to the table.

Speaker 3 (29:28):
Well, kudos for advocating for yourself at such an early age,
and kudos for Kogate for being accommodated.

Speaker 4 (29:35):
Correct. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (29:37):
Extra well. You lived there all four years at East No.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
So Eastall was the East All was freshman year than
Curtis No not Curtis. Oh my gosh, the dorm room
next to Curtis. We were over there our sophomore year.
Then we were in the apartments our junior year. Both

(30:04):
of us were abroad for fresh sorry for first semester
of our junior year, so we we were only there
for partial virginior. And then I believe our senior is Newell.
I believe Newel the Newell apartments and our senior we
actually got lucky. I think I drew like three or

(30:25):
four in the lottery, so I got real, real lucky
and picking a choice, yep, exactly, study aboard, where'd you visit?
So I was in ECON. I r double and I
chose and was admitted into the London Study, a broad
program for ECON. So I went. I went with I believe,

(30:53):
Oh my god, uh Kevin, I'm blanking on the professor's
last name. It was a husband and wife, Kevin and Nicole.
But it was a fantastic opportunity. So this was fall
of two thousand and seven, and at that time the

(31:14):
program was structured such that we took classes four days
a week, meaning that every Friday was off. So effectively
they organized in this way, so that way they encouraged
us to travel, to take in the local culture and

(31:35):
being able to really enjoy the experience, so that I
really very much took advantage of. I remember one weekend
we went to Paris, another weekend we went to Madrid,
Another weekend we went to Berlin. Another weekend we went
to go see Stonehenge et cetera, et cetera. So, as

(31:58):
a I think eighteen year old, nineteen year old that type, yeah,
really awesome. And then of our educational academic component, three
of the four classes that we took were at LC,
so it's just an awesome opportunity to be in that setting,

(32:20):
that environment. The one class that was not ECON related
was actually a theater class, and again all part and
parcel of Colgate wanting to expose us to our broader
discipline than just what we were studying. And so at
that time I remember, perhaps not the best role model now,

(32:44):
but we went to go see Kevin Spacey who was
headlining a play at one of the major theaters, and
after the show we actually got to meet him, So
that was that was pretty cool. I remember. Similarly, I
don't remember the actor's name, but from Harry Potter, he

(33:07):
played Professor Snape. I think that was the character and
we got to meet him as well. So just who
would have thought that through a theater course you'd be
able to have the opportunity to meet with some big
name legends in the.

Speaker 5 (33:26):
From that vocation, aside from the study abroad, did you
find yourself you're involved in the other extracurricular activities or
non library time, what might have you gotten into a lot?

Speaker 4 (33:43):
Jerry, so interesting that you mentioned you played baseball. I
don't remember Colgate having a baseball team during my days.

Speaker 5 (33:51):
Yeah, they shortly after they ended up due to Prop
forty eight, which was a policy to NCAA passed across
the country where they needed to increase the number of
women's sports, and universities were forced with limited funds to
make adjustments, and so several varsity programs got shut down

(34:14):
and baseball was one of them. And I believe it
was to bring women's hockey into play. They did it
the baseball program. So, but the research will show you
that Coogate Bate men's baseball won the NTUBA World Series
in nineteen fifty four, so at one point, at one
point they had some ball us.

Speaker 4 (34:35):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
Research will also show you that the women's hockey team
is right now too. They do well quite regularly, just
right right, right now. I'm just saying, I'm just saying.

Speaker 5 (34:49):
No, without a doubt.

Speaker 4 (34:51):
The reason I flagged this is so one of my
main passions outside of the classroom was actually the Moon News.
So I started out as a writer for the sports section.
I became sports editor my sophomore year, and then I
became one of the senior editors for my junior senior year.

