Dane Wagner

#05_opportunities - June 09, 2025 at 06:07 PM

Hey all!

We are doing a coachability study at Symeta along side FIU and American University. The study will eventually be published in several academic journals and push our understanding of effective coaching in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Thanks @jake weiss for already helping with our study!

Now is the second leg of our research:
Do any of you know an ICP certified coach or been coached by one?
Do any of you know any professional sports coaches?

We will need 20-30minutes of their time for a fully virtual interview.

You can have them email Dane@symeta.science

or ping me on linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-l-wagner

THANKS IN ADVANCE!

#06_social - June 07, 2025 at 01:51 PM

That's exactly it, @Brian Lee. In each of my ventures, I was not the only one by far, but I looked at their blind spots and focused there.

#06_social - April 11, 2025 at 10:13 PM

Legos were a perfect blend of creativity and problem-solving. It was my first chance at project management and planning. You have X resources with Y vision...how can we make this happen? haha

#04_resources - March 29, 2025 at 07:13 PM

Notebook LM EXCELS for learning tasks as that was the pain point it was originally designed to solve. The development team was solving the difficulties between educators and students digesting information. Basically can you take a text book or novel and build a curriculum including summaries, tests, and interactive probing?

I'm glad you found a cool application towards prospecting! Love it @Valentina

#06_social - March 28, 2025 at 08:27 PM

I had the opportunity to interview him as part of the research I do for Blackhawke Behavior Science and FIU. This article portrays him perfectly. He really is just a kid looking to grow and learn while enjoying life. It's awesome to see!

#08_advice-questions - March 14, 2025 at 06:58 PM

Hey Valentina! Do you have any info on the specific leadership issues at hand? I have a couple coaches that use our products (and a couple that don't) but it helps to know what issues are trying to be solved in order to get you with the best coach.

You can message me directly and we can chat more if you'd like.

#06_social - February 21, 2025 at 10:48 PM

I perpetually am seeking to leave the world better. I've spent years teaching and my second venture was a lending library giving back to the community. Today I help early stage entrepreneurs and investors understand the value of the people in the founding team.

At the end of the day I can relax in the Florida sun surrounded by material things, but it's meaningless if the legacy I leave isn't positive and far reaching.

#08_advice-questions - February 05, 2025 at 03:50 PM

I've always used it on someone else's dime so I can't speak too much for the free versions.

I know sightengine has a free version, and isitAi felt free (I don't remember if it was or not)

The two I liked the most might be Winston and brandwell? But many of these also produce additional services that you end up paying for so your mileage may vary. My use case was as an instructor and UX consultant.

They certainly all have trial periods so maybe start there.

Oh also most have API keys for easy integration

#08_advice-questions - February 05, 2025 at 03:08 PM

Several.

All varying levels of efficacy though.

Sightengine, Winston, isitai, illuminarty, bandwell...

Those are all ones we've implemented at Kellogg and FIU

#08_advice-questions - February 04, 2025 at 08:01 PM

Late to this thread but I just want to say I second exactly what Austin said. If you are looking for institutional funding...C-Corp is almost required

#01_introductions - January 25, 2025 at 12:30 AM

Hey Sabih! Glad to see you here!

#03_events - January 24, 2025 at 05:15 PM

Thanks, Taiga!

#06_social - December 27, 2024 at 05:01 PM

How coincidental that the most recent skill I've practiced deliberately was table tennis and the physical skill icon is a paddle haha

#06_social - December 25, 2024 at 03:31 PM

I adore the photo, Brian! Happy holidays.

#06_social - November 15, 2024 at 06:39 PM

This analogy is pretty interesting because we can really take it deeper through the options you've provided!

Growing a customer base is like adding more roots. You increase the surface area and can gather more resources... But growing more roots takes resources itself meaning the tree won't grow above the soil very quickly whilst working on a larger root system.

Building a strong brand reputation and trustworthy product is essentially ensuring the soil has the right nutrients. Afterall if the soil doesn't, the roots that grow into it will die (customers won't stick around) .

A perfect product is like ensuring there's ample sunlight. A tree can survive with some sunlight. But without enough, it won't be able to grow more roots and reach it's full height.

And a lean and adaptable tree can withstand droughts by prioritizing energy flow, shedding leaves, branches, and even roots all so that when the rain comes again it is ready to flourish as strong as before.

#08_advice-questions - October 08, 2024 at 04:06 PM

Great advice. This was a common practice back when using design programs like this.

#06_social - August 30, 2024 at 03:24 PM

Loyalty programs for a poor product/ customer experience is like makeup on a pig.

A clever and active social media presence can get them in the door...but can again be a superficial attempt at a solution.

To keep users you have to make them feel valued, and that they are continuing to GET value from your product and services. Make them happy to be there, make them feel they NEED to be there because your solutions are evolving with their problems.

Those are the two that have worked for me over the years.

#06_social - August 23, 2024 at 06:14 PM

Fantastic point about keeping the CSM. As with most things AI related, it is currently optimal to see it as an enhancement rather than a replacement.

Ai as a managed service rather than a fully autonomous one.

