EKMH Innovators Interview Series
An interview series spotlighting global tech influencers, disruptors, visionaries, and of course, innovators.
Community leadership. Conscious Leadership. Network Building. Community Responsibility. Blockchain Ecosystems. Cryptospheres. Effective leaders move from buzz words to action — while the buck may stop with them, most leaders are often incessantly starting something: they foment action, enact change, inspire innovation and create lasting relationships in the process. Justice R.B. Ginsburg’s sentiment bears repeating, “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” And remember to keep them in your network!
Many readers may already know Boston-based Entrepreneur / Community Builder / Dot Connector Steve Vilkas, perhaps he’s already connected you with someone in the blockchain ecosystem or cryptosphere. Like many of the serial entrepreneurial ilk, Vilkas builds his community in unique and expansive ways. A recent co-founder of both BlockRelations and Quirk LAABS, a co-working space for aspiring entrepreneurs w/disabilities, Vilkas recently joined Prepare4VC and continues to be active in COVID-19 pandemic responses at Project CoCo/ECV/Operation LimeLight and FightPandemics. In addition, when he’s not offering strategy advice, Vilkas writes for HackerNoon, Canabee and the NorthEndWaterfront.
In our interview Vilkas addresses a variety of topics including couth and sensible ways to connect the dots, the invaluable blockchain and cryptocurrency communities, several excellent reads, COVID-19 response project updates, why community leadership matters, the importance of a healthy work+life balance, his views on entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusivity, and more. Our interview follows.
EKMH: What’s your secret to being the ultimate dot and people connector? What advice do you have for those who want to sharpen their own networking and collaborating skills?
Steve Vilkas: Haha, as always you’re far too kind...I’m the furthest thing from being the “ultimate” when it comes to the tradecraft that I’ve come to refer to as “connecting the dots.” Honestly when I first started out in the professional world, I was terribly shy and socially awkward. Picture that one person at every mixer or networking event shuffling their feet, nervously swishing their drink around and looking for any excuse to make an early exit….yup --- that was me!
It took a few good people in Boston’s startup community who became my mentors and took me under their wings, but my love of writing also served as a valuable way for me to begin building relationships and expressing my gratitude for being part of supportive, innovative ecosystems.
My late mother Michele and my stepfather Sal were instrumental in laying the foundations for my love of people --- such that, shy as I may have been at first, the way I was raised and the way the community in Boston received me, both contributed to me coming out of my shell.
Connecting is a skill that takes practice and requires, above all, the right intention. I’d recommend to anyone wanting further insights on to read two pieces in particular: Tiphaine Le Roux’s “How Authenticity Helps You Build A Professional Community From Scratch?” and the fourth article in the “Propel Her Defense Women’s Leadership Series” “Learn, Connect, Inspire: The Power of Networking” by Lyndsay Freeman and Shamsa Lea by which I became aware of from Colonel Candice Frost with the United States Army.
Some advice: Be gentle with yourselves and others. Do the right amount of research and you’ll rarely, if ever, have to come in from the cold. As you develop skills as a connector, you’ll notice how intimately so much of this relates to a simple matter of hearts and minds. It’s about building relationships, unlocking opportunities, and ultimately enabling success by investing in human potential.
Now if you wanted to ask an ultimate dot connector...you’d need look no further than my counterpart and colleague Olivia Kantyka!
EKMH: Since early 2020 you have been actively involved in projects addressing COVID-19. Could you please share an update about Project CoCo/ECV/Operation LimeLight?
Steve Vilkas: So many of the grassroots organizations have performed outstandingly in, you’ll forgive me for repeating it, “these uncertain and challenging times.” While that phrase has gotten more than its fair share of airtime, there’s a reason for that: The pandemic offered little in the way of an operational manual for many on, simply, how to deal with such a unique crisis on such a global scale.
