1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,040
And welcome everyone to another 
Smart Money Circle episode. 

2
00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:06,360
I'm Adam Sarhan. 
With me today is Octe Kavrak, 

3
00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,240
who's the Director of 
Communications and Strategy at 

4
00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:12,200
Leverage shares with 
approximately 2 billion in AUM. 

5
00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:15,000
Octe, thank you so much for 
taking the time and welcome to 

6
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,560
the Smart Money Circle. 
Thanks a lot for the invite 

7
00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:20,960
Adam, really happy to be here. 
So Octe, I always like to begin,

8
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,160
can you please tell us a little 
about your story and how you got

9
00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,440
to where you are today? 
Yeah, sure. 

10
00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:29,520
Absolutely. 
So actually leveraged shares was

11
00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,520
my first, let's say, foray to 
the ETF space, right. 

12
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,880
So I studied finance in college.
My first job outside of 

13
00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:40,080
university was, you know, 
working for IBM. 

14
00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,920
So I was working within their 
corporate finance department. 

15
00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:45,120
I spent about a year and a half 
there. 

16
00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:47,000
So it was a lot of stuff 
regarding like, you know, 

17
00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:49,760
financial statements. 
And, you know, I realized at 

18
00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,480
some point that that part of, 
you know, the entire finance 

19
00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:55,720
industry isn't very interesting 
for me. 

20
00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,640
So I mean, I got, you know, 
exposure to a lot of different, 

21
00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:00,800
a lot of different, you know, 
things that you can do within 

22
00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:02,720
the company. 
And then you with huge 

23
00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:06,200
corporations like that, you 
almost realize that it's almost 

24
00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,680
little entities or smaller 
versions of that entire giant in

25
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:11,720
different countries and 
different geographies. 

26
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,880
So after I spent some time at 
IBMI, realized that maybe, you 

27
00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:16,080
know, I should try something 
else. 

28
00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,200
And then I went into sort of the
brokerage business. 

29
00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:23,320
So I joined a company called the
Jiro, which is one of the 

30
00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:25,800
biggest pan European brokers in 
Europe. 

31
00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:29,040
And I joined that firm when they
were still, I would say at the 

32
00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:31,560
startup stage. 
So it was about, let's say 50 

33
00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:33,920
people at the time. 
They were just getting started. 

34
00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,360
I don't even think they had like
a proper like business plan in 

35
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,720
place in terms of where they, 
you know, found their niche or 

36
00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:42,360
where they wanted to be within a
few years. 

37
00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,520
But, you know, Fast forward a 
few years, you know, it caught 

38
00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,400
on like wildfire and they were 
taking on clients left and 

39
00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:50,440
right. 
And it turned out the brokerage 

40
00:01:50,440 --> 00:01:53,000
business, especially in Europe 
was really interesting because 

41
00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,800
if you're, let's say, a retail 
investor right in the US, you're

42
00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,120
very accustomed to things like, 
you know, fractional trading or 

43
00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,720
being able to open up a 
brokerage camp for just a few 

44
00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,360
dollars. 
And in Europe, that wasn't the 

45
00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,000
case. 
I would say for, you know, 

46
00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,200
probably up until five years 
ago, you know, you had to have 

47
00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:13,880
at least 10K to open up like a 
brokerage account. 

48
00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,640
There was like just a lot of 
hoops you had to go through to, 

49
00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:19,520
to make an account. 
So these types of neo brokers 

50
00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,120
sort of started proliferating, I
would say all across Europe 

51
00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:25,720
probably about five years ago. 
And then it really took off 

52
00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:27,800
after COVID. 
And I, I basically saw that 

53
00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,120
entire growth phase and I saw 
how more and more retail 

54
00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:33,680
investors, you know, on this 
side of the continent, we're 

55
00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:35,400
getting more involved in active 
of trading. 

56
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:37,680
And yeah, ultimately the company
made an exit. 

57
00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:41,160
They were brought out, they were
bought out by a, a German firm. 