#06_social - August 23, 2024 at 02:43 PM

I appreciate those use cases that make it easier to create a customised experience for users. I spent years in UX research and now the feasibility of some solutions are almost a no brainer now! With the ease of creating a customised experience to each user comes increased efficiency and productivity.

#06_social - August 02, 2024 at 02:51 PM

Trick question! These and other qualities all work together and build on each other to make an effective leader.

That being said, some can be compensated for by a stellar team that fills those gaps and the wonderful thing is that the qualities mentioned above (as well as others research has found to matter) are all trainable.

But if I had to choose an attribute to work on first above all the others...it would be communication skills.

#06_social - July 26, 2024 at 05:09 PM

Very true!

#06_social - July 26, 2024 at 04:17 PM

I have found that loads of investment capital, a unique product, and even an ACE marketing strategy all fall flat if you don't have excellent people to back it all up.

Talent (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, Traits, etc.) is the start and finish line of a successful startup. Making sure the communication and trust between those individuals is effective is what connects those two lines together.

#06_social - June 28, 2024 at 02:14 PM

I chose brand rep and customer data for several reasons but the biggest one is that combining those two things is essentially how you get sales.

The truth is many industries don't need skilled employees in the same capacity that they used to. And intellectual property is harder and harder to build out as an innovative foothold.

Instead by leveraging who the customer is along side how your company is perceived, you could essentially be Coca-Cola. Blind taste tests show people prefer Pepsi. Coca-cola is #1 not because of the product itself but leveraging customer data (literally with new flavours discovered via their freestyle machines) and their branding.

#06_social - June 07, 2024 at 02:36 PM

Integrity should be paramount. Transparency and accountability, to somewhat build off Brian here, are not just expectations, but requirements. In fact, it also ties into the innovation aspect because as consumers grow conscious of data rights, global issues, and more...your PRODUCT may not be what stands out and drives the consumer to you...it may be your practices. Your product doesn't have to be the innovation, the process, interaction, and communication can be instead. Integrity also keeps bridges for the future instead of burning them down.

#06_social - May 31, 2024 at 04:17 PM

Being based in Miami with team members in Illinois, Maryland, and England...we agree it's on me to host the team down here and treat them to a proper beach weekend haha

#06_social - May 17, 2024 at 02:34 PM

My biggest lightbulb moment was realising I could learn an perfect everything over a long time, or I could bring someone aboard to do it for me. After a utility analysis, I found that bringing on someone with that knowledge already, would actually save more money by minimizing simple mistakes that most people go through as a learning process and letting my actual talents get focused on via other processes (jack of all trades, master of none versus master of two trades, and I'm just working on those). As a perk, I STILL LEARN, but I learn more about what TO do than what NOT to do.

Note: this applies to other business functions and domains as well.

#06_social - March 11, 2024 at 03:46 PM

That is wonderful news @Brian Lee! Congratulations! Haha She's going to make a great addition to Gildre

#06_social - February 16, 2024 at 03:18 PM

The rule of parsimony has saved me many headaches.

#06_social - February 09, 2024 at 03:11 PM

I constructed a study back in grad school with some 300 employees at a hospital. We found that:
1)the benefits of micro breaks (about 5 minutes) were beneficial across the board as long as they were used to do something cognitively and physically different than the work task at hand.
2) the benefits were more drastic for jobs that reported higher stress.
3) micro breaks that involved stretching/walking were also the only micro break that showed significant performance increases regarding creative ideation tasks (coming up with something new, problem solving, etc.)

This is something we've unofficially replicated (case study by case study) in the entrepreneurial ecosystem due to "synthetic validity".

#01_introductions - February 07, 2024 at 05:06 PM

Hi James, welcome aboard! I'd love to learn more about the scope of that capstone. As someone who teaches at FIU, I am always looking for novel ways to educate and create practical opportunities for the students.

#06_social - February 02, 2024 at 03:16 PM

As someone who teaches entrepreneurial skills to budding entrepreneurial college students, there's typically two major things they bring to the course (and then a third bonus) .

First is if they get funded they will be successful. Man do I hear audible gasps when I tell them the truth about failure rates regarding funded companies. The saying "more money, more problems" might not be perfectly true, but more money certainly leads to NEW and DIFFERENT problems. I know several people in my social circle that learned that too late.

My students also strangely believe that you only have one chance to show that you are an entrepreneur! They regularly suggest that the best course of action is to either keep fighting for a dying venture, or to return to a "normal day job". There are SO MANY factors that can lead to failure of a venture that are unfortunately, out of your control. On top of that, some problems truly are irreparable. What separates a truly successful entrepreneur from a lucky one is being able to learn from mistakes. A failed business is the ultimate learning experience. Analyze what happened, why it happened, and if there are steps that could prevent it in the future.

(Bonus) there's a flip side to the one above. Making it big your first time is not necessarily good for a potential serial entrepreneur. Do you really know what you did right? The second venture is not guaranteed to succeed just because you did the first time. In fact many times we see entrepreneurs take the "winning formula" and apply it with dire results. You still need to be conscious of all the variables ESPECIALLY the human capital behind the success. It's not as simple as taking the same people and doing it again. It's not as simple as meeting the same timeline as you did before, or using the same tools, or just plug and playing. Different markets, different times, different needs.

