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OhHello - Shiv Gupta
28 Plays1 year ago
OhHello!!
It's episode 66 and we're stoked to have #learninganddevelopment + cont'd #education fanatic, Shiv Gupta, as one of our OG "Hellos" (an official OhHello.io 🌞☕️ mentor).
From AOL to Criteo, Shiv Gupta started U of Digital 5-6 years back because he and his team love seeing lightbulbs go off when they continue to help people learn.
"it's the 💡 moments" - come watch, listen, and learn! Part of the video cuts out at the last minute, but guess what...the show must go on and it's the words that matter!
Stay tuned for some more synergies b/w U of Digital + OhHello.io 🌞☕️!
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Transcript
Introduction: Shiv Gupta and the Beanie
00:00:00
Speaker
Come on
00:00:17
Speaker
Hey! Oh, hello, Shiv. Oh, hello, Jeremy. How are you? I am great. I am great. This is fun for both of us to do this, partially because...
00:00:32
Speaker
Wow, that is a fantastic hit. Thank you. You know what? I've been sporting it for several months now. Being a true influencer in the MarTech AdTech SaaS media ecosystem, I respect the fact that my dear friend Shiv Gupta went and sent me this wonderful beanie that I've been wearing since December or January. So
Career Journey in Digital Advertising
00:00:52
Speaker
thank you. So I know who you are, Shiv. Why don't you tell our audience who's watching and we're listening to the pod. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with right now?
00:01:02
Speaker
Well, Jeremy, first of all, the hat looks fantastic on you. And it's important because it's cold in Chicago, I believe so. It is. It is. I am Shiv, as you mentioned already. I'm Shiv Gupta. I've been in the digital ad industry for my whole career for about 15 years now. AOL, Credio, and now I'm an entrepreneur. We'll talk more about that in a bit. Founder of U of Digital. I'm a son. I'm a husband. I'm a dad.
00:01:31
Speaker
I'm all of those things. So yeah, there's a lot more to that. But let's stop there for now. Take a pause. So your husband, your dad, you're an entrepreneur, grew up on the East Coast. Now you're West Coast. You've got a strong passion for continued learning and development, which makes a lot of sense.
Passion for Training and Education
00:01:53
Speaker
Tell us a little bit about just, about what defines you. You know, when you think about like what you're going to be characterizing, the skill sets that embody Shiv, that you're going to be driving and delivering to the Oh, hello community. Like what are those skillsets? What are those accolades? What are those attributes? Tell us a little bit just who you are in that sense. And also why you have digital? Why are you passionate about mentorship and learning?
00:02:20
Speaker
Yeah, I think all those things tie together, Jeremy. So I'm glad you asked that. So, you know, I've always been very passionate about training, development, learning, education. And so me being part of the all hello community is a tremendous opportunity for me to do that, right to do that more regularly. So to me, it's just a seamless fit. You know, I've always
00:02:41
Speaker
you know, throughout my history, I've always like embraced opportunities to train and educate. I used to tutor homeless kids, you know, in LA and in Baltimore. I was always part of my corporate kind of training programs and I would go and speak at universities when the marketing team wanted me to. So I've always loved training and development. I want to bring that to the Oh, hello community. So that's really critical to me. And then one more piece there,
00:03:07
Speaker
but I think it's really important is I love kind of like the, you know, I love seeing light bulbs go off, right? That's why you got a light bulb on your beanie, by the way. Yeah, there's a light bulb there, just in case. Yeah, yeah. So I love seeing light bulbs go off. I value it so much. And, you know, I've been in sales for a lot of my career, and we at U of Digital train salespeople a lot, right? And so what I've kind of gained out of all that experience of being a salesperson, being a sales leader, training salespeople is,
00:03:36
Speaker
the intangibles right like seeing light bulbs go off when you train people or educate people on the intangibles and i'm excited to bring that to the oh hello community right i want i want people to come to me and say shiv help me navigate this tricky career situation shiv how do i ask for my next raise
00:03:53
Speaker
Shiv, how do I navigate this interview process? Those are the things, those intangible things and how to handle interpersonal kind of communication in a way that drives the best result for you personally, professionally, for both sides, creates transparency. Those are the things I get really, really pumped about. So that's a little bit about what embodies me.
Lessons from Entrepreneurial Failures
00:04:16
Speaker
I love it. You can see the excitement in your body, in your demeanor, in your mannerisms. What would you tell your younger self? Looking back, the fact that you started your own company, looking back, the fact that you've been in this ecosystem for between 15 and 20 years. You've learned a lot, my friend. I've learned a lot. I have a lot left to learn. So that's important.
00:04:36
Speaker
But what would I tell my younger self? So I actually tried to start another company when I was 26 and it was, it was, it was kind of a failure. It was, it was called also funny. It was called B-Bannerd. Then I rebranded it to Leopard Stripes at some point. Two ridiculous names. Ridiculous spots, perhaps. No, Leopard Stripes, Leopard Stripes.
