Episode 104: Start Now Start Simple with Dan Ram

Dan Ram is a 3x entrepreneur, prolific speaker, recording artist and startup coach. The son of an Indian diplomat, he draws inspiration from his eclectic background growing up in 10 countries, and he has actively worked on 5 continents.

Dan is a founder, investor and coach to more than 100 startups in multiple countries. He has advised the Irish National Government on their Entrepreneurship Policy, consulted for multinationals, hosted some of the largest startup events on the planet, mentored at accelerators and facilitated deal flows for investors. He lectures on entrepreneurship and is a regular speaker and emcee in the local and international startup circuit. He has shared the stage with some of the most influential changemakers in the world.

On this episode, you will hear Dan talk about:

• How curiosity, consistency and excellence have helped him refine his talents over the years
• How his first big event-hosting opportunity came as a result of a previous failure
• Why being an introvert is a superpower, and why “nerves” on stage are a good thing
• How he gets speaking gigs (hint: it’s not through pitching!)
• How his philosophy of “start now start simple” has had a profound impact on people
• Why he doesn’t have any clear-cut goals – and what drives him instead

Learn more about Dan and his work on iamdanram.com and through his social media on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube!

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A full episode transcript is available below.

Today on Beyond 6 Seconds.

Everybody’s waiting for the rain. Everybody is wanting to be that big, strong oak tree or wants to be that tree that’s producing all that fruit, everyone wants to be bountiful. Everybody wants to have those opportunities, but what they’re not willing to look at and invest in is the seed in their hand, because unless you put seed in the ground, when the rain comes, you’re not going to get any harvest.

Welcome to Beyond 6 Seconds. The podcast that goes beyond the six second first impression to share the extraordinary stories and achievements of everyday people. I’m your host, Carolyn Kiel.

This episode was originally recorded in February 2020.

On today’s episode I’m speaking with Dan Ram — a 3x entrepreneur, prolific speaker, recording artist and startup coach. The son of an Indian diplomat, he draws inspiration from his eclectic background growing up in 10 countries and now actively working on 5 continents. Dan is a founder, investor and coach to more than 100 startups in multiple countries. He has advised the Irish National Government on their Entrepreneurship Policy, consulted for multinationals, hosted some of the largest startup events on the planet, mentored at accelerators and facilitated deal flows for investors. He lectures on entrepreneurship and is a regular speaker and MC in the local and international startup circuit. He has shared the stage with some of the most influential changemakers in the world. Dan, welcome to the podcast!

Thank you so much for having me.

I’m really happy that you’re here. You have had such a fascinating career and life and I would just love to learn more about it and share that with my listeners. So it mentioned in your bio that you grew up in 10 countries. What was that like and how did that impact your philosophy for your own life and career?

Absolutely, that’s a great place to start because I think how we grow up shapes a lot of who we become. And so for me, being the son of an Indian diplomat meant that I moved a lot every two to three years, we moved to a brand new country. Now this is going to date me a little bit, but I grew up in a world pre social media, which meant that when I left the country, I literally left the country. Now we can bring a social imprint of our memories and our connections with us, and so traveling today is significantly different from traveling back then. But growing up as a diplomat’s son, part of the pre social media world, the pros and cons, I came from it. It was such a adventure and a curiosity and an explosion of feelings when you go into a new country. You couldn’t just Google a place or connect with a friend of a friend who lived in that country.

You literally just explored and heard, smelled, felt, touched, tasted your experiences for the first time and that was probably one of the exciting parts. Another thing that we’ll probably touch upon in this interview is the art of evolution and particularly the art of reinvention and I think in a quickly changing world you have to adapt, you have to evolve and that involves reinventing. I had tons of practice of that because again, pre social media, I didn’t build a brand back then, I could start all over again. So even how you introduced me, Dan Ram, is not a name that anybody pre 2017 knows me as. And when I was growing up, I had Joe, which is my first name, Daniel is my middle name, Danny, which is an informal nickname of my middle name, Joe Dan, Dan Ram, Danny J, JDR, D. Ram. I had so many different names. It’s not just the name that changed. It was also some extent who I was, but moving to new countries and new continents allowed me to reinvent, to adapt, to evolve.

Now with that, there’s also some cons because I couldn’t bring my friends along. It meant that I had to literally start from scratch, literally from, hi, my name is, every two to three years and there was no history to who I was. So I had to prove myself. I had to start from zero on repeat, and some countries were easier to grow up in and some countries were more challenging. 1993 we were in a civil war in Algeria that wasn’t the most pleasant of times. And yet in the midst of that, I got a double promotion. And so that meant that there was an acceleration of my studies, even though the world around me was deteriorating.