58
00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:45,000
And after that I joined a bank, 
which was an Italian bank, so 

59
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,840
unit credit. 
So it's like going from a big 

60
00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,280
corporation to a startup and 
then going back to a big 

61
00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,200
corporation. 
And then at the bank, that's 

62
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,880
where I got my ultimate 
confirmation that, you know, I'm

63
00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,680
not a big fan of like the big 
corporate sort of environment. 

64
00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:01,560
I like, you know, helping build 
things. 

65
00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,480
I like, you know, being able to 
do multiple tasks. 

66
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,080
I'm, I'm not the kind of person 
that's, you know, keen on doing 

67
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,800
the same thing every single day 
and being like a specialist just

68
00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:14,760
in one thing. 
And during my time at the bank, 

69
00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:18,880
I, you know, I was contacted by 
who's now the CEO of the 

70
00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:22,200
company. 
And, you know, I saw a job ad 

71
00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,400
for an up and coming ETF company
at the time. 

72
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:28,120
They just had a few employees. 
They just had a few, you know, 

73
00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,400
products already listed on the 
London Stock Exchange. 

74
00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:34,360
I wasn't really, you know, 
familiar with the entire ETF 

75
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,560
space, especially in Europe. 
So I was like, OK, this sounds 

76
00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:40,760
pretty interesting. 
Had a few conversations, had a 

77
00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:44,360
conversation with the CEO and 
and yeah, I guess the rest is 

78
00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:46,760
history. 
Wow, what a great story. 

79
00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:49,360
I love that. 
So I love also the fact that you

80
00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,480
knew what worked for you and you
also learned what didn't work 

81
00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:53,960
for you. 
So you did more of what works 

82
00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,760
and less of what didn't. 
That's a great way of of getting

83
00:03:56,760 --> 00:03:59,360
there. 
Yeah, I mean, I guess it took a 

84
00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:02,000
second try at a big corporation 
to sort of confirm the fact 

85
00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:03,920
that, you know, it's not the 
right environment for me. 

86
00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:07,360
But ultimately, I think I, I 
know the kind of environment 

87
00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,240
that I want to work in that's, 
you know, so important for 

88
00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:13,840
anybody, you know, that's 
willing to progress in their 

89
00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,360
careers within a certain firm 
because, you know, certain perks

90
00:04:17,360 --> 00:04:18,720
and certain items are nice to 
have us. 

91
00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:21,640
But if you don't ultimately 
enjoy where you work and what 

92
00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:24,440
you're doing, then all else you 
know at some point becomes 

93
00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,640
pointless. 
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you 

94
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:28,000
more. 
All right, let's talk about 

95
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:29,520
leverage shares. 
Please tell us about your 

96
00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:32,720
business, what you do and some 
of your competitive advantages. 

97
00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,280
So leveraged shares is best 
known for a concept called 

98
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,560
leveraged ETFs. 
So leveraged ETFs basically 

99
00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,440
multiply whatever a normal ETF 
does by a factor of two or 

100
00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:46,080
three, right? 
So, you know these have existed 

101
00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,680
for the better part of two 
decades in the US, let's say the

102
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,200
NASDAQ 100 goes up 1%. 
The leveraged version of that 

103
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:55,960
would go up either 2 or 3%. 
So we took that concept and 

104
00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:59,280
applied it to single stocks, 
which had never been done 

105
00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:01,360
before, right? 
So we're the first company 

106
00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,960
globally to launch what's called
single stock leveraged ETFs. 

107
00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:08,680
So when you think about a 
product like 3 times Tesla or 

108
00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:12,200
inverse 2 times NVIDIA, this 
concept basically started out in

109
00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:13,440
Europe. 
You know, we were the first 

110
00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,800
company to to do this. 
And we initially started out 

111
00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:18,760
with about 8 products, I 
believe. 

112
00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:23,600
And they were on relatively, I 
would say stable companies, but 

113
00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,320
you know, not so volatile names.
So think of names like Walmart 

114
00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,120
and McDonald's. 
And I would say initially it was

115
00:05:29,120 --> 00:05:31,880
a very slow burn, right? 
So the uptake was quite slow. 

116
00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:33,680
People didn't know how the 
products work. 

117
00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,640
There's alternative versions of,
you know, trading with leverage 

118
00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:39,160
in Europe. 
So a lot of people thought that 

119
00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,160
there wasn't really a need for 
these kinds of products. 

