637: How to Break Into an A.I. & Tech Startup With Shawn Olds, boodle A.I. [Espresso Shots]

Shawn is the Chief Executive Officer of boodle a.i., the leading machine learning peer-to-peer platform that empowers nonprofits to connect with and engage new donors and supporters and companies to find their best customers. Shawn started his career in the U.S Army in the 82nd Airborne Division before transitioning to the private sector as a logistics operations and technology consultant as well as an IT strategy management consultant. Shawn then helped to found several startups.  After September 11th, 2001 Shawn chose to work for the U. S. Department of States’ Office for Counter-Terrorism where he spent time in Southwest Asia as well as Africa.  Shawn was recruited by TAQA, a $30B Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund as the Chief Procurement Officer. Shawn then co-founded and served as the Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of The Belleau Wood Group LP, a merchant bank headquartered in Dubai.    WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT IN THIS EPISODE: What entry level jobs to look out for in the start-up world (4:09) What hard and soft skills are necessary to enter this kind of business (5:38) Can you enter the start-up realm if you don’t major in a field that applies (7:52) How important is it to have a graduate school degree and what are the most useful to have (10:12) Why learning to rebound from familiar is a super important skill set  (11:45) What’s the best part of being in the startup world  (12:26) What are the typical working hours like in the start-up world (14:32) What is the best career advice you have ever gotten (15:45) What movies or books best portray your profession (17:02) What would listeners be surprised to learn about your profession (18:11) If you want to listen to Shawn’s main Time4Coffee episode please tune in to his main T4C Episode #516