On the other hand, a country that people would not think highly of, Zimbabwe, where I spent my early teens was actually some of my fondest memories. In some ways, I pity teenagers that grew up in front of screens, only because they don’t have other options. Whereas for me, I had the jungles, you know, we had animals and birds and reptiles and everything that people watch on animal planet and national geographic was right at my doorstep. And so my childhood was just spent outdoors. And so as you can tell, as I’m sharing this, there’s highs and lows like with everybody’s life. So while mine might be unique, what we share with all the listeners and with you is that there’s highs and lows. There’s challenges and blessings in every life.

Yes, absolutely. And I can see how your early experience in moving around and having to adapt and create a new identity every two to three years in a new place and not being able to bring everything with you from your previous places that you lived. I could see how that flows into your career now because your career is incredibly eclectic. We mentioned just some of the things in your bio that you’ve been involved in. You’ve got entrepreneurship and mentoring and speaking and incredible influences in all different industries and obviously a lot of different talents come into that. So I’m curious, what was the first talent or passion that you remember discovering in yourself?

That’s a good question. I absolutely believe that talents and gifts have to be discovered, which means that you have to experiment and step out of the comfort zone. So before the talent was identified, it was many months and years of trying, struggling and failing. I wasn’t, I guess naturally born with anything superb. Now looking in hindsight through the rear view mirror, you can kind of see a thread, but in the moment, I don’t think there was anything that really stood out. I was very shy. I was very introverted. I prefer talking to animals rather than humans. It was very nerdy, but I think one talent that I use today that was also true back then is I was eternally curious. I was always asking questions, always digging deeper, always happy to read more, study more, take things apart more than the average person. And I think that curiosity is what drives me to these different stages.

I don’t get bored of it. Even though I’ve done about 200 events the last two years, I still have so much to learn. There’s still so much to see and feel and so I think curiosity is probably one of those talents. I wasn’t the most articulate, but I think I was good at taking a lot of information and then simplifying it and sharing it. My parents were very good that we always had dinner together as a family and we would always recap the day when we came back from school. And so I had to take loads of information and then distill it in shorter phrases and that again, as an MC and a host is what I do. The keynote speakers come and share so much wealth of information then I have to summarize it or make it applicable, take some practical steps to the audience for them to run with that inspiration, motivation, and so I’d say that’s probably another talent.

Now there’s other things. I’m very musical. I play eight instruments, but in the moment, with classical training with teachers that hit me because I wasn’t practicing enough, and just, you know, it’s not very impressive at the start. I wasn’t a child prodigy in music, but it was the everyday work at music that has given me the ability to play and sing and perform at the level I do, but it wasn’t a talent. Same with fitness and energy. A lot of people comment that I have a lot of energy on stage, but I wasn’t always that way. It’s just more than I worked at it. I worked at my self-awareness. I worked at my ability to encourage myself, to inspire myself before I dare to inspire others around me, to take care of myself and my wellbeing, my mental health. It’s the daily habits around meditation, mindfulness, taking some me time out and hitting the gym and doing things like that. That gives me the energy on stage. So the stuff that may seem like the talents today are actually things I worked very hard at for years and years and the things that are more subtle today like curiosity and distilling big or complex concepts in very simple practical action steps is probably where the real talent was.

Yeah, I totally believe that curiosity and that ability to distill messages and communicate clearly and simply, that will get you really far in almost any field. It’s something that the world really craves now, because as the world gets more complex and moves faster and faster, it’s such a talent to be able to bring those messages together and help people connect the dots and put all the pieces together, as they’re looking at all kinds of information that we’re getting hit at left and right all the time. Definitely. And it’s interesting to hear you say that you were very introverted and very shy at a young age, but yet you are able to be on stage and have a lot of energy and speak on global platforms all around the world. So I’m also relatively introverted, but also a musician and obviously have a podcast where I talk to people once a week or so. So, I think that’s an important point to say just because you may naturally be shy or introverted, but still have that curiosity to say like, just because this is my natural preferred state, it doesn’t mean that these other avenues are necessarily barred to me. You should still kind of explore different things because you never really know until you explore those. And it sounds like you’ve really explored a lot of different talents.

