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Facing Extreme Challenges and Winning
Face extreme challenges and win. In one’s life, in one’s career, it is inevitable that we will face extreme challenges at some point in our life journey. A setback invariably challenges one’s self-confidence and self-esteem which we learn are actually quite fragile in the face of a major set-back. As Gloria Steinham said, “It’s not that self-esteem is everything; it’s just that there is nothing without it.” We have to build back our self-confidence and our self-esteem--which is the same as our feelings of self-worth--or we risk withering away. In this talk, Jothy focuses on how a high degree of focus and commitment to a sport or any focusing activity can be the basis for rebuilding self-confidence and ultimately self-esteem. Better still, self-confidence carries from that activity over to all other aspects of life and career making you better and stronger at everything you do. He was knocked down by teenage cancer and the resulting disabilities but the same applies to any type of knockdown. People with disabilities or fighting major disease are excellent role models; we have known that since the days of rampant polio. This talk helps people bounce back, regain their footing, and become stronger and better than ever by understanding how Jothy did it. A 4 minute video at the end gets people on their feet and cheering and they leave the room motivated and inspired.
Inspirational Stories of Disabled Extreme Athletes
From his new TV series with the same name as his book, “Who Says I Can’t,” Jothy profiles the amazing and inspirational stories of some of the thousands of people whom we do not yet know that have been knocked down hard by life and used sports as the way to build themselves back up. Their stories affect us by seeing the strength of the human spirit and provide hope and inspiration for each of us that we too may have that kind of strength and resolve if something bad were to happen to us.Maureen McKinnon--fell 13 feet over a seawall while walking her bike and became paralyzed from the waist down. She went on to have two kids and became the first woman to win sailing gold at the paraolympics. She also now is the director for disabled sailing at the Piers Park Sailing Center in Boston and is routinely getting all types of disabled people not just on the sailboat but being skipper of the sailboat. Kelly Bruno--was born with such a deformed lower leg that it had to be amputated at age 6 months. She never even knew she was supposed to be disabled. She is now a medical student and has set many records in track and triathlons. She was also a contestant on Survivor: Nicaragua.
War Stories of an Incorrigible Entrepreneur
Jothy uses the experience he gained from starting and/or running 8 high tech startups from his own computer science training to help his audience gain practical insights into what they need to know, what they should ask, and how they should decide if the startup they want to form or join makes good sense for them. He will talk about business models and why they matter, how to evaluate the business plan and management of the company, what they need to know about the financing and capital structure of the startup and many other issues that technical people tend to overlook. All this so they can ultimately be more successful and have a better startup experience. Jothy is a 20-year veteran of high-tech startup after startup, ten in all. He has had successes (two companies he founded sold for $100M+) and failures. He has raised over $85M in venture capital from over a dozen firms. He has had numerous boards of directors. He has scars. In a series of stories, all told with a wry sense of humor, Jothy will elucidate the good, the bad and the ugly of startups and entrepreneurship.
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Motivation / Success