#06_social - December 09, 2023 at 07:21 PM

Brian beat me to it! Reading through I thought "Trick question, it depends on the stage of growth"

Our research at Blackhawke shows 2 major takeaways:

1) all of these KSAOs (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other stuff) are important but each have points that they are more important throughout the start-up journey.

2) A single entrepreneur doesn't need to be high in all of these areas if they build a cohesive team that makes up for those liabilities and blind spots. Support from others (even if they are not directly part of your venture) can directly make up for areas you aren't quite developed in.

#06_social - November 22, 2023 at 04:19 PM

Hi John, I actually was one of the researchers that helped validate the processes of EOS and currently work along side EOS to fill in their gaps.

They really listened to us IO psychologists when piecing it together. It's superb when you have 10+ employees. Before that, there are some specifics that need to be addressed though to ensure the founding team has what it takes.

#06_social - November 17, 2023 at 05:30 PM

I'm certainly biased haha but the people (human capital) behind the start up are one of the #1 reasons for Startup failure according to our research (Symeta Behavior Science w/ FIU & Georgetown University). The culture is certainly one aspect of this, but role alignment, expectations, communication and more are other critical aspects that directly affect effectiveness in other areas.

#06_social - October 06, 2023 at 04:09 PM

I want to second Brian's points.

There's different applications and purposes for creativity. If I need to ideate some change or direction, I will do something completely unlike the work I am doing. I'll go on a walk, rock climb, or play an instrument.

If I am working on a puzzle, or brainstorming, I need to run ideas past others and hear opposing sides.

#06_social - September 27, 2023 at 02:55 PM

Wonderful! And I certainly have!

I use his teachings very often to help others and point people to several.

It's not an interview per se (though there is one where he references the idea) but I often point people to the clip of him explaining that we should "practice the art of dying". In fact, I even have a 3D printed tombstone on my desk that says "Perfect the art of dying" .

But I'd say every clip I've found of him truly shows his character and mindfulness.

#06_social - September 25, 2023 at 10:21 PM

He was also my first hero, but my introduction IS because of martial arts. Haha I've done several over the years but I started with wing chun and since that was the Kung Fu he began with naturally he came up as one of the most famous practitioners. I quickly read much about him and still to this day follow his estate through his daughter.

She somewhat recently published a book based on her learnings and memories of him:

https://www.amazon.com/Be-Water-My-Friend-Teachings/dp/1250206685

#06_social - September 01, 2023 at 04:35 PM

As much as I truly love conferences and events, I find that unless you are truly dedicated to trading information (or there's time specifically laid out for it) they are not terribly conducive to networking.

They take a rather different strategy to capitalise on than the other options.

#06_social - August 18, 2023 at 08:06 PM

Ultimately being a startup founder isn't a 9-5 job. With variable timelines, developing strategies, and market fluctuations: all of your resource management must be agile, especially time.

So I will put work in on weekends, early and late in the day, but there needs to be clarity on priorities and boundaries. So there are non-negotiable sections of my calendar dedicated to reading a book, creating music, meditating, exercising and relaxing with my loved ones.

#04_resources - August 08, 2023 at 08:03 PM

Sure thing!!

#04_resources - August 08, 2023 at 08:00 PM

Thanks for setting it up. As always these are great talks

#01_introductions - August 03, 2023 at 02:21 PM

Hey Jake! Glad to see you came on board! We can always use more of us IO Psychology guys here haha

#06_social - July 28, 2023 at 04:59 PM

I was late to the game but I finally got around to getting an electric kettle. Saves me time, and controls the temperature of the water making my tea and mindfulness routine easier than ever. (bonus that it uses less energy than the stove top kettle I've used for years)

#02_general - July 19, 2023 at 07:40 PM

Hi Sam, I may be able to advise you on some of your personnel decisions there, I have had 1 or 2 clients go through a similar temporary downsizing process. I'm not quite back from my vacation just yet though. You can leave a DM for me to get to Monday or just grab a time to chat on my calendly. Look forward to learning more!

#03_events - June 27, 2023 at 02:27 PM

Unfortunately I'll be taking some much needed time away hiking up mountains in the Scottish Highlands. I am so excited to hear the growth and plans though. (Will it be recorded?)

#05_opportunities - June 24, 2023 at 07:09 PM

Thanks @Joshua O'Grady and @Taiga Gamell! I'll message you soon Joshua.

#05_opportunities - June 23, 2023 at 03:23 PM

I will be offline for likely the rest of the day but if anyone is interested in taking on a CTO role for an early stage startup let me know! Dm me and we can set up a meeting to talk about it further!

#01_introductions - June 02, 2023 at 02:22 PM

Hi all! I'm Dane Wagner, an IO Psychologist, Adjunct Professor at FIU, and Co-founder/CPO of Blackhawke Behavior Science. I'm glad to be a part of this, please don't hesitate to connect over LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dane-l-wagner