Absolutely. And let’s just break that myth right now that introverts cannot be in public.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think introverts, just as much as extroverts, desire companionship, desire to communicate, it’s just how we do it that’s slightly different. And I actually think being an introvert, part of my superpower, I know that in this setting, you’re asking the questions, but I think introverts in general spend more time in their heads thinking and asking questions than extroverts do. And that analysis and those observations are really important. They’re necessary in boardroom settings, at family conversations, and even on stage. An extrovert may very naturally fall into my role right now, which is to answer questions, whereas an introvert is digging deeper in general, I’m making big broad sweeps out of it. But I think that skillset onstage and that addition to the conversation that introvert brings is so important.

But the other thing for me in particular is as an introvert, I love my own company and I invest that time to build myself up. So even before the audience cheers for me, even before the lights come on stage, even before the band plays, even before the big speakers come on stage, which extroverts get their energy from, I’ve already pulled myself up with my own energy that morning, which is why I don’t need any validation from anybody on stage. I’m not saying that in a boastful way. I’m saying that in a celebration of introverts that if we use our time alone, that often we crave to our benefit. We actually have so much to bring onto a stage, whereas an extrovert is waiting for the noise from the audience to give them that energy. I’m bringing that energy and the audience is feeding off of mine. So I actually think introverts make for great speakers.

Yeah, absolutely. And the listening component is powerful as well because it’s really great to be able to build those close relationships in the conversation that you have on stage. So if you’re facilitating a panel or really connecting with an audience, it’s a definitely part of that super power. Absolutely. In your background, growing up, you’ve had opportunities to use your curiosity to explore a lot of different passions and interests and build this eclectic life and career. And I’m curious, were there ever any family expectations for what specific career you should go into? Because some of my guests talk about like their parents tell them that they really should be working towards one career or another and they usually wind up breaking off and going in a different direction. So I’m curious in terms of your family, like what kind of direction did they give you career wise?

So I think there were expectations and for my parents being Asian, being Indian, and more importantly because they had overcome so much to achieve what they had achieved because they had lived a life of transformation in their whole lives where they have gone above and beyond anything that their peers would have or even the entire villages growing up, whatever. I think the expectation was always very high for me. As to a specific route, no. The expectation was always for excellence, whether it be that even with studies, it wasn’t just excellence in the grades and the results. It was also excellence in how I took my notes and how I presented myself in class and how I gave my presentations. There was never anything, even a casual reading of a verse in a church, even that was rehearsed. Even going to a rehearsal, we rehearsed for the rehearsal, so our family it was always excellent at whatever we did. And I think because I do not have any singular talent and also because I was I guess a more positive way to put it because I was multitalented like in school I was doing theater, I was doing sports, I was on the national honor society, I was on the student council, I was great in my studies. Like there was, it was so broad. I think it was mostly they were curious to see how things would work out, but they always knew that things would work out. Just which avenue would it be, which is probably why my career has made trialing different things. You know, working for the UN, which is my first job out of college, is radically different from building a startup. Building a startup is radically different from being a radio presenter. Being a radio presenter is radically different from being an advisor to the international governments of Ireland, which is very different from being a host and an event MC.

So I think what is true in all of those is I was the best that I could be in that position. And through that I was trying to figure out who I truly was. And so my answer is really around alignment with purpose rather than a specific track. And even though we may not have used that language growing up, I think this is what my parents always wanted for me. They wanted that whatever I do in my work, be an extension of who I am. There was no division between, Oh, you’re a good son, but you’re a lousy student, or Oh, you are so friendly at home, but you’re a bully at school. No, I had to always be the best version of myself and I think they were hoping that the career, not hoping, I think they just expected that the career would be an extension of me.

And so yes, I think the very nonlinear path that my career took is a demonstration that it was constant curiosity and exploration and discovery. What I think I found myself. What I do currently is so effortlessly me. I just live. I don’t really have a career. I am, and again, it may sound a little bit boastful, but the only reason I say that with so much confidence is I, I have such a sense of freedom in who I am that I can’t help but want that for others. And so I say that with a sense of confidence because for me it took hard work. It didn’t just appear, it took effort to get to the stage. And I would love to help other people find themselves to become and be the truest version of themselves, not just at work, not just when they’re with the family, not just over weekends, not just on the weekdays better all the time because it was such a freedom and a beauty and an overflow and excitement that comes from just living and living the truest version of yourself. So the summary to that very windy answer is there was no singular expectation except for the expectation to be the best version of myself. And that best version of myself has landed me through a very winding path to where I am today.

