Adam Braun
NYT bestselling author and founder of Pencils of Promise
Discussion
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
Hi I'm Adam Braun, NY Times Bestselling Author and Founder of Pencils Of Promise. What do you most want to know?
Editor's Note: Check out Adam's book, Promise of a Pencil, here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Promis...
For more Adam, check out our podcast episode with him here: https://soundcloud.com/product-h...
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Teresa Hammerl
@colazionearoma · Socialmediapreneur
Hi Adam, what book are you reading right now?
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@colazionearoma I'm currently reading Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda.
SmartCodeHQ
@smartcodehq · SmartCodeHQ
@adambraun Amazing book, along with The Active Side of Infinity two of my favorites.
Erik Torenberg
@eriktorenberg · Former Product Hunt
@adambraun Hey Adam - Thank you for joining!
For founders who want to hire CEOs, what would you recommend? I know you just went through that process with Pencils of Promise.
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@eriktorenberg great question Erik. I'd recommend you hire a great search firm and be incredibly patient. "Stay guided by your values, not your necessities" is the title of one of the chapters in my book and that applies to a Founder to CEO transition. We waited a full year and 700 candidates before we made an offer to Michael Dougherty, PoP's new CEO. The other thing I'd say is that their fit with your internal culture is even more important than their skill set. As a founder, if you've cultivated a great culture it's all about the people, and you need to find a leader you can trust will not only support but enhance that culture.
Hash_tag_jeff
@jeffumbro · Book Marketing and PR - get in touch
@adambraun - what's your opinion on some of the progressive schools in the country? Yay or nay?
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@jeffumbro depends on the school, but in general I'm Yay for anything that attempts to improve/innovate on the status quo in education. Big fan of KIPP, Success Academies, Uncommon schools. I also think what Max Ventilla is doing at Alt-School is fascinating and could have huge ramifications for how we treat K-12 in this country.
Hash_tag_jeff
@jeffumbro · Book Marketing and PR - get in touch
@adambraun Check out Loving Learning by the late Tom Little. Absolutely worth the read.
David Bozin
@davidbozin · STARTUP Growth | BD | Op's
@adambraun I was highly involved in an organization called No Right Brain Left Behind (Bringing STEAM to schools and students in modern ways). Regardless, it is incredibly difficult to get something that we all know as individuals to be so important into education.
Why is the educational system so backwards and adverse to change, regardless of how beneficial it may be?
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@davidbozin it's adverse to change because it's hard to quantify results and hold people accountable. In health you can either say someone has been vaccinated or not, in education there's a lot more arbitrary measures as to whether someone has been educated and even if they are at that level what about three years later. It's also a fragmented issue so the solutions are fragmented rather than one-size-fits all. Also, teacher's unions carry tremendous power and so do government mandated programs which makes rapid innovation incredibly difficult.
Melissa
@bulldog2332 · Wish Program intern, Make-A-Wish
Hey @adambraun, do you have any recommendations for how recent college graduates can keep in touch with their professional contacts throughout the year in an authentic and meaningful way?
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@bulldog2332 Hi Melissa, I think the best way is to provide value to them consistently rather than making asks. Occasionally send through a great article that might be of interest to them, offer to make a helpful introduction or ask if they're making any hires where you can be helpful in sourcing candidates. The more you offer to help up front, the more they'll want to help you back in return when you graduate.
Melissa
@bulldog2332 · Wish Program intern, Make-A-Wish
@adambraun thanks, Adam! If you have an additional moment for this follow-up comment/question: even though I know it's so important to offer value when possible, I tend to struggle with knowing what articles to send and value to add as I am just starting out. Did you experience this right after you graduated from college and if so, what was your approach to maintaining your professional relationships?
Daniel Landy
@danolandy · 📚Babson Student
You and your brother have achieved incredible things. What are some key thing your parents did do to help their children achieve success?
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@danoliverlandy they held us to incredibly high standards in everything we did, and told us consistently that they expected that we'd do something great. I write about their parenting style a lot throughout the book (amzn.to/1z7ZLRb), but they were extremely loving and supportive while also not accepting anything other than the people they believed we could become. The same thing applied to my sister and two adopted brothers from Mozambique.
Marty McFly
@mcflyinthechi
@adambraun Hi Adam, do you have any tips for someone starting a global charity using transparency and social media?
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@mcflyinthechi build a small but loyal following at first. make sure you communicate directly (one on one) with those early followers and build a passionate base. then empower them to become your torchbearers and leaders. give them the tools to carry your mission forward in unique ways, but find ways to celebrate your super users at all times.
Ovi Negrean
@ovinegrean · Founder @SocialBeeHQ, @getnuggetapp
hey @adambraun - I've read your book a couple of years ago and it was a great inspiration.
That year I've donated my birthday and was one of the best gifts I've ever received.
This year I was feeling a bit off (turning 30) so I did nothing.
But I was surprised that I was not contacted by somebody from PoP to be asked if I wanted to donate my B-day again. Such a missed opportunity.
Also - Please tell this crowd about Passbook - I think it's somebody everyone here should join!
And now my Q: what's next for Adam Braun - now that you're not the CEO of POP any more? Could there be a for profit (not just for impact) start-up in your future? :-)
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@ovinegrean Hi Ovi, first off big thanks for the bday donation. I'll tell the team about the missed opportunity, and if anyone reading this wants to donate their bday or start a PoP campaign please email Susie at sharrison@pencilsofpromise.org so she can help you get started.
For those interested in Passport, it's a simple way to change lives every month via our member program. www.pencilsofpromise.org/passport
In terms of what's next, I have a big idea I've been brewing on for a while and when the time is right will be pursuing it heavily. That said, my heart will always be in PoP and I'm going to be heavily involved as Founder and Board member. Stay tuned though, will be writing a lot more on those decisions and what's next via blogs at adambraun.com you can sign up for.
Ovi Negrean
@ovinegrean · Founder @SocialBeeHQ, @getnuggetapp
@adambraun Sounds good Adam.
Getting back to my launch - I'm in the middle of launching nugget on Product Hunt. We're #4 now.. http://www.producthunt.com/tech/...
BTW - we're nuggetizing your book as well - aka taking the best 'quotes' from the book and adding them all to our app.
Looking forward to following your next BIG adventure Adam :)
Aditya Gopal Ganguly
@gopcruise · Developer, Practical Knowledge Labs
Hi Adam, any plans for bringing your work to India?
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Adam Braun
@adambraun · Founder, Pencils of Promise
@gopcruise right now PoP isn't expanding into any new countries but we'll be considering India amongst others when we do add our next country at some point in the years ahead. I'm currently working on an initiative called the Global Education Platform that was conceived by the UN Special Envoy for Global Education and we're planning to launch a major pilot in India in October. More details on that to come via www.gbc-education.org/gep