(35:17):
So I have had a close association with a number
of the sports teams across Colgate. I actually covered women's
field hockey for my freshman year and my sophomore year.
I had no idea what field hockey was, but I
grew to have a real appreciation for the sports, and

(35:39):
I very much respected the coach. She was always so
generous in her time in helping shape the coverage I
was able to give the team, et cetera, et cetera.
So very much considered Moon News to be a key
component of of my Colgate experience. A few other aspects

(36:05):
of what I call my extracurriculars that were really important
to me, Jerry. One was you to good tutoring, so
I always felt like I wanted to participate in activities
where I could give back my time to those who
may want to follow in our footsteps. And at that

(36:25):
time you to go tutoring, we were we were participating
in tutoring sessions with high school students in communities that
were a little bit less represented, less developed, that had
less resources, and so frankly, I remember quite vividly, I

(36:50):
think it was probably every Friday we'd go after class.
It was maybe like no more than ten of us
because because of the ass as you remember, Yuka was
probably a forty five minute bus ride. It wasn't exactly
the most popular Coved activity, but I very much enjoyed

(37:11):
it because of the impact that we were able to deliver.
So that was something that I took a lot of
pride in participating in. And then last which allowed me
to make some of the best friendships that I still
have to this day, was the Hindu Student Association. So,

(37:34):
as you alluded to at the start of this program,
Alvin very much devoted to supporting students of color, and
I can tell you, as both of you know, there
weren't many of us even in two thousand and four,
two thousand and five, two thousand and six, seven and
eight when I was there, still very underrepresented part of

(38:00):
against society. So no doubt I was drawn to folks
who look like me, who had similar stories to me,
who I could share and bond with fairly easily, so
that I like you guys. I probably spent a lot
of my free time in Alana. I remember we had

(38:23):
some great events at a lot of cultural center and
I really enjoyed being at that time. Mark Shiner was
the chaplain and he was a great friend of HSA,
m s A, all the all the student cultural societies,
and that was also not unimportant to my overall Colgate experience.

Speaker 3 (38:48):
Yes, Alana, very dear to our heart, very dear to
many students of color their experience, and so nice to
hear that it was part of your journey as well
and making it somewhat more supportive and inclusive experience.

Speaker 4 (39:07):
Absolutely, because again, as much as Colgate draws nationally from
high school students, as we all know, international students are
a key demographic and a key component of the Colgate
student body. And I can certainly appreciate that. You know,

(39:28):
if you're an international student, you're probably you may be
coming to the US for maybe the first time or
maybe the second time, and out of body experience. So
to have a place like Alana where students of similar
backgrounds can gather, learn from one another, bond with each other,

(39:50):
that was just another part that helped me eventually ease
and grow into myself where I felt like, all right,
this is a place where I want to call home,
but I could also call home because now I feel
like it is home.

Speaker 3 (40:09):
There's dope. When you look back at your four years
is what would you reflect on and say, these are
my major accomplishments, my highlights? What are the high points the.

Speaker 4 (40:25):
Community? I would say one was the community of friendships
that I was able to build friendships. We're all old
enough to know that friendships can come and go, and
it's a two way street. It takes a lot of
effort to maintain those relationships and the bonds. The strengthen

(40:48):
the bonds that we were able to create during our
time at Coolgate is what's allowed these friendships to still
stay true to this day. Spending all nighters together and
being there for each other when times got tough, just
being great role models and great friends to each other

(41:11):
when we needed when you know, when we needed each other.
That really stood out to me. That is something that
I considered to be a true reflection. Going back to
a question you asked earlier around academics. As I mentioned,

(41:31):
so the first three semesters were rough, tough, an adjustment period.
After that, I felt like, man, I don't know what clicked,
what switch I was able to turn on. But those
remaining five semesters were night and day, night and day,
and to the point where I felt like my senior

(41:55):
year I wasn't even I wasn't even challenging myself enough.
So my last semester, actually I only ended up taking
two courses because I fulfilled all my credits, I had
fulfilled all my requirements, and I got to a place
where I really excelled. So I think those remaining five

(42:18):
semesters Dean's List, honors list, I forget the academic honors
society that you graduate into, et cetera, et cetera. So
all those accolades I certainly take great pride in because
it was not easy, but it felt like a great

(42:38):
recognition of the time, effort, energy, sweat, tears that went
into making it happen.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
Oh cool, cool, We're going to take a pause right
there and take a break for the first half. We'll
be back for the second half of this conversation with
a t I Mean class of two thousand and eight.
So this episode is sponsored by Hope Murals. Hope Murals
is a nonprofit that provides adolescent youth with an interactive