That’s really powerful. And what I’m hearing you say through that is that there was always a focus on excellence, not of the result, but also a focus on the process, which I think with a lot of people sometimes, that gets glossed over a lot, because we only see the results when we’re looking at what other people are doing, and it’s like, Oh, how can I do that? Or how did this person do it so easily? Or, or why did it happen for them? But you don’t get to see the whole process of trial and error and discipline and repetitive things and just trying new things. And it sounds like in your family that was also a focus as well in terms of no, you always have to bring your best and bring your whole self to what you’re doing. The result is certainly important, but building up the whole process around that is just as important in order to get where you need to go.

Absolutely. I wouldn’t say the process was also important. I would say that was probably more important. I think they just expected that. I mean, if you dedicate yourself to the process, the results will come and there’s a direct correlation between the process and the product. You can’t jump to the product without the process. And so I think the focus, and I know this because even when we had our concerts, I remember my parents never missed a concert. And while they were congratulating and go, that was amazing, invariably within the first 20 to 30 minutes, there would be the conversation of, alright, what do you think, Dan? What did you think you did well? What could you do better? And so this consulting attitude to my own life, this auditing attitude to my whole life became ingrained in anything that I do today. So even after this call with you, I will think to myself and I will introvert introspect and I’ll say, what did I do well? What did I not do well? Which answers flowed effortlessly? Which ones took more effort? Why was that? And so I think it was the dedication to the process, which my parents really taught me. And that’s why I think the results flow a lot easier is because I know how to work hard. I know the process that’s involved in whatever I put my hands up.

And again, it’s that curious mindset to be able to think about and receive feedback, and not just positive feedback, but constructive feedback as well. So if you build that into a habit, it’s not shocking when something doesn’t go perfectly as, of course, it never goes perfectly. It’s just a constant improvement.

Yep, exactly.

Fantastic. So one of the things that you’re very well known now is for being a host and an MC on all these big global events. And I, as someone who’s kind of starting out and slowly dipping my toes into public speaking more frequently, I’m just so fascinated by how you have had opportunities to present and facilitate on very public stages. So I’d love to know what was the first big event that you hosted? Like, how did it come about and what was that like for you?

Yeah. Okay. The easy answer is the web summit. So I was in Dublin, Ireland as an entrepreneur the year before I had pitched at this event, which was quite big. So I had about two minutes on the stage, although there was only about 300 people in front of me. 300 people is a lot of people, especially for a founder of a company who spends most of his time away from the public and just trying to build a company. And so I had pitched and we didn’t win the competition, but the following year the stage manager called me and said, Dan, although you didn’t do very well as far as the competition goes, your pitch was actually great. And how you spoke was great and how you interacted with the audience was great. And given that you know the stage as a participant of the stage, how will you feel about hosting the stage?

And to be honest, I had no idea what that involved. And so I asked him, what does that mean? It’s just introduce people as they come and go and interact with the audience. That was essentially the only instruction that I’ve ever had for my career. Everything else, because there isn’t a manual for being a good MC and because the resources are quite limited. Everything else I’ve just learned while doing. But those two instructions were basically the only instructions I got into my current career. And so I came back and to be honest, I loved it so much more than pitching. It was such a pressure and a stress with trying to condense your entire life story into two minutes, which you don’t have as an MC. And as a speaker, my only focus was to either sell myself, sell my company or sell a mission of some sort.

As a host, my only focus is to love the audience, to really care about them, to make them feel engaged and a part of what’s happening, to impart some values and some motivation for their day. And it was so great. I really, really loved it and I was hooked. Although the options didn’t come, roll right away. After that I still had the day job. I was still building startups and, but it was, I guess because just taking that chance and doing something I wasn’t comfortable doing and realizing how much I loved it meant that the next time someone said, Dan, can you do this? I just had that one little event more of experience and that one event became two events, and that two events became five, the five have now become about 200 events at a professional level as I’m getting paid to host.

But the earliest, earliest was probably when I was six or seven. I had just started playing the piano and in the church they had given us an opportunity, like a little mini talent show, you know, get all the cute kids to do something. But at that age even that was scary even though it was to bunch of friends and family and people that I went to church with every single Sunday. And even though no one really cared if I did well or not, it was just the cute factor that mattered. But still the pressure was big back then. So it’s not, I hesitate when people say something is big by a certain quantitative, like 5,000 people is big, 500 people, everyone’s different and everyone’s journey is different. And so what might be big for you right now may not be big for me, and vice versa. The important part is being willing to step out of the comfort zone.

