#vfabootcamp

VFAshion: Smart Casual Featuring Snehal Sawlani

1. What is your definition of smart casual? Smart casual are pieces that are relaxed but still put together. It’s an outfit that you wouldn’t be embarrassed meeting the CEO of a company in, but is also comfortable/light/breezy enough for your day-to-day.

2. What is your favorite piece of clothing? I don’t have a particular favorite, but I tend to reach for blazers time and time again. A well-fitted blazer can instantly dress up even a simple t-shirt and jeans and give off a polished vibe. I also love maxi skirts - they’re effortless and an instant classic.

3. Best outfit you’ve ever worn? Again, I can’t think of a particular favorite but it’s definitely something I feel very comfortable and confident in. For me, that’s usually some version of skinny jeans and a top with subtle details paired with statement necklace and a classic watch.

So, hey there from Providence, Rhode Island! As I am rounding down the first week at VFA Training Camp, I have to say it has been an amazing experience (minus the fact that I have probably consumed my bodyweight in espresso in five days).

On the first day here we were assigned/encouraged to write a few SMART goals for the next five weeks. Being someone who has been in leadership positions in the past, SMART goals have been an unavoidable part of my life. I used to dread them solely because I never mastered the "measurable" part of a goal. I like to say that I judge my success “when I get the feeling," which clearly isn't a measurable item. What I mean when I say "get the feeling," is that I seek a feeling of fulfillment as opposed to mastering a skill or getting a promotion, etc. So setting my goals for this trip ended up being difficult for me.

After talking with my coaches/pseudo-mentors, Amy and Tom, we came up with one goal that I have fully committed to; a goal that could be deemed as “cheesy” to some and “easy” to others. This goal is to learn one new thing everyday about my peers, team members, hard/soft skills, or myself. And I’m not going to lie, this turned out to be one of the easiest goals I have ever set for myself---but it is only easy because I have loved every second of aiming to achieve it.

With the amount of training, readings, “homework-but-not-homework” assignments, and serious, caffeine driven group work, I would be completely oblivious (and completely unqualified to be in this program) if I didn’t learn AT LEAST three to five new things a day. Which leads me to my week one lessons...

Day 1: It is ok to ask for help.

On Monday, I was up super early and had rented this parking space from a woman who lived probably two miles away from campus. I drove over there, parked my car, called the woman to make sure everything was set, heard nothing, realized that I'd be late if I didn't go back to the dorm, and headed back to get ready for training camp. After our training for the day ended, I decided to call the woman because I had a gut feeling that something might be weird about this parking situation. Sure enough she tells me on the phone that 1. she doesn't know who I am, 2. she is about to have my car towed, and 3. she never rented her spot to me. So obviously I freaked.

My reaction in this situation on any other day would have been to get an Uber to get me to my car as soon as possible. But for whatever reason, even though I didn't know them well, I reached out to two of my fellow fellows who I knew drove here. And I was surprised that both of them didn't mind dropping everything to help me out. I know it seems like a small thing, but for me it meant the world.

I have grown accustomed to doing things on my own, or figuring things out for myself. In this moment, where someone who hardly had two conversations with me prior to my car meltdown helped me so willingly, I realized the value of the strong community feel that VFA strives to achieve. You can ask help from everyone at any level of this organization; whether it is the CEO Andrew Yang, or the fellow you just met, Julian.

Day 2: Struggle is necessary for self-identity

On Tuesday, Andrew Yang sat us down to talk about struggle and achievement. During the conversation he talked about struggling with being in the right job for him at first, struggling with women because of that job, struggling financially when he quit that job, etc. He said that struggles change as you get older, as things wane in importance, as you develop as a person.

I believe something similar to what Andrew believes; without struggling you miss the opportunity to learn about who you truly are. Struggle, and failure, are necessary for really knowing what you are made of.

President Theodore Roosevelt said, "There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength."

