As an entrepreneur, I look at something not just from my point of view but from everyone’s point of view.
Common Connect is a new professional networking app created to connect people based on interest, careers, and proximity. A woman-led mobile technology company based in the Greater New York City Area, Common Connect was founded by an ex-Googler. The app takes a disruptive and intuitive approach to networking, answering the burning question—WHO are all the people I pass every day? All the professionals you would like to associate yourself with are at arm’s length. Fusing high-tech with the human experience of being out in the world today, Common Connect will integrate the people surrounding you into your business world. The people you need the most could be riding on the subway, a bus, or walking past you at any given moment.
Where did the idea Common Connect come from?
Two siblings, Miram and Ramey Ebrahim were walking in the city with friends. Miram Ebrahim randomly said wouldn’t it be cool if somehow people connect based on location by picking different industries and titles. My brother, Ramey Ebrahim, COO & Co-Founder, brought the idea to fruition—we formed a networking company that solved the problem of opportunities being missed. After that, we did our research and bought on Arnell Millhouse, CTO & Co-Founder and Clifton Choiniere, Lead Software Developer. Arnell Millhouse, CTO & Co-Founder is a mentor to IVY League startup’s and has a plethora of technology skills and experience. In addition, our Lead Software Developer, Cliff Choiniere, developed Common Connect. Without this incredible team, Common Connect wouldn’t be where it is today.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
On most days, we are on a call with our team testing the app and updating our Trello board. As a team, we are constantly taking MIT courses and studying the book “Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps To A Successful Startup” by Bill Aulet. In addition, we are constantly working on different projects such as presenting at different events, getting press, getting influencers to talk about Common Connect and the Marketing aspect of it all.
How do you bring ideas to life?
The biggest thing I can tell someone who is trying to start a business is to be passionate about what you want and to find people you trust that would be committed to starting a company. Everything comes down to having a great team in place.
What is one trend that really excites you?
How far advanced and digitally our universe has come.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
That I love being involved in everything even if it doesn’t pertain to my area of expertise.
What advice would you give your younger self?
The advice I would give to myself is to have more patience.
Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on?
The one thing that nobody agrees with me is that I always feel I have a third eye and a sixth sense and what I mean by that is that I have intuition on what the future will look like.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
As an entrepreneur, I look at something not just from my point of view but from everyone’s point of view. My Co-Founders also believe that if you strongly believe in something, you can accomplish it and to never settle for less.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?
The biggest strategy to any successful company is having a team consensus. The team will have different opinions and it’s important that you value what they say because they are most likely thinking of a different perspective than you. Also, we all balance each other out and that’s what success is to us.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
The biggest failure we have had as a team was missing certain deadlines. The way to overcome a scenario like is to be patient and not lose focus on what is more to you which is the Technology behind everything.
What is one business idea that you are willing to give to your readers?
The one business idea I can tell you is to create a product that everyone will use and need.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
The best $100 that I recently spent was on buying merchandise for Common Connect. This is super important for experiential marketing.
What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
The one piece of software that helped us create Common Connect was Balsamiq. Balsamiq is a software designed to help with initial wireframing.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
The one book I highly recommend our community reads is ” How To Win Friends and Influence People” By Dale Carnegie
What is your favorite quote?
This is a personal quote “Being different should be the standard” – Miram Ebrahim
Key learnings:
- It’s important to be different and extremely important to give yourself advice everyday even as your younger self.
- If you don’t take a risk, you will never know what the reward will ever be.
- Take your teams opinions and ideas into consideration. They might bring to light a new perspective you weren’t thinking about.
- Never settle for less and always push yourself to think differently than most.
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Steve (Stefan) Junge hails from Germany and helps with the day-to-day publishing of interviews on IdeaMensch. While he and Mario don’t share a favorite soccer club, their enthusiasm to help entrepreneurs is a shared passion.