(43:10):
experience of creative expression via an urban arts platform that
stimulates both mental and physical development. Please visit that website
at www dotmurals dot org to learn more and find
ways you can support the work they do. Welcome back,

(43:31):
Welcome back, Welcome back. We are here for the second
half of this conversation with a Taman Class two thousand
and eight. Before we get into what life has been
like at the gate, let me make sure we show
some love to our sponsor. Our sponsor, as always is
Hope Murals, So please make sure you show them some love.
Get on their website hopemurals dot org social media At

(43:55):
Hope Murals, they are doing some phenomenal things in terms
of exposing you to urban aren't helping them become better people.
So I want to make sure we show out some
love to our network, the fire Life podcast Network. They
are been backing us from the beginning, so always want
to make sure we show some love to our network.

(44:16):
This is your first time listening to our show. Know
that you can find us on all of your major
podcast streaming services. Make sure you like or subscribe when
you are listening so you'll get an alert every time
we release a new show, because we are trying to
release the show every Saturday. Now I'm gonna pass the
night to my man Jerry so he can take us
into the second half of this show.

Speaker 5 (44:39):
Welcome back to listeners, though we're here with brother Amin
from Plass two thousand and eight. And before we get
back into the post COVID journey. Something a topic that's
near and dear to my heart that has been part
of book My personal journey and professional one. Is this
the art of parenting and all that comes with the

(44:59):
various a years and stages that parenting connects us to.
When we think of living life over again and trying
to to allow your children to be themselves, but know
that your responsibility to guide is at the forefront. Uh,
I'd be always interested in hearing perspectives on how individuals

(45:26):
deal with parenting managing a career. I was a young parent,
I was still figuring myself out. Never mind that the
journey of parenting you seem to be established. Someone in
your career, your wife as well, share a little bit
about the hazard those and the frozen cons of what
uh sort of the art of parenting means to you

(45:49):
and what what what might you you share in terms
of wisdom to others entertaining, entering parenthood or who have
just begun parenthood.

Speaker 4 (45:58):
For sure, Jerry, I think you both would agree that
there is no better joy in life than being a parent.
And I have a three and a half year old
and a seventeen month old, and when they get up
every morning and they come to us and they're ready

(46:20):
to start their day, and the smiles they have on
their face, I'm reminded just how precious and fleeting these
moments are because I can remember back to when they
were just toddlers and diapers and now they're walking, talking,
young young kids, and the transformation that happens in their

(46:46):
lives is just remarkable. So one lesson that I try
and communicate to folks who are either considering it or
are just starting in their journey is be active present
and try to mitigate the ups and downs the best

(47:09):
you can, because it is not easy. We've all been there,
and the first few years are very difficult, right, and
there's a lot of long sleepless nights. Inevitably, children are
going to get sick, they were going to be unwell,
and we've had some few scares along the way because

(47:30):
our older one was born at the tail ends of COVID. Nevertheless,
he still had to experience and deal with some of
the repercussions. So I'll give you a brief example. After
my wife's maternity ended, we had to figure out a

(47:53):
solution and we threw him into the deep end by
enrolling him in daycare. And he was one of of
ten or twelve kids in this class. And unfortunately, one
week he got thick and and we had to take
him to the hospital because despite our home remedies, he

(48:13):
just wasn't getting well. All cut to the chase, he
ended up contracting COVID, pneumonia and the flu all at
the same time, and he was in the ICU on
a respirator for four days.

Speaker 5 (48:26):
It was.

