CHIC “HOT” START UP CEO INTERVIEW
ARI KALFAYAN STARTUP & TECH MIXER Of
BY DAN IEL B EAN
S
TARTUP & TECH MIXER IS NOT ONLY CHALLENging the concept of what it means to network effectively, but it reflects the personal ethos of founder Ari Kalfayan. His philosophy is both pragmatic and humanistic. He came up with the idea for the mixer a couple of years ago. The first event had about 75 people in attendance, and the next would bring over 3,000. We wanted to dig a bit deeper and learn more about Mr. Kalfayan’s background, and what led to his success at the helm of this innovative organization. CM: Give us a snapshot of your background and what led to your interest in entrepreneurship and technology. AK: I grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in San Carlos. My family immigrated to the United States from Lebanon, and when I was 5 years old my father passed away; we toughed it out and my mother stayed at home to raise us. I definitely grew up more modestly than most, despite my middle-class surroundings; it’s not like we had a ton of resources at our disposal, but I had every basic need taken care of. I went to great schools, played soccer; all of the things you love to do as a child. But I always wanted more; that was a feeling from a very young age. I preferred getting involved in running an organization as opposed to simply being a part of it. I had a talent for organizing people, so through middle school and high school I took on leadership roles, mainly in church and in sports. I went to college and, in addition to being senator for the school, I ran several organizations and started the Men’s Water Polo Club Team. I didn’t see myself going into the family business and set out to find what I wanted to do. After graduating from school, I worked in finance for three years but figured out that making money purely for the sake of making money wasn’t interesting for me; creating organizations that help people really drove me Through my first organization, Reason to Party, we raised money for local charities as well as the spirit of San Francisco during the financial crash of 2008, and we raised $250,000 for local businesses and charities. Through that process I learned that I loved entrepreneurship and it just drove me. Subsequently, I joined CrowdFlower, which was a tech startup, and ran sales for them. I made my first 5, 6, and 7-figure deals and helped them grow from $50,000 in revenue to close to $4,000,000 in revenue in their first year. What I learned is that in a fast-paced startup you have to create a conscious culture and bring values to people; I learned mindful conscious management. There was a better way of doing things,
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