#ideamarket

Had an idea but you didn’t want to say it out loud to everyone in fear of someone taking it and saying that it was theirs? I feel like this all the time. I had a few people even say my thoughts I’d shared with them right in front of me to someone else, claiming they were there own and not crediting me at all.

It feels like now I have to keep the best ideas inside of my head and never really let them out. This kind of ruins talking to people though, now instead of intelligence in the slightest I mutter things I observe in resting bitch voice. A monotoned line of words with the wrong inflection. It makes me sounds sarcastic and mean. It pushes people away because they didn’t see all the thoughts that came before the one that ended up getting spoken out loud.

*Guest post from Prizeo winner VJ Anma, who donated to UP Global and won a mentor lunch with Steve Case.

Last October, I found myself taking the long flight to Washington, DC to have lunch with one of my idols, Steve Case. The events that lead to this meeting seemed pretty far-fetched and yet, here I was, getting ready to sit across the table from someone whom I admired and would not otherwise have had access to. 

A few months previously, I received an email from Prizeo about donating to UP Global. Considering the number of emails I receive and delete without reading, the fact that I opened it in itself was surprising. 

Because I really believe in UP Global’s mission, their dedication to supporting up- and-coming entrepreneurs, and my own involvement in several of their Startup Weekends, I was super happy to give back to them. The email stated that one person would be chosen from the pool of contributors to have lunch with Steve Case. I pressed send and, after a while, I forgot about the donation.

A few weeks later, I received an email that announced me as the randomly chosen winner to have lunch with Steve Case. I couldn’t believe it! I was in the early stages of formulating my new startup – IdeaMarket. I realized that I could use this meeting to ask Steve specific questions on leadership, get feedback on what we were up to and learn about his entrepreneurial journey. 

To prepare for the meeting, I watched over 40 hours of video and audio interviews with him and read countless articles all the while taking copious notes. I want to extract the most value from the meeting and did not want to ask questions that Steve might have already addressed. 

So there I was, waiting for Steve Case in the lobby. When he greeted me, I felt like I’d reunited with an old friend. We fell into great conversation right away. Our rapport was fantastic and we built on each other’s ideas, while I learned so much from him. He shared with me his principles of leadership and other concepts which continue to inform my work in my company and in my personal life. 

When he asked me about my startup, I explained what we do and also that I wasn’t there to pitch. My main goal was to learn what I could in the time we had together. What was really meaningful to me was I could tell how much he enjoyed contributing to me and other entrepreneurs. He had such a giving spirit. 

Before I knew it, lunch was over. Before saying goodbye, we exchanged emails and he offered to mentor me. I left elated. Our meeting exceeded my expectations and perhaps his, too. 

Later that day, I was visiting the Lincoln Memorial with my wife, feeling grateful for the experience and thinking about what I would include in my thank you email to Steve. After reading both of the speeches inscribed on the walls at the memorial, I was feeling inspired. There was a moment while standing at the top of the steps looking at the reflecting pool that I realized that this was the place where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous speech. This was the place where the famous scene from the movie “Forrest Gump” was filmed, a movie that I watched almost 20 years ago while growing up in India. It all felt too surreal. 

I sat down by the stairs, to check my phone and saw that Steve had emailed me his interest in not only mentoring me but investing in my company. Things simply were getting better and better! The great part was that I just kept going with the flow without any expectations, and what ended up happening was better than my dreams. 

“If expecting something in return is your reason for giving, you are really not giving- you're swapping. If you receive something in return for your gift, what you receive is a bonus - not a repayment of a debt.” - David Cottrell 

Thanks to reading that email from Prizeo, I was able to give back. I am grateful to Prizeo, first, for giving me the opportunity to contribute, and second, for the bonus experience of gaining a new and valued ally. What came from a simple donation was a life-changing experience. I am grateful that I am in some small way involved in helping a big influencer like Steve Case make more of an impact on the world. 

Steve Case has kept in touch with Vj and has continued to provide mentorship. His thoughts on leadership have been immensely helpful in shaping IdeaMarket. 

IdeaMarket is currently focusing their efforts on creating a company through a challenge in Detroit. The Detroit Transportation Challenge is a call to entrepreneurs, engineers, designers and other creative thinkers to produce an innovative solution that significantly improves transportation in Detroit. The winning team will win up to $250,000 in funding and mentoring and will be established as a new company in Detroit, with the help of IdeaMarket. Entrepreneurs have until December 15, 2015 to apply at ideamarket.com.

About 

Idea Market is a curated crowd-sourced marketplace for ideas that solve everyday problems and uncover interesting new opportunities.