So what it took at six years of age to go out there and play a piano in front of friends and family and the way my heart beat, was the same person at the age of 27 that went in front of 300 people step out of their comfort zone to host a stage that they had, quote unquote failed at the year before. And as the same person that today, this weekend, there’s 26,000 people at the event that I was hosting and it was the same, you know, heart beating fast and the same adrenaline rush, because I feel like I’m always the eternal student. I don’t feel like I’ve made it or I’ve achieved the ultimate success. I feel like I’m every day stepping out of the comfort zone. Every day is a big stage. Every day is a new moment.

Yeah. And I think it’s important for people to know, and certainly I’ve experienced this myself, because whenever I’m on stage, whether I’m performing or speaking, sometimes people will ask me like, Oh, I want to be a public speaker. But like Carolyn, how do you get up there without being nervous? It’s like, Oh, I don’t know. I’m nervous every time! So it’s important that you’re always learning. It’s always a new situation and you just have to be open to those experiences. And it sounds like, as you said, every time you get a new opportunity to speak, you’ve got one more thing under your belt and one more thing in your experience and you can bring that forward to new opportunities.

Absolutely. I think nerves are a great thing. I don’t know why people want to get rid of nerves because nerves tells me that this matters. Nervous telling me that I care and I want to always care and I always want that that moment matters. The day that I don’t have nerves or I’m not anxious is the day that I’m overconfident or that I no more am passionate about what I do or the people that I’m talking to, and I never want that day to come. So nerves are great. Just take that negative energy and turn it into positive energy. That’s all it is.

You can use it as fuel if you frame it in the right way.

Exactly, I love that Carolyn. Fuel, that’s exactly what it is.

Fantastic! And you started describing this when you were talking about hosting your first event in front of a large audience and then doing more and more events after that. How did your speaking career grow? Was it like word of mouth or did you have to go and pitch a lot of new events or what was that evolution like?

I’ve never pitched for an event in my life. It has been rolling in it, but I, I think there’s two ways to answer that question. One is practical and the one is more philosophical. Let’s start with the practical. I always give it my best at every event, and that’s not just with the prep, it’s not just in the moment, but it’s also in the followup and that’s where a lot of people struggle. So there’s always a thank you note and often a thank you gift because I don’t want to be just remembered when I’m on stage, but I want to truly build relationships with the event organizers and that little gesture means that they care about me and the next time there’s an opportunity, they often come back because they’re like, Oh, that’s the guy who bought a chocolate from so-and-so and brought us dates from so and so. And so I think that helps the followup.

Second, whenever someone gives me a business card, which will invariably happen when you’re a speaker and if you’re good at being a speaker, somebody in the audience is going to come up to you and go, that was great. We’d love to have you. Don’t just smile and go, that’ll be amazing. Get their business card, don’t give yours, get their business card. You send the email. I always send emails the very same night while it’s still fresh. I write to them while I still remember who they are. I’ll remember a few lines from the conversation and I’ll write them and say, I would love to take your offer. How do we make that happen? So I think that kind of follow up is also important.

And the third practical thing for me is social media. That’s been massive. And so investing time in Instagram and Facebook, Twitter, YouTube initially started off very small. You know, just making sure that someone in the audience took a photo of me, I would put that photo up. I would then write a little caption summarizing my experience and the event and saying thank you to those in the audience. And then eventually it got a little bit better. I got professional photographers and I started doing video. I found that I really liked video more than writing and so whatever thoughts I would have at an event, I would just put that in a video format. Thankfully around that time with social media, people started consuming more video than images anyway. And so that worked really well. So even though I have not reached out by cold emails and cold messages to people, I am intentional about staying on the radar of people. Whether that’s follow up, whether that’s emails, whether it is having a CRM system like HubSpot to remind me to follow up with people or whether that’s just creating content that I know this audience are going to see. Because most events are annual events, so they technically only see me once a year, so I have to work that much harder to make sure that I am seen throughout the year and so keeping that social media going, that’s the practical answer and hopefully some of that is useful for those who may be aspiring speakers.

The philosophical answer is that I think when you find your calling and when you live out your purpose, whether you want to call it the universe or for me because I’m a person of faith, if you want to call it God, I firmly believe that opportunities start coming your way. I think people that are not aligned with their values and their purpose struggle, it’s almost like hitting their head against the wall. Now there is some level of hitting your head against the wall that is necessarily for the preparing for the learning, for the developing. There’s some amount of obstacles that you have to face to find your alignment. But if you have been, you know if you’re hating your job for 10 years, that’s a wake up call. If you are not finding success for what you’re doing for many, many years on end, that is a wake up call.