120
00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,840
But ultimately, you know, as as 
time went on, people started to 

121
00:05:44,840 --> 00:05:47,800
realize that it's really an 
effective way to get a certain 

122
00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:50,040
type of exposure if you 
understand how the products 

123
00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,720
work. 
And, and we've been building the

124
00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,000
business since then. 
So we started out with eight 

125
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,200
products listed on one exchange.
Fast forward six years, we have 

126
00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:02,960
over 180 products listed on the 
biggest exchanges in Europe. 

127
00:06:02,960 --> 00:06:06,760
We currently have the most 
traded ETF on the London Stock 

128
00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:09,440
Exchange, which is triple 
leveraged Tesla. 

129
00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,640
And honestly, I'm sure nobody 
could have foreseen this like 5 

130
00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,200
or 6 years ago when people were,
you know, calling these 

131
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,000
products, you know, pointless 
or, you know, they, they thought

132
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:20,560
there was no need or no niche 
for such products in the market.

133
00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:23,840
So it's it's been a ride. 
I love that, I love the vision 

134
00:06:23,840 --> 00:06:26,400
too and being able to see 
something and test it and if it 

135
00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,320
works, great. 
And like you said, you never 

136
00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:29,840
know how high or how strong it 
can be. 

137
00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:32,280
So let's talk about attic and 
income. 

138
00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:33,480
I know you do some other things 
as well. 

139
00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:35,280
If you don't mind, please share 
all that. 

140
00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:37,480
Yes. 
So we have AI would say pretty 

141
00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:39,880
strong pedigree in terms of ETF 
background. 

142
00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,360
So the CEO and the owner of the 
company is José González. 

143
00:06:43,360 --> 00:06:46,000
So he is no stranger to the ETF 
game. 

144
00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,960
He was one of the Co founders of
a big thematic ETF issuer called

145
00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:53,200
Global X. 
So that was ultimately sold to a

146
00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:57,200
Korean asset manager and 
leverage shares was, you know, 

147
00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,240
along with the Co founders, 
Dobermar Kumborov and and Tracy 

148
00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:02,400
Grant. 
This is basically their first 

149
00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,680
European venture. 
So we started out with the 

150
00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,240
leverage products and you know, 
over time we realized that we 

151
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:11,120
sort of, you know, we've we've 
specialized in being able to 

152
00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,200
launch a lot of products and we 
have a lot of flexibility in 

153
00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,440
terms of what kind of products 
we can bring to market and the 

154
00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:18,520
speed at which we can bring them
to market. 

155
00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,080
So after the leveraged products,
we introduced income options 

156
00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,640
ETFs in Europe, which was also 
first for the continent. 

157
00:07:26,160 --> 00:07:29,000
And then we introduced a white 
label offering, meaning we would

158
00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:32,520
launch exchange traded products 
for other asset managers that 

159
00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:35,040
didn't want to go through the 
the hassle of launching their 

160
00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,160
own entire ETF business. 
So in Europe, those are, I would

161
00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:40,600
say the core businesses that 
we're focused on. 

162
00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,680
And then in the US just a few 
years ago, we have a sister 

163
00:07:44,680 --> 00:07:47,280
company that launched a bunch of
thematic ETFs. 

164
00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,160
So, you know, if you think of 
anything from cybersecurity to 

165
00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,720
generative AI, it has I think 
one of the widest ranges of 

166
00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,160
thematic ETF offerings. 
And the differentiator there is 

167
00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,240
the management fee, which for a 
lot of the different, you know, 

168
00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,760
themes or categories, it's the 
lowest management fee in the 

169
00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,880
category for many of them. 
And we also, you know, just a 

170
00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,200
year ago, we started launching 
2X leverage single stock ETFs as

171
00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,360
well. 
And you know, I'm really happy 

172
00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:16,480
to say that that a few of them 
have really caught on quite 

173
00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,000
well. 
And with such launches, you 

174
00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:19,520
know, you do need a bit of luck,
right? 