What does this mean to me exactly? Don't be afraid of failing. Failing has such a stigma now of being "bad,” but I believe that we give failure a bad rep. This week I have failed...so many times. During our website challenge when I couldn't change a stupid little icon. During the lego challenge when switching the color of two pieces which altered the way our design looked. During one of our group assignments when I failed to meet a deadline. After one of our work days when I failed to remember I made dinner plans that I shouldn't have made in the first place. It's only been a week, and I am 100% sure that I've failed more times than I can list, but that is ok because I've accomplished so much more because of these failures. I am able to bounce back over staying down for too long. I am resilient because of my willingness to fail and get back up. Training camp will kick your ass, and get you comfortable with the idea of being uncomfortable.

Day 3: Create a common ground

Team work makes the dream work...right?

Team dynamics are HUGELY important at training camp. And if you don't know how each individual functions, then there is bound to be miscommunication in the future. Even with understanding each other, there is still the opportunity to encounter conflict.

I've been blessed with being paired with some of the most amazing people I have ever met. My group is incredible and I feel that I've learned something from each and every one of them over the course of this week. Niki taught me to question the norm and never settle for mediocrity. Rafael taught me to use all of my available resources; if you know someone that is better at something than you, ask them for their opinion. Chris taught me to never take things too seriously, laughter is the best medicine in stressful situations. Sophie taught me to process information before taking action, preparedness is necessary to achieve ideal results. And Dutch taught me to seek out the internal motivators and passions of others; to get to know people past a surface level before making any real judgment of them.

After asking everyone questions throughout the week, I believe we created a common ground with one another. We understand each other on a base level right now, and that has helped us achieve great things in the first week. Our level of understanding will continue to grow from here, and I can't wait to see what else I learn about my peers.

Day 4: Validate others...but validate yourself as well.

You know that look that people get when they hear that they did something well? Or when something they learn clicks, they put it to action, and surprisingly enough...it worked? Or that air of achievement, and pride in someone shows when they are proud of their work? If you haven't experienced this, or haven't seen someone else experience it, then you're truly missing out. It’s like walking on water or floating in air. It is a swelling balloon of pride in your chest or the euphoria of winning a big game. And I love encouraging that feeling.

People work best when they work to their strengths, and receive validation for it. That has been one of my "not so smart" goals this week; to give praise to my excellent teammates. They did amazing work under a crazy time crunch, and I can't help but say that I am extremely proud of them for all they accomplished this week.

On the flip side, I am terrible at saying the same of myself. I feel that we were taught at a young age to question ourselves and to be hypercritical of who we are. I recognize it in myself, and in others...which is probably why I like to tell people just how amazing they are.

So, self, you did well this week. You battled sleep deprivation, lack of nourishment, and time sensitive projects...and you won. You encouraged others to be the best version of themselves, and by doing that you strived to do the same.

Moral of the story, give credit where credit is due. But don't forget to validate yourself in the process.

Day 5: Sleep is a necessary evil.

I'm not going to lie, I really wanted to celebrate and grab a drink with friends at the end of the day on Friday. But after being up for close to 48 hours straight, I ended up falling into a small coma instead of a nap. After waking up at 3:30am on a Saturday and realizing I missed any fun things that people had done that night, I initially was upset. But then I realized I needed to do what was best for me and sleep. So as small of a lesson that is, make sure you're rested through this process so you can be your best self...and so you can drink after you've achieved something.

All in all, this has been a crazy, exhausting, gritty, fulfilling week at training camp, and I'm sure next week will continue along this trend. I'm excited for the challenges ahead, and I cant wait to “quell the storms and ride the thunder” with the rest of the 2015 Fellows and the VFA team.

Until next week,

1. There are no original ideas--embrace the competition. 

Most people who want to be entrepreneurs can relate to the experience I’m about to describe. You think of a great business idea, and you think it’s the one. It’s the most brilliant thing you’ve come up with yet. You get out a piece of paper and start writing all of your thoughts down, and the idea keeps getting better and better. You start daydreaming about the possibilities, and your excitement continues to grow. Then, you open up google and start doing some searches. Shit. You get a sudden sinking feeling after finding out that there’s already someone doing this. 