And so for me, the philosophical answer is I don’t think the issue is about practical and not practical skills. I think the issue is more about, are people doing what they’re supposed to be doing on this planet? Given that everybody’s uniquely gifted and everybody’s uniquely talented, have we personally individually spent the time to discover those things and to hone in those gifts and to work those gifts so that we are in perfect alignment with what we should be doing? So I have given you a practical answer because there is effort from my end, but I’m never going to take credit as if it was a hundred percent of my effort has led to what I’ve achieved so far. For sure, my community, my friends, my family has seen me passionate and happy and excited about my career and have pushed me forward. For sure, well meaning people in the audience sees how much I am loving what I’m doing and can’t help but want to help push me forward in that and will ask how they can help me out. So I’m not going to take credit and just say it’s all my work and here are the five steps to success. It’s partly my work. But partly it’s just alignment and being true to myself and seeing good people come around me and help me move forward as you would with anyone that has found their purpose.

Yeah, I know a lot of the advice that is out there is around finding your passion and following your purpose. And there are all different ways and philosophies around doing that. And it sounds so easy, but clearly, it’s not just something that happens. So what you’ve really talked about is that you’ve found what your purpose is, what your passion is, but at the same time you’ve put all of the work into that in terms of trial and error and building it up. So once you bring that body of work and put that into action, you’re able to connect with other people on that unique value that you’re able to bring. It all just starts working together. So you have the positive energy because you’re engaged. Positive energy is attractive for other people. So people react to that, they respond, they want to be around that and they want to see more of that.

I know sometimes we talk about the phrase, making your own luck or finding your own opportunities that way. But I think the hard work part and really spending a lot of time as you said, sometimes banging your head against the wall, even if you’re going in the right direction, it can take a while to get there. But then once everything just kind of clicks together as everything evolves and that I see is something common with a lot of people who are really living their passions.

Here’s how I like to put it, for those who like imagery. Everybody’s waiting for the rain. Everybody is wanting to be that big, strong oak tree or wants to be that tree that’s producing all that fruit, everyone wants to be bountiful. Everybody wants to have those opportunities, but what they’re not willing to look at and invest in is the seed in their hand, because unless you put seed in the ground, when the rain comes, you’re not going to get any harvest. You have to put the seed in the ground and there’s nothing glamorous about that. Everybody loves to see success. Everybody loves to see results, but when seed goes in the ground, it’s hidden. It’s away from the world. It’s forgotten, often. When seed goes in the ground, it’s dark. There is no light in the ground. When seed goes in the ground, it gets trampled on. The next tree is what gets admired. It gets unnoticed and that’s okay. You need to be sometimes in a dark, invisible, unnoticed, forgotten space because if you stay alive during that time, if you really dedicate your resources to developing yourself, to discovering yourself, then when the rain comes, others will discover you. I think too often we’re just trying to jump ahead. We want someone else to discover us before we discover ourselves.

Yeah, and I really relate to the analogy of the seeds on the ground. I’ve often thought of that when I think about networking, because you spend a lot of time talking to people, trying to get to know people meeting and a lot of times, at least speaking for myself, sometimes it feels like I’m kind of putting seeds in the ground of relationships that may or may not flourish. You’ll put out seeds and then like the birds will come and eat half of them and it’s hard to watch that. But it’s all about that, that persistence. And you’re right, it’s a long game. And when you grow and flourish, if you put in the right resources and, and the right energy, it’s really rewarding. But yeah, you can’t skip ahead. It’s so true.

Yes. It’s not a choice because what got you there may not sustain you if you don’t build the skills. Like you might get the lucky break. There’s a lot of people who have that viral video, if we want to talk about social media. They get the viral video, but do they stay in people’s memories? A lot of people might have that one lucky song, but they get forgotten because they haven’t worked their skills. And yet, in the old days people had careers for a lifetime. They had fame for a lifetime. They had a success because they’ve worked that skill. And so I think it’s really important that you build that solid foundation. And then when the lucky break comes, but more importantly, when the rain comes, you’re ready for real harvest, not lucky harvest, you know, real harvest.

It reminds me of those stories you sometimes hear about child stars or people who hit it big really early, but because they’re younger they get success too fast. They don’t have that foundation. So you kind of say like, this person was so famous, why did their life fall apart? It’s like, cause they weren’t ready, they didn’t have the resources and the foundation they needed in order to maintain that and live like that.

Exactly, exactly.