175
00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:22,520
So with the certain decline of 
stock prices of certain stocks 

176
00:08:22,520 --> 00:08:25,040
like UNH, especially as of late,
I know there's been a lot of 

177
00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:28,200
chatter on Twitter. 
And as soon as we launched it, 

178
00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:30,760
the uptake was like nothing 
we've seen before. 

179
00:08:30,760 --> 00:08:33,960
I mean, I think it got to 100 
million in AUM in something like

180
00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,880
under 2 weeks, which, you know, 
for us was unprecedented. 

181
00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:39,960
It's a proven concept. 
So at this point, we know what 

182
00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,360
we're good at. 
We know what people know what's 

183
00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,520
best for. 
So ultimately, we're just going 

184
00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:46,560
to keep addressing that demand 
in the market. 

185
00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:50,000
And you know, I think there's no
better signal of demand than 

186
00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,640
people voting with their money 
or them investing into your 

187
00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:54,840
products. 
And we've only seen, you know, 

188
00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:57,240
that those investments go in One
Direction that's up over the 

189
00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,720
last few years. 
And that's been really promising

190
00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,960
to see because I can tell you 
the first few years were not 

191
00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:05,720
very pretty. 
And it's only, it's only, you 

192
00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:07,320
know, taken off probably the 
last few years. 

193
00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:10,320
So it's really satisfying to 
finally hit that inflection 

194
00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:12,760
point and and see the business 
really grow. 

195
00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:14,920
I love that. 
So let's talk about risk 

196
00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:17,920
management out there. 
What are some lessons you've 

197
00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,160
learned about risk management? 
How do you handle risk? 

198
00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,240
And anything you want to share 
about risk management, please? 

199
00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:26,640
So risk management from an ETF 
issuer's perspective is even 

200
00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:28,600
more important when you're 
involved in the kind of business

201
00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:30,440
that we have, which is leveraged
ETFs, right? 

202
00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:35,080
Because the more exposure you 
offer to the end investor, the 

203
00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:38,120
more careful you have to be on 
your side to make sure that the 

204
00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:42,280
product is functioning properly.
So there's a few perks with 

205
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,800
leveraged ETFs, which is this 
thing called daily rebalancing. 

206
00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:49,440
So basically, if the stock goes 
up, you have to rebalance by 

207
00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,760
buying or getting more exposure 
to the underlying instrument and

208
00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,200
vice versa. 
So what that means is that if, 

209
00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:59,360
let's say the underlying were to
drop by a large amount, then you

210
00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,400
would, you know, ultimately be 
on the hook if the ETF were to 

211
00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:04,040
lose, you know, let's say it's 
full value. 

212
00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,000
Because in theory that is 
possible, right? 

213
00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,320
So as a company, we have to make
sure that we have the proper 

214
00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,640
risk management measures in 
place that if something were to 

215
00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:14,880
happen, you know, we have the 
proper, you know, sort of 

216
00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,880
procedures to start taking 
action as soon as possible to do

217
00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,520
what's called an intraday 
rebalance just to try to ensure 

218
00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:24,440
that the product doesn't go 
below 0. 

219
00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,080
Or, you know, investors, 
obviously with an ETF, they 

220
00:10:27,080 --> 00:10:28,520
can't lose more than they're 
invested. 

221
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,400
But at the issuer level, we also
have to really have to have the 

222
00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,920
proper precautions in place to 
make sure that that we do 

223
00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,120
everything we can to curtail or 
minimize risks when an asset 

224
00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:42,040
might drop drastically or have 
like a big gap down with some of

225
00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:44,720
these products. 
So risk is it's not part of what

226
00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,000
we do. 
It's a major part of what we do,

227
00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:49,240
right. 
And the, the good thing about, 

228
00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,320
you know, controlling risk, 
especially with regulated 

229
00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:54,800
products like ETF's and ET PS is
that you have a lot of 

230
00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:56,360
counterparties that you have to 
please. 

231
00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,760
So nobody's going to allow you 
to do like a 5X levered version 

232
00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,400
of GameStop or something like 
that because the risk is just 

233
00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:05,720
too high, right? 
So the exchange will probably 

234
00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:08,120
have issues with it. 
The market makers, they won't 

235
00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:10,560
want to price it there, They 
won't want to take on that risk.