I know I’ve experienced this at least ten times. The truth is, no matter what you come up with, there is probably someone out there trying to solve the same problem. At VFA bootcamp, I finally realized how to apply one of the most prominent anecdotes in entrepreneurship--”It’s better to have a B idea and an A team than an A idea and a B team.” While many people can have an idea, at the end of the day, the spoils will go to the team that executes it the best. 

Now, when I see someone else trying an idea that I came up with, I see it as both validation and an opportunity. Jason Tarre, a member of the VFA team, helped me realize this during a challenge. My team came up with an idea, and when I explained to him that there was a company out there already doing it, he responded, “well, just means it’s a good idea.” If someone out there is doing it and being quasi-successful, that means it’s a viable business. It also provides you with an opportunity--you can look at the existing players, see what they’re doing wrong, and figure out how you will do it better and out-execute the competition.

2. You need to be willing to take on many roles

We always hear about how entrepreneurs and employees at startups do a little bit of everything. I had no idea how true that actually is. In my five weeks at Bootcamp, I had the following job descriptions: cartoon animator, web designer, public speaker, art curator, script writer, salesman, teacher, and the list goes on and on.  

It’s important that you’re willing to do jobs that you’ve never done before and that make you uncomfortable. If there’s some task you’re afraid of, take a “journey into your incompetency”. One of my most rewarding experiences at Bootcamp was when I was testing an alpha version of an idea that enabled VFA fellows to teach and learn from each other. At first, I was looking to my peers to teach other fellows about certain topics, as I didn’t feel like I could teach anything. Then, I just said “fuck it”, decided to do it myself, and taught 8 other fellows how to use Twitter for networking purposes. This enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of how this idea would work from both a teaching and learning perspective, and if I had not done this myself, the idea would be dead in the water. 

3. The Animal Spirits are back

People always told me I should get into the stock market. I would try, but it never really clicked. I would always say, “it’s not real business--it’s based on human emotions.” Well, I came to the harsh realization that I better find a way around my emotional ineptitude, because emotions are the key to good design.

Quick side note: for all of you logical thinkers out there who think functionality matters and design doesn’t--you’re wrong. That’s how I thought 6 weeks ago

We heard from a few design experts, including Gary Chou (Union Square Ventures) and IDEO. One of the most fascinating things Gary told us was “think about how you want people to feel; let that lead the design.” In addition, Fred Dust, partner at IDEO, told us to focus design on “that moment” when the user experiences the most emotion--giving the example of Apple’s patent on iPhone packaging. Have you ever opened up the iPhone packaging? You feel like weeping tears of joy. 

There are books that elaborate on the importance of design, so I won’t do that here, but the key takeaway here is DO NOT underestimate the value of good design. 

4. You need a mission and a singular voice

If you were to boil down any company to two questions, they would be “what do they do?” and “how do they do it?”. In my opinion, the answer to the first question is the mission of the company, and you need that to be one unequivocal voice. “How do they do it?” refers to every other part of a business--the business model, team, product, marketing, etc. The “how” gets messy, but a mission can be a compass for all of the questions surrounding that mess. 

The VFA Mission is:

To revitalize American cities and communities through entrepreneurship.

To enable our best and brightest to create new opportunities for themselves and others.

To restore the culture of achievement to include value-creation, risk and reward, and the common good.

Any decision that VFA makes in regards to recruitment, expansion, or any other key activity will get made with that mission in mind. This way, all decisions are in alignment. 

A good example of having a mission came when my team was building a website. Early on, we decided that the “mission” of the website is to tell the organization’s stories. This influenced every element of the design, and as a result, anyone viewing the site could tell that this was the theme. 

Marian Salzman, from Havas PR, explained that this is prominent in Social Media. She let’s any of her employees handle the twitter account, because there is one singular mission/culture, and she knows regardless of who tweets, it will be consistent with the personality of Havas PR.