00:05:02
Speaker
A leopard can't change its stripes. Oh wait, a leopard. A tiger, but he keep on going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep on going. So what I would tell my younger self when I tried to start that company was, hey, stop spending so much time on the damn name of the company, right? So like, you know, I used to get really caught up in like the fun stuff.
00:05:23
Speaker
Right? Like, let's come up with a creative name. Let's find the right URL. Let's figure out what the website's going to look like. And I didn't think about what actually matters, which is find product market fit. Solve a real problem. Like, actually think about something that will get people to sign up for something. Right? And so when I did the business again, when I started U of Digital five years ago,
00:05:46
Speaker
I learned from that. I was like, Hey, I'm not gonna make that same mistake. I'm gonna spend five minutes on GoDaddy and find a URL and move. Right? So that's that would be one one lesson I give myself. Oh, hello. I get it. I get it. Totally get it. You see what I did there? You see that? So understanding and knowing that mentorship and continued learning and education and development is so important to you.
00:06:10
Speaker
looking
Mentorship and Values Learned
00:06:11
Speaker
back at your career, who's made a profound impact on you, on Shiv Gupta? Like who specifically, who are some mentors that you want to circle back and just say, thank you, you made an impact on me? Yeah, I think, listen, I think mentorship comes from everywhere, right? I think mentorship comes from family, friends, professional networks, everyone's got something to offer, right? Everyone's been through experiences. So I like to- Most people, yeah. Most people, yeah.
00:06:38
Speaker
But I like to, not like my two-year-old. He hasn't had really much, he can't really give me much. Like I can't learn much from him. Hugs, lots of hugs.
00:06:47
Speaker
hugs. I can get, yes, that's true. That's true. Okay. Thank you, Jeremy. I needed that. Yeah. Okay. So, uh, I think mentorship comes from a lot of different places. If I had to cite a few, I'd say first of all, my mom, my dad, uh, you know, they were entrepreneurs their whole life, my sister, they were entrepreneurs. And so they gave me kind of that, that appetite, that gene to like go out and build something myself.
00:07:10
Speaker
So, and I learned a lot from them, you know, in their entrepreneurial endeavors. And so that's been super valuable to me as well. I'd say there was a guy once at ad.com, back in the day I started ad.com, which is part of AOL, Don Kennedy, I'd like to call out Don.
00:07:28
Speaker
I don't know if Don said this, but he repeated it, which was don't run away from something, run towards something. And that's kind of become a model for me in a lot of different areas of my life and my career. And so that was really powerful. And then I'm just going to say Greg Popovich of this verse, because I like how he does things. Not always, but in general, I kind of like what he stands for and what he believes in. And I love NBA basketball, so Greg Popovich.
00:07:58
Speaker
So that's great, though. You're giving some some kudos to someone who made an impact on you professionally and several people personally between your family members and then an NBA coach who just being an NBA
Commitment to Educational Causes
00:08:11
Speaker
fan. I understand. I understand. Knowing that that as a hello, you're going to be able to give back some of your earnings, whether it's from 1% to 100%.
00:08:23
Speaker
to 40 plus different charities that are integrated within our platform, or you could take it off platform and donate to a charity that's near and dear to your heart. I know that you're a very philanthropic person. Where are some charities and some causes that are close to you that mean a lot to you that you want to help?
00:08:40
Speaker
Yeah, I love this part of what you're building, Jeremy. Oh, hello. And so, you know, as I mentioned earlier, I'm passionate about training and education. I always like to say, you know, if I was to line up all the gazillions of things that you can do to make a positive impact in the world, I will always gravitate towards learning and training and development. I believe every child deserves an education. That's how we're going to further humanity. That's how we're going to
00:09:04
Speaker
protect our planet. And so, you know, if I can find those causes to align to through Oh, Hello, I will definitely be doing that. If I can do that off platform, I will definitely be doing that. So training, education, learning and development. Amazing, amazing shift. What other parting words of wisdom do you have for the Oh, Hello community, for our audience, for those listening and those viewing?
Life Advice and Embracing the Journey
00:09:28
Speaker
Oh man, that's a tough one. Listen, I'd say, hey, every day has ups and downs. Every week, every month has ups and downs. Roll with the punches. Overall, life is good. Life is good. You know, life is good. So let's appreciate it. Let's enjoy it. The other thing I'll say is like, you know, I know all this is cliche, by the way. Life's a journey, right? Like, and so it wouldn't be any fun if there weren't ups and downs. And so kind of just enjoy the journey, enjoy the ride.
00:09:55
Speaker
That's the point, right? You can't enjoy the good stuff if there's no downs or no bad stuff. So just take it as it comes, appreciate it, love it, learn from it, keep growing. Thank you, Chef. Boom. Thank you, everybody, for watching, for listening. Oh, hello is going to be launching soon. We're excited to have you on the platform, Chef. Thanks, everybody. Thank you.