236
00:11:10,560 --> 00:11:12,960
So there's, there's a lot of 
checks and balances within the 

237
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,680
industry itself that you know, 
make sure that, you know, we're,

238
00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:18,960
we're doing everything to make 
sure that the end investor is, 

239
00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:21,360
is safe with their investments 
ultimately. 

240
00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:23,880
Yeah, I love that. 
That's really, really powerful 

241
00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,200
because like you said, 2X3X all 
of a sudden now leverage could 

242
00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,080
work, you know, for you or 
against you. 

243
00:11:29,080 --> 00:11:30,560
So it's really important to to 
respond. 

244
00:11:30,560 --> 00:11:33,560
Exactly. 
So in the US that the latest 

245
00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:36,160
regulations say that you can 
only go up to 2X in terms of 

246
00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:40,040
leverage DTF offerings. 
But in Europe you know we can do

247
00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:44,080
all the way up to 5X and we do 
have a few 5X leverage ETFs or 

248
00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:46,280
ET PS. 
So we have 5X NASDAQ for 

249
00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:50,080
example, we have 5X Magnificent 
7 exchange traded products. 

250
00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:53,960
So it's it gets pretty wild on 
on on this side of the pond. 

251
00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,040
I definitely could imagine. 
All right, let's talk about some

252
00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:58,760
timeless lessons. 
What are some timeless lessons 

253
00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:00,400
you've learned along the way 
that you'd like to share with 

254
00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:01,400
the audience? 
I. 

255
00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,360
Mean you pick a category and 
then I can share a lesson around

256
00:12:04,360 --> 00:12:07,080
it. 
But I guess if, if we're talking

257
00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:11,040
about maybe, I guess this 
applies to both my personal life

258
00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:15,160
and, and my profession is 
probably just adaptability or 

259
00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:18,200
just being able to just adapt to
different things, different 

260
00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,040
environments, right? 
Because just to give you an 

261
00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,320
example, you know, I remember of
just a few years ago, 

262
00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,560
programming and coding, that was
all the rage, right? 

263
00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:30,760
People were saying, if you get a
job in programming, then it's 

264
00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:32,320
it's future proof. 
And then you're going to be set 

265
00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:33,920
for the rest of your life and 
things like that. 

266
00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,160
And all of a sudden you have 
major CE OS like like CEO of 

267
00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,320
NVIDIA and AMD coming out and 
saying that, you know, it's not 

268
00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:43,480
that important to be able to 
program anymore because you can 

269
00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,480
put a lot of that legwork to, to
AI. 

270
00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,480
You know, ChatGPT can do a lot 
of it on its own. 

271
00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,640
And obviously it has a bunch of 
alternatives out there. 

272
00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:55,920
So if I were to, you know, hone 
down on one key message that has

273
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,280
really helped me over the years 
is, is being able to adapt. 

274
00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:04,560
Because if I've learned one 
thing over my career and life is

275
00:13:04,560 --> 00:13:08,200
that the only constant is a 
really is change, right? 

276
00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:11,200
So even for me on a personal 
level, five years ago, I never 

277
00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:12,680
thought I'd be where I am right 
now. 

278
00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,080
Five years from now I probably, 
you know, will be very surprised

279
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:18,280
to see where I ended up because 
it could be in a different 

280
00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:20,400
industry, could be in a 
different position, it could be 

281
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,080
a different content, who knows? 
Absolutely love it. 

282
00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,240
Yeah, it's evolved, you know, 
evolution, it's change. 

283
00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:28,360
It's adaptability. 
Absolutely love what you're 

284
00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:29,760
saying. 
All right, let's talk about the 

285
00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:31,800
other side of that. 
What are some timeless mistakes 

286
00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:34,360
either you've made, you've seen 
people make, and how do you 

287
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:36,240
learn from them so you don't 
keep repeating them? 

288
00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:40,760
Yeah, I think mistakes are also 
equally important, right? 