Through your work, you travel all around the world, you work with all different kinds of people and you really have that ability to reach a tremendous amount of people through the work that you do. So what are some of the ways that you remember having a really meaningful impact on a person or a group of people? I’d love to hear about the impact you’ve been able to have.

Alright, so I can phrase this in four words. Start now. Start simple. These four words have been transformational in my life and the more I shared it with others has impacted them greatly. Whenever I look back on anything, whether it be advising the national governments of Ireland, whether it be as a host for some of the biggest tech conferences in the world right now, whether it’s be in my startups, whether it be in my faith or the kind of brother or son I am. I think in all of these things, if you talk about that first step, it’s always about seizing this moment as opposed to procrastinating. And it’s always about starting with what you have, about starting simple rather than waiting for the qualification or the approval or some thing to happen for you. So when I realized this from my own life, it gave me a freedom to start experimenting and trying things and not to worry about being the most qualified or the most intelligent or the most ready person in the room or about waiting for that perfect opportunity.

And when I started sharing that with others, it was really great to hear the feedback. You know, it’s everything from people who are struggling with their health that realize you just alright, start now. Start simple. You don’t have to have the perfect diet plan, dietician, fitness guru walking alongside you every day. It could just be with cutting out something bad from your system that you shouldn’t be eating or it could be committing to 20 minutes in the gym every day. Start now, start simple. And then seeing those results. As I continue to journey with these guys sometimes for two or three years, even though we’ve never met and has only been off of something I posted on social media, but I commit to responding to everyone personally to them. And so two or three years later I could see the transformation, whether it be that teenager that is confused about the many options in the world out there and not knowing which way to proceed.

I just go, it’s okay, you don’t have to figure it out, but what you should do is start trying, like start doing things. Join that club in your school. Whether it be a sports club, whether it be the theater club, whether it be something that you’re not comfortable doing, maybe rock climbing. Just try. Just start and start now. Start simple. And then seeing them discover their passion through that system, whether it be entrepreneurs that feel really stuck and really overwhelmed because there are innumerable number of things that they need to get done with really limited resources, and me just breaking it down and going, you know what? What can you do today with what you have in your hand? And then watching just that motivation to put that one step in front of the other lead to a beautiful momentum. And so it’s very insignificant at the start, it’s a really basic step, but then when you journey with people over six months, six years, there’s some amazing, amazing results.

I think probably the person I’m most proud of is maybe the first person that I really saw this happen for, which was a kid who had asthma at a camp that I was a counselor for. I was 18 I think he was 11 or 12 years old. We were only together for six days. It was a cabin full of kids, all with ADD probably, running all over the place. But every morning I would wake up before the kids would and I would read my Bible and journal and for whatever reason this particular kid was up before me and he wouldn’t get out of his bed, but he’d watch me. And then he would ask me very quietly going like, what are you reading and what are you writing about? And I’d just tell him, I want to fill my day with insights and inspiration, so I read from the book that gives me that, and then I write down what I’m inspired by and what I’m committing to doing. And then right after when the camp, and it’s six days later, he said, you know, Dan, I’m going to do that too, and can I stay in touch and tell you, instead of writing, can I just tell you what I’m committing to doing better every day? And I said, sure. And so we stayed in touch and he eventually became a Christian, eventually became an incredible leader in his community. He had a dream to be a football player, which was crazy because he was so short. He was the smallest in the group and he had asthma and then ended up playing for the Nebraska Huskers, which is amazing. And then has gone on to live an incredible, incredible life. He’s married now. I was the best man for his wedding hardly two years ago. And so it’s just one of these things that in that moment is insignificant. All it was was me trying to be a good camp counselor with the little platform and option that I had and someone observing me, but willing to take that first step of going, Dan, I want to grow. Dan, I want to learn. Dan, I want to step out of the comfort zone. Will you hold me accountable to it? And there was nothing significant. He was only 11 or 12 this wasn’t some radical shift in his life, but it was that daily start now, start simple that he’s a man that he’s proud of and I’m a person that’s really proud of the man he’s become. And so I’ve tons of these stories that, insignificant in the moment, ridiculously significant when you put in that daily effort, that daily work.

Absolutely, and again that was from knowing him for six days that just blossomed and just showing how someone can evolve over time as they work towards a goal. That’s incredible. Wow.

You’ve achieved so much already in your own career. What other big goals are you still planning to achieve in your own career or your life?