Speaker 4 (48:29):
Gut wrenching to see your child helpless, hopeless, just sitting there,
devoid of life and no parent hopefully should have to
go through that. But those are also the struggles that

(48:50):
you just sometimes need to overcome in the course of
being a parent. We talked about it earlier that life
is extremely unpredictable and when you decide to have children,
this is what happens. This is a curveball that life
throws at you, and you do the best you can
in the moment to be active, to be present, and

(49:14):
to guide them, and to hope and pray that they
do get better. And thankfully that my son did and
he's he's stronger. Foreign the other part that I will say,
which has which I am still learning, So I am
no means a savant about it. But more than any

(49:36):
other aspect of my life, parenting teaches you and instills patience.
We all hear how patience is a virtue, and having
children will test the balance of patients and you will
quickly learn that there are there are perhaps some limits

(49:59):
around it, but but you will. You will also gain
a far better appreciation of what it means to be
patient in their growth and development and how you support
and nurture them. So this gift of parenting is it's
a wonderful joy and I know I'm just getting started

(50:23):
in the journey and I can't wait to what the
years ahead are going to bring. We've just been I
think you'll appreciate this, Jerry m So, April twenty sixth
actually is our first Tea Bowl practice. So we're just
getting Yeah, we're just getting up and running, like these
are the things that I can't wait to do with

(50:45):
my kids. So we've enrolled them in swimming, soccer, baseball,
now karate, and so these are all things that I
can't wait for my for my boys to learn and develop.

Speaker 5 (50:59):
Thanks.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
Thanks, Uh, well, you're definitely in the room with two
individuals who take fatherhood very seriously. We both have grown children,
and but the journey never stops, right, and so.

Speaker 5 (51:20):
There.

Speaker 3 (51:21):
I don't know if there's a book out there, and
maybe Jerry, me and you should think about writing it
about parenting grown children. I feel like there's plenty of
books for the stage you're at, Like they kind of
gave a lot of whether it's us people sharing or
you're elder sharing, or there's movies but grown children, right,

(51:44):
it's Calculus.

Speaker 5 (51:45):
Stop Si right exactly exactly.

Speaker 4 (51:49):
There's never been a world Sorry Cherry, but Alvin's point
there's never been a world like the one that we
live in. Yeah, right, so I can't imagine there being
a playbook to learn from.

Speaker 3 (52:04):
No, No, good point, good point. Well again, congratulations on
the family, but also great to hear how your son
has recovered and to your point, you know he's stronger
for it. And I'm sure y'all are as a unit.
I love now to talk about the path since graduation

(52:26):
mayor two thousand and eight to become the man you
are now.

Speaker 4 (52:31):
I'm so happy I'm talking to gentlemen who are old
enough to remember what the world was like in May
two thousand and eight, because too often speaking to Coolgate
grads of Colgate class of twenty twenty, twenty twenty one,
and they were seven or eight, they have no idea
what the world was like. So both of you know

(52:51):
that we had the great fortune, which I say tongue
in chicic of graduating May nineteenth, two thousand and eight,
And at that time Colgate still did on campus recruiting.
I don't I don't know if they still do. But
I was fortunate enough to lend an opportunity with Barclays
in their corporate bank, and the job was supposed to

(53:14):
start shortly after Labor Day. If we go back in time,
I think it was perhaps around June or July that
the world fell apart in the financial crisis set in.
So unfortunately they pulled off in August of two thousand
and eight, and it forced me to figure out what

(53:37):
I was going to do next. So if I if
I summarize right here, that my career has been extremely nonlinear,
has not charted the course that I thought it would
would in any shape or fashion. But again, I think

(53:57):
that goes back to the theme that I've been marking
to throughout this podcast, that that's life. So if I
get back to the timeline, so I like, unfortunately a
lot of college grads at that time. I was unemployed

(54:17):
for the first five months after a graduation, five or
six months, and I remember trying to just interview wherever
I can because I just wanted to start working. But
as you gentlemen know quite well, there weren't too many
people who were keen on hiring at that time, especially

(54:38):
recent college grads who had a minimal experience, even though
they may have been willing to take whatever salary they
could fetch. So I ended up landing a job in
May two thousand and nine at AIG wasn't the best
firm to land at for reasons that we all know well,

(55:02):
being associated with the financial crisis, but I just wanted
to start to develop some relevant experience, so I joined
their accounting department. I spent a year and a half there,
and then throughout that frankly, I knew that this was
just it was a job. It wasn't really a career.

