A: After college I went into investment banking like many of us did back then. While I was there, I had the brilliant idea to stay sane by volunteering my newly minted finance and business skills. Only problem was that for the life of me, I couldn’t find an appropriate skills-based or pro bono volunteer opportunity. I thought it was crazy that people who wanted to give their skills couldn’t find a way to do so. That was the seed of thought for Catchafire. I later left banking for microfinance and helped to start up a nonprofit where we used pro bono very effectively to build the organization quickly. From that experience I learned that pro bono is a highly effective and leveraged way for social good organizations to not only get a lot done but to also build capacity for their full time staff. Understanding both sides of the problem, I started Catchafire, an online platform that connects social good organizations to professionals who want to give their time and skills pro bono. We are scaling up pro bono and making it possible for every social good organization to access high quality professional talent, and we’re making it possible for every talented professional to give what they’re good at.

A: Fazle Abed is the Founder of BRAC, and he is my living hero. BRAC is the largest nonprofit in the world. It is a poverty alleviation organization that serves 110 million people throughout Asia and Africa. BRAC employs over 100,000 people, and through its innovative solutions, has solved massive social problems such as the tuberculosis epidemic in Bangladesh in the 1970s. BRAC’s holistic approach to poverty alleviation is unprecedented in regards to its scale and success. Interestingly, Dr. Abed founded BRAC when he was in his forties. That alone is inspiring. Most inspiring of all is that when one sits down with Dr. Abed, he is your friend, he is your friendly next-door neighbor, he is the man with kind eyes and a disarming smile. One would never guess that Dr. Abed is one of the most important men of our time. A knight. A Nobel Peace Prize nominee multiple times over. A man who has received dozens of honorary degrees. A true hero. Dr. Abed’s humility rivals and enhances his greatness. To me that is truly inspiring.

A: Prioritize your options and then build fast and iterate. You want to test, learn, fail and iterate as fast as possible. Start ups are highly resource constrained, but they also have the ability to be extremely nimble. Use this nimbleness to your advantage to constantly innovate, but also keep your eye on the prize and be guided by your mission.

A: Bootstrapping is completely to your advantage. Operating under limited resources forces you to be laser focused simply because you can’t afford to make careless mistakes. You don’t have enough cash to be stupid. This is a great exercise. If you can bootstrap your way to the next phase of your business, you will build a confidence that will allow you to believe that you can take on anything. You’ll need this irrational level of confidence to take it all the way, so don’t be shy – build your confidence.

A: My vision is to change the world for the better in a really, really big way. Catchafire has the potential to create a more efficient and effective nonprofit / social good sector and build a movement of socially conscious, action-oriented, talented individuals. I couldn’t imagine a bigger goal or a cause I care more about. My vision for Catchafire is a life vision not only a career vision.

A: It depends on what phase the company is in and where it needs me most. At times (for instance, when I’m fundraising), I spend most of my time networking, learning from mentors and building my knowledge from the best people I can find; but most of the time I’m focused internally on leading and operating the business. I always pepper in time to meet new people, especially people who I can learn from, who have interesting stories, who can push me and grow me.

A: Authenticity and substance. A great brand should be a reflection of a great product. You should focus on building your product or service first. Making that great, and then it will be easy to build a great brand.

A: The outdoors always, without fail, brings me joy. The natural world has everything I need – beauty, peace, dynamism. It is necessary for me to escape “into the wild” occasionally. The outdoors reminds me of the bigger picture and somehow helps me make sense of what is sometimes a manic life.

A: Trust, Love, Mutual respect, Playfulness, Constant learning from the other

A: Yogurt, Pears, Granola