This is a part of the interview that you’re not going to be impressed by me because I never had goals. I’ll just be honest. I think I have always pursued happiness and I guess personal excellence and I have not ever committed to a vision board or any big goals, so I actually don’t have any clear cut goals. I have I guess aspirations of what I think my current trajectory of daily efforts and daily excellence would lead to. For example, someday if it may happen, I would love to host something like the Grammys or the Oscars. And even though it is not a usual trajectory to go from hosting tech conferences to something that is basically Hollywood. That is often given to people who have late night show TV or daytime TV shows. It is something that I think would be a great honor and it’d be something that I’m not necessarily working towards, but I’m more working on the now and what I have and I just believed that if it’s meant to be, it will happen.

And I think I have, again, there’s impact projects that I’m involved in today. There are orphanages that I fund and schools that I invest in, and someday I’d love to see what today’s effort will lead to and maybe at a grander level. But I don’t think I have any significant clear cut goal of, you know, I want to have X number of cars and so many mansions, and I want to get back to these many people on these many continents. It’s more about how can I be better today and tomorrow and where I see that going to as a natural consequence of the work going in today. Like I said, very unimpressive. I’m sorry, I have no big goal.

Well it’s interesting because some people that I talk to are very goal focused. They have very specific defined goals with metrics and timing and everything, and other people are just saying, you know, I want to just continue to grow my impact. I have a general direction that I’m moving in, but I want to be open in terms of the types of impacts that I can have and assess opportunities as they come.

It’s a quickly changing world and like I said, at the very start of this interview, I had a lot of practice in reinvention. So while I am thoroughly delighted with who I am and what I get to do today, I’m also not afraid of a world that may change, and opportunities, they may present themselves, they would not look like today, but I’m okay to reinvent as well. Because if I commit to just finding myself and being myself in its truest form every single day, I then have the best chance at bringing the best version of myself to whatever that might be. And so I think that’s the other reason is while I have certain goals or not goals, like I guess direction that I see this going, I’m also not afraid of a pivot and I’m quite excited for that if it aligns with the values and with who I am at that moment.

Definitely. And I think these days we’re all going to be faced with change and the opportunities to pivot probably several times in our own lifetimes, just in the times we live in now.

Yes, absolutely.

Well, Dan, thank you so much for being on my show. It’s been fascinating and so enlightening to speak with you and learn more about how you’ve integrated all the different talents in your life, and grown your own career in all different areas. How can people get in touch with you or connect with you if they want to learn more about your work?

Absolutely. Well, first thing, I would love to connect with anybody that thinks that reaching out to me will help them in some way. That is what I’m here for. That is why I’m on this planet. The stage is only a means to connect with people and so I am probably more committed to the one on one conversations and DMs and private messages than I am to the big mass opportunities. That’s how you and I connected Carolyn is through social media. And so you know that I respond to everybody and I love helping people. So please reach out wherever you may be in your startup journey, your public speaking journey, your student journey, trying to figure out life. If I can help, you have my commitment that I will. The best way to do that is through social media. So if you just look up, I am Dan Ram, so Dan Ram is my name. Just look up. I am Dan Ram on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn. I will respond as soon as I can and we’ll take it from there. I also have email and phone numbers and WhatsApp, so if you just look up IamDanRam.com you will also get links to those more traditional routes to get in touch with me if that’s of interest too.

Awesome. And I’ll put your social media links in the show notes of the podcast so people can find it there easily too. As we close out, is there anything else that you’d like our listeners to know or anything that we can help or support you with?

One last thing, and this is a shout out to you Carolyn. I think it’s really important to give value if you want to get value, and what you do Carolyn is so important. You’re giving value to me by helping me think about my life and reflect. You’re giving value to your listeners by hopefully bringing them content that will inspire and motivate them. And I know that through that process you’re getting value by meeting people, growing your network, learning stuff, being reminded of stuff, being connected. And so this is just a simple principle because a lot of people need a lot and that’s totally fine. We’re all in a position that we need something, but flip it around, start giving before you start expecting. I’ve always found that the more I give, the more generous I am, the more I receive. And so for anyone listening, if you’re just trying to think of how do you start, like how do you start now, how do you start simple? Start by doing, start by giving, start by volunteering, start by adding value into the world that we’re in and for sure good things will come around to you. And that’s also saying to you, Carolyn, thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity to come on your podcast and I really, really admire the time and effort that you put into this side hustle of yours to create something and to put something out into the ecosystem that is hopefully of value to those who listen for years to come.

And thank you, Dan, for bringing this incredible value to my listeners and value to me personally as a podcast host and interviewer. I appreciate that.

Excellent. My pleasure.

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