(55:26):
It was a job that would help me to develop
some set of skills, start to get into the quote
unquote real, real world, and then I could start to
figure out, all right, I don't like this, I like this,
where can I best apply myself? Because even two thousand
and nine we were not out of the woods, and

(55:48):
by no means. So I've actually started to think about
the world of consulting, largely because I was talking to
other friends and figuring out, you know, where have you
guys ended up? Where do you think a liberal arts
grad could best apply his skill set, his education, et cetera,

(56:11):
et cetera. And to this day, I wholeheardedly stand by
consulting as a great entry level type of discipline for
Liberal arts grads. Largely because you get to the skill
set that liberal arts teaches you around problem solving, around communication,

(56:34):
around project management, around discipline, around how to think rather
than knowing the answer. Because so many problems nowadays are ambiguous.
You're not going to have a clearly defined playbook of
how to solve a certain problem, and that's consulting. You're
going to be assigned a project and you're going to
have to go and figure it out. And I can't

(56:56):
find a better curriculum then liberal arts to prepare you
for what life is like or what life is going
to be like in that vocation. So I joined a
company called Corporate Executive Board. It was eventually bought out
by a publicly traded consulting company called Gartner. I split
my time between Boston and DC. I was part of

(57:19):
a group called the Fintech Advisory Practice. So this is
between twenty ten twenty fifteen, and this is my first
foray into the world of fintech. So fintech is effectively
the nomenclature for financial technology. So this is effectively the
swath of technology applications that are being used by a

(57:40):
variety of financial institutions, be they banks, sm managers, insurance carriers,
wealth managers, et cetera, et cetera. So the type of
projects I got to work on were very interesting because
at that time a lot of institutions were trying to
figure out, all right, we're being pressured around how to
cut costs, how can we leverage technology so that way

(58:03):
perhaps we can better realize some of those goals and
aspirations that are being set by or board. So a
lot of what I worked on we're around digitization. One
of the key projects I remember was transformation of the
retail branch. We're old enough to remember what life was

(58:26):
like when you used to go into a bank branch
actually sit down with a teller or relationship manager, and
nowadays a lot of that has been automated. So you
go into a bank branch and there isn't a human,
but it's it might be a screen that you're speaking
to or communicating with, or interfacing with. So it was

(58:49):
those types of engagements that I got to be preppy too,
and very much helped me get to where I am today.
But I'm happy to let me, let me take a
breather there and see how that matches up with where
we're headed.

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Speaker 5 (59:58):
Appreciate the context of understanding where politics and the economy was,
because a lot of folks, to your point earlier, if
they weren't aware of what was happening in the world,
they could just be like, well, you know, maybe you
weren't trying to find a job hard enough, you know,
so thank you for that, But continue, you know, we
want to get to present day, and so you know,

(01:00:18):
and although we're definitely interested in the career journey. You know,
I'd love to hear, you know, when when I met
the wife and how other ventures in life pre and
post marriage played into where you're at today.

Speaker 4 (01:00:36):
For sure. So around twenty fourteen twenty fifteen, I started
to get the itch of figuring out what my next
path might be, largely because as great of an opportunity
consulting was, I knew it wasn't the end all be
all for me. So I wanted to get into quote

(01:01:00):
unquote investment decision making the front office of a financial institution,
and the best path to get there would or end
is typically to go back to business school. So at
that time I studied for the GRES, I took the GRES,
I took the GMATS, I scored well, I went on
a bunch of business school visits, but ultimately just decided

(01:01:22):
it wasn't the right fit for me. I couldn't see
myself perhaps spending upwards of two hundred thousand dollars for
a degree that I didn't have full conviction in being
able to apply afterwards. So I actually ended up switching

(01:01:42):
gears and ended up pursuing a license which is called
the charge of Financial Analyst license or the CFA program.
CFA program is very specialized, so I figured this might
be a better use of my time and energy, so
that way I have a better sense of how I

(01:02:02):
could apply this combined with my prior experience. So the
CFA it's a very intensive program. So effectively, it's three
discrete exams that are offered concurrently while you work, So
you have to pass each successive exam, and then you
need to also accrue four and a half years of

(01:02:22):
relevant work experience. Upon completion of both of those prerequisites,
then you earn the right to attain the license. So
I achieved that in the tail end of twenty fifteen No.
Twenty sixteen August twenty sixteen, and at that time I