289
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:44,200
So because sometimes the best 
lesson is to make a mistake and 

290
00:13:44,200 --> 00:13:47,640
to learn from it, because people
can give us advice and, you 

291
00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:51,240
know, tell us like the know hows
or the best or the best 

292
00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,080
practices all day long. 
But until you live through it 

293
00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:58,080
yourself or until you make that 
mistake or until you put in that

294
00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:01,760
losing trade, you know, until 
you experience it first hand and

295
00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:05,760
have that feeling of regret, you
never truly understand, you 

296
00:14:05,760 --> 00:14:08,920
know, how to how to properly 
learn from from mistakes. 

297
00:14:09,240 --> 00:14:13,640
But I would say probably my 
biggest mistake over the years 

298
00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:18,760
probably has been related to, 
to, to not, you know, to not 

299
00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,200
really go for it, you know, to, 
to be a little bit more 

300
00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,960
conservative, right? 
So this could be, you know, it 

301
00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,160
could be with, with your 
relationship with your, with 

302
00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,200
your wife, with your partner. 
It could be picking a certain 

303
00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:32,480
university, it could be quitting
your job and trying to start 

304
00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:34,440
your own business. 
And it could be a lot of things.

305
00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,160
And, you know, if I do have one 
regret, it would just be not 

306
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:41,720
taking sort of that bigger leap 
earlier on in my career and just

307
00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:45,760
playing it safe for for quite 
some time Before, I would say I 

308
00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:47,880
was a little bit more aggressive
in terms of the decisions I 

309
00:14:47,880 --> 00:14:50,480
made. 
But but yeah, those, those are 

310
00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:53,120
the decisions that I that I 
learned from because ultimately,

311
00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:56,560
you realize that, you know, we 
all have a very limited amount 

312
00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:59,080
of time on this planet. 
It's like at the end of the day,

313
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:01,960
it's like whatever you achieve, 
it's going to be for yourself. 

314
00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,880
And at the end, if there's 
somebody that's going to, you 

315
00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:06,920
know, live through the most 
amount of regrets, going to be 

316
00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:08,480
you if you don't actually go for
it. 

317
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:10,520
Yeah, I couldn't agree with you 
more. 

318
00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:12,880
That is so, so powerful. 
All right, let's talk about 

319
00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:14,560
leadership. 
What makes a great leader? 

320
00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:16,400
What are some lessons you've 
learned about leadership that 

321
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:19,720
you'd like to share with the 
audience the best? 

322
00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:23,800
Leaders that I've worked with 
are are the people that sort of 

323
00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:28,440
empower others around them and 
give them responsibilities, even

324
00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,280
if they don't necessarily 
believe that those people are 

325
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:34,880
ready for it, right? 
I've never been keen on working 

326
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,600
with people that just tell you 
what to do or they think they 

327
00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:39,400
know it all. 
You know, I've worked with, you 

328
00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:42,720
know, a bunch of, you know, very
high net worth, let's say 

329
00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:45,400
individuals across my various 
careers and bosses. 

330
00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:49,120
And one of the key differences 
that I've seen is that there, 

331
00:15:49,160 --> 00:15:50,960
there are a lot of personalities
out there, right? 

332
00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:53,480
Some people can be, you know, 
jerks. 

333
00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:56,000
Another person could have the 
exact same background, could be 

334
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,480
a really good guy and all of a 
sudden it's very easy and very, 

335
00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:03,280
you know, there's no effort in 
getting along with one of them, 

336
00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:05,240
whereas with the other, you 
can't even be in the same room 

337
00:16:05,240 --> 00:16:08,640
with them. 
So I think leadership is all 

338
00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,800
about, you know, putting other 
people 1st and helping, you 

339
00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,560
know, push them forward or 
moving forward together, rather 

340
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:17,840
than, you know, putting yourself
on the highest pedestal, you 

341
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,560
know, as possible and, and just 
trying to tell or prove to other

342
00:16:21,560 --> 00:16:24,720
people how good you are, how, 
how great you are, what you do. 

343
00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:27,360
Yeah, I love that. 
That is really, really, really 

344
00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:29,760
great piece of advice. 
So it's, it's, it's empowering 

345
00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:31,680
the other folks instead of 
trying to push them down. 

346
00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,080
If I hear. 
Absolutely, absolutely, 

347
00:16:34,080 --> 00:16:35,640
absolutely. 
I mean, especially nowadays 

348
00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:38,480
everybody seems to have, you 
know, sort of their own platform

349
00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,360
and everybody likes expressing 
their views, right. 