David Tisch also alluded to the importance of a mission, when he told us “you’re not going to do a job, you’re joining someone’s mission.”

If you don’t have a mission, you don’t have much at all.

5. You need to come up with your own beliefs

There. Is. So. Much. Noise. This is particularly true in the startup world. So many people blog, tweet, and speak about best practices and how-to’s (yes, I appreciate the irony here). The truth is, not everyone can be right. We had a few speakers at Bootcamp that directly contradicted each other. While it’s important to listen and learn, at the end of the day, there’s some advice worth heeding and some that is not. I’ve gotten more startup advice in the past 5 weeks than most people get in a lifetime, but I can’t do everything that everyone says. This is one of the reasons I enjoy blogging; it helps me think critically about the things I hear and filter it all down into my own beliefs. 

6. Most importantly, allow yourself to be inspired.

In my 5 weeks at bootcamp, I met some of the most interesting, weird, and brilliant people. So many of these people challenged my perceptions of what an entrepreneur looks like, and when you face these challenges, it’s easy to shut down and close yourself off to new interpretations and experiences. However, if you remain open-minded, you enable yourself to be inspired by others, become more creative, and do things you otherwise wouldn’t be capable of doing.

We were split up into teams at the very beginning of bootcamp. My group later became known as the “hipster” group. If you know me at all, you’d know I’m the antithesis of a hipster. Needless to say, my teammates had very different interests, personalities, and attitudes than myself. While I’m more of a “get shit done” pragmatists, the rest of my group was more interested in creating something cool and exciting. There was a point where I felt tension from this difference, but once I opened myself up to the team, I was inspired to come up with much more artistic ideas than I’d ever generated. This list includes an art collective that curated and sold art created by RISD students, as well as design oriented iPhone charges that could be placed on bar-tops. 

This is just one example, but here’s the key takeaway: if you’re surrounded with incredible people, let yourself be inspired, and you’ll be better for it. 

  By Frank Teng, Class of 2013

Liz pulled me aside with a concerned look.

"Frank. You can't just skip an interview because of VFA training. If you're not going to take this seriously-"

"No, no", I interjected. "I'd skip VFA training any other week. But this is IDEO. I've loved them ever since I heard of them in my junior year. There's no way I'm missing this."

I noticed when I said that, my voice was some strange mixture of stubborn determination and squealing-fan-girl enthusiasm.

---

What fascinates me most about IDEO, and design thinking in general, is the focus on a human-centered approach to creating systems. Who knew that slapping a sticker of a fly on urinals could increase aim by 80%? These "Human Centered Designs" fueled my curiosity as a Psychology major—if one well-placed sticker can dramatically modify male behavior at a urinal, what else can we do?

As our team geared up for the product challenge, IDEO helped us brainstorm ways to find problems around Providence.

The emphasis on Human Centered Design allows us to focus on issues that we usually overlook. For example, roleplaying as a hospital patient allows us to feel empathy for them. We can learn this emotion by noticing that patients spend most of their time staring at a dull ceiling. How might we improve the quality of life for patients?

This is why I love IDEO: they understand that emotions drive human behavior as much as reason. Emotion, however, cannot be recorded easily as data. Furthermore, emotions quickly become habituated and are difficult to describe.

These techniques are useful frameworks for experientially reliving how others might feel when going through a situation. By developing empathy, our designs put human sensory back into the experience.

So, what did I learn?

Structure the right group environment- Going through IDEO's post-it brainstorm process was a lot more beneficial then throwing ideas around at a table. I am now convinced that creative intelligence matters less than having the right brainstorming process when coming up with great ideas.

Don't hesitate- This is where our team was the weakest. We were all too focused on finding THE perfect market that we lost valuable time. Just go and do it!

Rapid prototype it!- GET YOUR PRODUCT OUT TO MARKET, FAST. Sitting in a chair and ideating is great, but until you validate your product out there, your ideas are worthless.

Although we didn’t win the Product Challenge, our team definitely came away with a better understanding of what success as a team meant.