Scaling AI Startups and the Power of Networking with Omar Shaya

In this episode of the 'Pfeffer on Power' podcast, host Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, is joined by Omar Shaya, the founder of MultiOn, an AI company that develops autonomous agents.  Omar shares his inspiring journey from growing up in Syria and studying computer science in Germany to working at top tech companies, Microsoft and Meta. He delves into the philosophy and goals behind his startup, which aims to democratize access to personal AI assistants. Additionally, Omar discusses the importance of building a brand, forming strategic relationships, and acting with confidence. Practicing these rules of power helped Omar have successful pitches, secure investments, and build his company to where it is today.He reflects on valuable lessons learned from Professor Pfeffer’s class, such as networking relentlessly, bringing energy to every room, and questioning conventional wisdom. Omar shares how some pivotal choices in preparing for a meeting, such as searching for commonalities and having a working product to demonstrate, open doors to conversations with pivotal people. This episode is full of power-based tips that can be incorporated into the branding and networking habits of any listener. Pfeffer on Power is produced by University FM.Episode Quotes:Democratization through AI03:48: One of the things that I noticed are still exclusive is having access to a personal assistant or to an executive assistant, someone, or something that you can delegate tasks to, tasks that you do not want to do but you have to do so that you can stay focused on the things that you actually want to do. And so when I looked at that, I noticed that this is very limited to people who can afford it, or wealthy, or executive. But the rest of the population did not have access to this. And I thought AI could be the democratizing factor here, where you could give every single person on Earth an assistant that can help them be more productive that can let them delegate tasks that they do not want to do but yet have to do so that they can stay focused on the things they care about most. So that was the motivation to start this company.On acting with power and confidence16:42: [Jeffrey] One of the things that struck me is that you showed up with confidence and with power. You act and speak with power. Can you talk a little bit about that? Cause I suspect, I mean, you're not talking in your native language, which was, I mean, you're from Syria, and then you lived in Germany, but you show up with an enormous amount of confidence and assurance. 17:00: [Omar Shaya] This is also something I learned from your class, doubling down on this whole concept of acting with power. And the way I see it, it's not about me acting with power for the sake of myself only; it is a service to the audience. If I speak with confidence, if they can hear me well, if they can follow the ideas I'm talking about, if they can understand what I'm saying, I see that as my responsibility towards the audience, and not only about me asserting a certain power or something like that. And so that was also the framing of what it means to show up with power or acting with power to me.Building strong connections through networking16:01: Networking, to me, is about building relationships, and that's how you start getting energy from networking, versus seeing it just as a transactional act, but being curious about the other person, learning about them, seeing how you can help each other, and trying to build energy. Some sort of relationship, whether a friendship, a business relationship, or just a human connection, I think that's how you turn networking from something you don't like into something you might enjoy and get energy from.Show L inks:OmarShaya.com   MultiOn.aiOmar Shaya’s LinkedIn