(01:02:45):
had started to look for a new opportunities. So part
of my journey has been right place, right time. So
I was interviewing with a firm that whose prior associate
had just left to go back to business school, so
it created void on their team, and after several interviews,

(01:03:09):
they elected to bring me on board. So that is
where I have been since. So the firm is Pivot
Investment Partners. We're an early growth stage fintech venture capital firm.
So Effectively, we're investing in founders that are innovating at

(01:03:29):
the intersection of enterprise software and financial technology. So this
allows me to relate back to some of my experience
in consulting, leverage some of the education that I earned
and developed through the CFA program in being an investor.
So we think of us a little bit more of

(01:03:51):
an institutionalized version of Shark Tank. So we get to
meet with founders of all types. They pitch us on
their businesses, and we're effectively in the seat of deciding
whether to back them or not. And that's a really
awesome opportunity that comes with significant responsibility because we get

(01:04:15):
to do this on behalf of investors who provide us
with capital. So they are effectively investing a certain sum
of money with the expectation that we're going to deliver
XYZ return on that capital. So they may invest one
hundred thousand, five hundred thousand, a million in the expectation

(01:04:40):
that will turn that million into five million, ten million,
twenty million through the investments in companies that we make.
So I've been in this.

Speaker 3 (01:04:48):
Seat in what time frame to how they care out
is yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:04:52):
So typically it's a period of anywhere between five to
eight years now, and these a companies it can be
I give you that band because the companies that were
investing in they're not necessarily pre product or pre revenue,

(01:05:13):
but they're also not at a scale where they are
going to be contemplating perhaps an IPO or they might
be being acquired by a larger incumbent in the space.
So it typically takes them a certain number of years
to grow into that scale, gain enough number of customers,
gain enough traction in the market where then they become

(01:05:36):
an really attractive asset and could look for a potential exit.
So this has been this has been an awesome opportunity
where I've been able to work directly alongside the three
senior partners of the firm. They started the firm in
January twenty fourteen. As I mentioned, I came on board
in the latter part of twenty fifteen, so I've been

(01:05:58):
with them principally for the entire journey. It's just the
four of us and there's no one else at the firm,
So I wear a lot of different hats, a lot
of different hats, but that's the nature of the beast,
and very much have enjoyed the opportunity to develop really
strong subject matter expertise in a field that's seeing tremendous

(01:06:22):
amounts of innovation over the past ten, fifteen, twenty years.

Speaker 5 (01:06:27):
Phenomenal.

Speaker 3 (01:06:28):
Yeah, I'm definitely like, wow, so financial fintech companies only correct.

Speaker 4 (01:06:34):
So the reason we stick to our bread and butter
is because that's a background of my senior partners and myself.
So rather than straying outside of our swim lanes and
investing in technology that frankly we don't have as much
of an edge in, let's just let's go neck deep

(01:06:56):
in what we really know. Well, let's double triple down
in areas where we know we have a competitive edge,
where we know we can add significant value, and where
founders are going to be open to wanting to work
with us. So that's the approach that we've taken. It's
resonated fairly well in the market, such that we've invested
in thirty two companies over this twelve year journey. Well,

(01:07:20):
of the thirty two, we've actually been able to realize exits.
So when I say exits, either the companies have been
bought the companies have ipoed in sixteen of them. So
we've had a pretty good run of it, a good
track record, but we like we like to say that
the best years are also ahead of us because now

(01:07:44):
we've gotten this repeatability motion where we know what it
takes to find, build, and scale the next great tech company.

Speaker 3 (01:07:58):
So you're not just investing in them, you're helping them grow.

Speaker 4 (01:08:03):
That is exactly right. So part of the job is
being able to find these companies. Part of the job
is being able to convince the founders that they should
take money from us, because these are always very competitive processes.
And then the other part of the job is being
able to add value. The job doesn't end after you invest. Frankly,

(01:08:23):
the job actually just starts once you invest, because then
that's the hardest part. All Right, you've capitalized this company,
but now you need to actually transform it into one
hundred two hundred three hundred million dollars juggernaut. And that's
how we try and really separate ourselves from some of
the other firms that also are in this broader VC space.