350
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,520
And then ultimately, we really 
do have to, I think, give more 

351
00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:46,960
credit to the people out there 
who actually do a really good 

352
00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:50,480
job of, of, you know, empowering
a lot, a lot of people around 

353
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,960
them or, or many people that 
they might know or they might 

354
00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:56,120
not directly know, rather than 
those that would do anything 

355
00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,440
possible to just, you know, to 
just amplify their own voice. 

356
00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:00,920
So I think that's very 
important. 

357
00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:03,440
Love that. 
OK, next question for you is 

358
00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,200
adversity. 
How do you handle adversity? 

359
00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,119
What are some obstacles you had 
to overcome? 

360
00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:09,040
Anything you want to speak about
that subject please? 

361
00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,119
So I think adversity is 
adversity builds character. 

362
00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:19,440
So adversity is, is something we
all go through and I think for 

363
00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:22,680
good reasons, like that's, 
that's what that's what builds, 

364
00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:25,880
that's what builds courage. 
That's what you know, we have to

365
00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:27,800
know, we have to know adversity.
We have to know fear. 

366
00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,200
We have to have gone through 
certain experiences to be able 

367
00:17:30,200 --> 00:17:33,000
to appreciate the good and avoid
the bad. 

368
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,880
So the way I deal with adversity
is, is head on, right? 

369
00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:41,440
I would, I would say the one 
quality that still holds me back

370
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,600
from time to time is 
procrastination. 

371
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:46,600
So I do like to leave the things
that I don't want to do right 

372
00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:48,960
away. 
I just, I'm, I keep kicking the 

373
00:17:48,960 --> 00:17:53,320
can down the road sometimes. 
But what I've realized is that 

374
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,560
the earlier you address it, the 
earlier if you face the truth, 

375
00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,160
the better off you'll be. 
You know, whether it's good 

376
00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:03,000
news, bad news, whatever, 
knowing early on is a lot better

377
00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,600
than, you know, just expecting 
or fearing the worst. 

378
00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,840
That's that's something I'm 100%
convinced of. 

379
00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:10,120
I love it. 
OK, beautiful. 

380
00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:12,640
Final question for you today 
Octe, is what is the best piece 

381
00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,720
of advice you'd like to give the
audience or your 20 year old 

382
00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:22,040
self? 
My 20 year old self, that is a 

383
00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:26,440
good question because what I 
would, what I would say to 

384
00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:30,520
anyone you know younger than me 
or you know, even in their 20s, 

385
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,720
is that don't put too much 
pressure on yourself to to know 

386
00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,720
it all or to try to know it all 
within a short span of time 

387
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:42,200
because things always change, 
right? 

388
00:18:42,200 --> 00:18:45,000
Don't try to pick the perfect 
university. 

389
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,080
Don't try to pick the perfect 
job and try to pick the perfect 

390
00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,520
career because you will evolve, 
evolve as a person, you will 

391
00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:51,840
change. 
You're going to go through 

392
00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:54,720
adversity, you might get 
divorced, you might get fired. 

393
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,920
And all of those are going to 
build your character and they're

394
00:18:57,920 --> 00:18:59,280
going to lead to certain 
decisions. 

395
00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,920
And ultimately, you might end up
in a different place than what 

396
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,520
you initially expected expected,
but that different place might 

397
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:06,720
make you happier than you might 
have otherwise been. 

398
00:19:07,200 --> 00:19:10,760
So a lot of things, I would say,
most things in our lives are out

399
00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:12,800
of our control. 
So as long as you're 

400
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:15,800
disciplined, as long as you're 
you know kind to others and you 

401
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,800
do what you know is right, then 
ultimately you should be OK. 

402
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,400
So don't stress too much. 
I love it. 

403
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,640
Well, Akhte, thank you so much 
for coming on the show, for 

404
00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:25,520
sharing some timeless lessons 
with us. 

405
00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:28,040
Congrats on all your success and
hopefully we'll have you on 

406
00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:30,680
again soon. 
I would love to Adam, thank you 

407
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,720
very much for having me on It's,
it's been a pleasure.

