Steve Faktor – Take the Risk and Pursue Your Dreams

BIO: Steve Faktor is a former Fortune-100 executive—turned entrepreneur. As Managing Director of IdeaFaktory Innovation, he helps tech, financial services, and consumer goods clients see and build the future. The McFuture Podcast features Steve’s provocative predictions and prescriptions.STORY: Steve’s lifelong dream was to be a comedian and radio personality just like Howard Stern. His parents, however, could hear none of it and pushed him to conform to being a nice boy who does well in school and then goes out to get a family and a job that everyone can be proud of. Today, he regrets never fighting hard to achieve that dream.LEARNING: Fight hard to pursue your dreams, and don’t let anyone stop you. It is not too late to turn back and chase your dreams. “If you follow the money, the culture, and technology, you will lead yourself to the right answers.”Steve Faktor Guest profileSteve Faktor is a former Fortune-100 executive—turned entrepreneur, futurist author of Econovation, and podcaster. As Managing Director of IdeaFaktory Innovation, he helps tech, financial services and consumer goods clients see and build the future.Steve is a LinkedIn Influencer with over 750,000 followers and has been featured in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He’s a popular keynote speaker at major events and numerous corporations.The McFuture Podcast features Steve’s provocative predictions and prescriptions, as well as guests like Larry King, comedian Jim Jefferies, Governor Jesse Ventura, Nobel Economist Joseph Stiglitz, former ACLU President Nadine Strossen, Megachurch Pastor AR Bernard, and many more.Previously, Steve launched multiple $150m+ loyalty, payments, and e-commerce products & services as head of the American Express Chairman’s Innovation Fund, SVP at Citi Ventures, VP of Strategy & Innovation at MasterCard, and management consultant at Andersen.Worst investment everSteve was always a creative, disruptive, and curious child. He would often question everything, including what the rabbis taught him.Tucking his creativity awayNow one thing Steve loved was writing. He would always write, and some of this stuff was so creative and funny. Steve kept his writing in a plastic shopping bag and tucked it away in his grandmother’s house in her closet.Watching his dream wither awaySteve’s dream was to be Howard Stern. He grew up listening to him. The excitement of live radio blew him away, and he just wanted to be part of it. Steve even bought a special Walkman that allowed him to record shows. He would listen to the recordings on his way to school and back.Steve even got into Boston University, where Howard went, but he ended up going to NYU, where he got an academic scholarship.Steve’s parents were oblivious to his passion for writing or his love of radio, and they couldn’t care less about it. To them, a successful life is where Steve grew up to be a nice boy who did well in school, went out and got a family, and a job that everyone could be proud of. And that is the kind of direction they pushed Steve in.Lessons learnedFight hard to pursue your dreamsYou have to fight harder if you feel that something is innate inside of...