Speaker 3 (01:08:47):
Wow, definitely just learned a lot just now. My question,
next question, when you look back at your self as
you were going into Coolgate, what would be some words
of wisdom you would share with yourself. And then also
when you're graduating, what would be some words of wisdom

(01:09:09):
you would share with yourself.

Speaker 4 (01:09:12):
I'm glad you asked that, Elvin, because I had thought
of I thought you might ask this, and it's something
that the answer is going to be the same actually
at both points, because it's a common thread and it's
very much embracing discomfort. Become comfortable with being uncomfortable. I

(01:09:35):
don't think you're going to be in a position where
you want to rest on your laurels all too much. Frankly,
the world has gotten to a point where you need
to continue to innovate, learn new skills, develop new strengths

(01:09:56):
such that you can continue to prove how you're of use,
of how you're of value. Because the minute you feel
like you just take it easy and put it in
cruise control, that's that's when you're going to realize that
the going is going to get tough. So what I

(01:10:17):
mean by embracing discomfort is that learn new things, learn
new skills, move outside of your comfort zone. I know
it's easier said than done, but that's I think where
you really see and get a chance to appreciate perhaps
skills or experiences that you may not thought you would like.

(01:10:41):
And I'll give you a good example of what I
mean by this.

Speaker 5 (01:10:47):
For the.

Speaker 4 (01:10:49):
For a fair amount of my life, my early part
of my career, and even parts of Colgate, I was
never really great with public speaking. Whenever had the opportunity,
I was one of those who didn't really take the

(01:11:11):
initiative or hold my hand up. I would defer to
other people whether it's stage fright, lack of self confidence,
et cetera, et cetera. So I wanted to correct that,
and I wanted to make sure that I grew comfortable
with that, because I saw that as a transferable skill

(01:11:32):
wherever you went, regardless of what you do, I think,
regardless of what walk of life you have, whatever you
end up doing, communication, public speaking is a really important
skill to have in your back pocket these days. So
during my consulting Boston chapter of my life, I actually

(01:11:52):
I took the time to figure out how can I
work on this shortcoming of mind and ended up participating
in a group. Have either of you heard of this
club called Toastmasters? Yes, sir, so I enrolled in the
Mit chapter of toast Masters, and like some of the

(01:12:16):
other decisions I've made in my life awesome, really awesome,
because I got to practice so many different aspects. And
as you know, Alvin, it's not just about being able
to develop the self confidence in getting up in front
of an unbeknownst audience. It's around the way you prepare.

(01:12:38):
It's the way you deliver your tonality, it's the eye
contact that you make with your audience. All these softer
set of skills that I never thought about when delivering
a speech, and all these aspects that I got to
practice in a very comfortable and supportive setting that Toastmasters

(01:13:03):
creates is something that I just I can't speak highly
enough of. So, just by way of example of embracing
or forcing yourself to get uncomfortable and doing something about.

Speaker 3 (01:13:18):
It, one of the unexpected benefits of going to Colgate
is this great and resilience that it instills in you.
Last question really is just an opportunity for you to promote,
plug endorse whatever you'd like. We use this platform as

(01:13:41):
not only an opportunity to share your journey, but also
as an opportunity to encourage our listeners to learn more
about or support something that is important to you. And
so that's really the final final segment wonderful.

Speaker 4 (01:13:58):
Well, since Coldgate is our common thread, it's only right
that I harken back to an aspect of Colgate that
I've only recently got gotten involved in, and that's the
TIA program Thought into Action, and it's been an awesome experience.
And more latterly, I've gotten to know Rhys Wilson, who's

(01:14:20):
the entrepreneur and residence of the program, in effort to
just learn how he's thinking about accelerating entrepreneurship. Because, as
you can appreciate, and as you heard me talk about,
that's the nature of what I what I do. So
I love being able to meet with entrepreneurs hear about
how they're solving different problems and trying to build the

(01:14:43):
next best application that can move the world in a
meaningful way. And while we still have a ways to
go before Colgate is thought of in the same way
as Berkeley or Mit or Stanford or any of these
schools that produce entrepreneurs by the hundreds, I've been so

(01:15:06):
pleased to see the receptivity of TIA and the student
led endeavors and adventures that have been created. So last
year was my first year participating in as a supporting mentor.
This year I participating again as a supporting mentor. It's
been awesome being able to counsel, mentor coach these young

(01:15:27):
minds because we didn't have this. TIA was not around.
I think it was created either two thousand and nine
or twenty ten, so a few years after I graduated.
And as we all know, entrepreneurship it's not just a
big part of how the world should these days, but
it's almost a way of life for so many young kids.

(01:15:53):
So to be able to effectively embed that as part
of the Colgate experience the Coldgate career is so important.
So I'm I'm so pleased to see that happen, and
I'd encourage any students that have even if they're not
sure about the path that they should take. That's why

(01:16:14):
TIA exists, so that way you can iterate together, you
can learn from other mentors, you can learn from other students.
So it's a very supportive program that's sole purpose is
to help students figure out how to build and think
about creating their own business.

Speaker 3 (01:16:33):
Are you going up for the innovation weekend where they're
doing the pitches?

Speaker 4 (01:16:40):
So I am not but a good friend of mine
is she's one of the judges Megan Class of Sex.
So either if either of you are, give her a
shout and she's wonderful. But yes, I can't. I can't
support Tia enough. And frankly, this is a broader mission

(01:17:04):
around accelerating and championing entrepreneurship at Colgate.

Speaker 3 (01:17:10):
Big fan of Tia. Really excited about where KOLB is
going to be, say twenty thirty years from now, in
these particular sectors because of the investments.

Speaker 4 (01:17:20):
That they've made right now, exactly by effectively putting the
down payment on it now, we're going to be able
to attract the cream of the problem of high school
students in years to come. So Colgate's best days are
ahead of it, and I can't wait to see what

(01:17:40):
Tia produces.

Speaker 3 (01:17:42):
The building that Dan Benton helped fund, they have a
recording studio in there that I'll promise you there's going
to be someone who records a Grammy in that studio,
I promise you. Being able to utilize that level of
technology and the creativity. It's going to happen here. There's
going to be some amazing work at some point that

(01:18:03):
comes out of there. But appreciate, appreciate the plug on
any of last words before we get out of here.

Speaker 4 (01:18:17):
I went up. So I went up to Colgate last
January for sophomore connections, the first time I had been
back since graduating, and it was a little bit of
an out of body experience. Brought back so many fond
memories and a lot of sentimentality. But I'd also encourage

(01:18:40):
a lumps to think about how they can leverage their networks,
their background, their expertise to give back every little bit helps.
And we were all in those shoes at one point
where we could benefit from the council of the coaching,
the mentorship from alums that are more experienced than us.

(01:19:04):
So the more that we can do to help those
that are at culd Gate now, the better off they
will be. But I promise you the better off you
will be as well for doing that.

Speaker 3 (01:19:19):
Well, hopefully you're doing that as well as some of
our listeners are students and so listening to your journey,
hopefully we'll add some value to their current COVID experience.
So appreciate that, and so let's take it out with
This has been another episode of after Gate season five.

(01:19:41):
Thanks to our guests. Thank you to our listeners. Always
Aftergate is always powered by the Defied Life Podcast Network,
so make sure you check us out in the future
on all of your favorite podcast streaming platforms. We have many, many, many,
many many more dope episodes to follow, and remember that
the COVID of your day is not the COVID of today,
and it's certainly not the COVID of the future. Peace family.

Speaker 1 (01:20:06):
You hear that, listen closer, that, my friend, is the
Defini sut of focus. It drowns out all the useless
noise that can clutter. The only nay sayers don't exist. Haters, smaters,
the peanut gallery. Who's that When you're in your zone,
all that noise and all that buzz is just elevator music.

Speaker 3 (01:20:28):
So enjoy your journey, focus on your goal and basque in.

Speaker 1 (01:20:32):
The choiet role that is progressed, because when it's your
time to shoot that shot, spit that verse, or close
that deal, the only voice that matters is yours.

Speaker 3 (01:20:43):
The fire life