Speaking to where I got my start as both a Communications and Intelligence specialist, Project CoCo was the answer to the emerging threat of a viral “infodemic” that was producing troubling amounts of false and dangerous data all too easily digestible for a public simply in search of answers. The Coronavirus Communications Project, with its highly effective messaging toolkit, continues to serve as an empowering means at the disposal of Pandemic Response to use the power of honesty, community and plenty of cautious optimism through easy, fast and efficient social media strategies.
ECV or EndCoronaVirus is a great example of the coalition building we’ve seen in Pandemic Response right from the start. Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam and our interdepartmental squads of diverse specialists are totally united in wanting to eradicate COVID-19 and this is achieved through education, research, and more.
The “more” part of that is something I can speak to in terms of something I’m very proud of...and that’s what my colleagues and I have achieved in terms of establishing an official “Mis/Disinformation Response Bureau” with nearly 50 specialists encased within it as of now. It’s an amazing initiative, ever expanding and like CoCo, it’s needed more than ever before.
Some of the nichier outfits I’ve been privileged to engage with include the likes of Operation LimeLight which helped out NYC so much and COVID Safe Paths which has brilliant scientists, researchers and selfless volunteers involved in contact tracing and app development solutions to make that process easier.
Earlier this year the MALSI+ Life Sciences Innovation conference was preceded by the HubCures Series which some of our Pandemic Intelligence agents helped to cover, and I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to all of those involved with both the conference and the events leading up to it as it really helped further amplify the people, places, and purposes behind Pandemic Response in the Bay State and beyond.
EKMH: As a Senior Intelligence Analyst at FightPandemics, an altruistic platform created in the wake of COVID-19 that connects people and organizations in need of help with providers, you help foster vital connections that empower communities to respond more quickly and effectively to the crisis. How can people be trained to become more resilient to this and future crises?
Steve Vilkas: As it is with dot connecting, this training process and building up of resiliency is something that an individual has to want and ultimately approach with pure intentions, realistic expectations, and with as little ego as possible. I’m glad you brought up FightPandemics as this is a perfect example of a solution powered by people who exemplify that “roll up and roll out” mentality.
I would encourage anyone interested in learning how to become more resilient but also responsive to this global health crisis to check out Manuel Gonzales Alzuru’s special story as well as what FP is up as both are powerful examples of doing it right.
EKMH: Why should other business leaders become actively involved in their communities?
Steve Vilkas: There are two people who quickly come to mind when it comes to active involvement in communities from a business point of view, along with the “do good to do well” approach first expressed by CoCo’s own John Hargrave from Media Shower.
Thomas “Tom” McDonough isn’t a business leader per se, but as a Neighborhood Business Manager for the City of Boston’s Economic Development Department, he is a “boots on the ground” service- orientated individual who I saw constantly getting into the trenches with SMEs affected by the pandemic and who took time to assist us in Pandemic Response on Linkedin, for instance, in spreading the word about important information and resources. Tom is an example of someone who sees the value in fostering that engagement factor...knowing it to be absolutely essential as an element contributing to the eventual “Aha!” spark of success.
Secondly: Yara Osler, VP Business Development Banker at Capital One here in Massachusetts. Yara’s a business owner but also, like Tom, a supporter of entrepreneurship and she simply gets stuff done. Yara has shown me that by opening up the doors we not only benefit the community but ourselves as well. How? In the words of Wesley taught to me by beantrust’s Erik Modahl:
“Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as ever you can.”
There are so many leaders among us, and I gratefully stand upon the shoulders of several with quite the optimistic view indeed.
EKMH: You’ve said that the blockchain and cryptocurrency communities are known for being creative and dynamic as well as independent and entrepreneurial. How does this positive mindset and a “we can do it” attitude enable the blockchain/crypto ecosystems to connect, problem- solve, innovate and move forward during this and potentially other crises?
Steve Vilkas: What initially attracted me to the blockchain and cryptospheres was, indeed, this culture to which you alluded in framing that question so wisely. This is a culture that prides itself on being both independent and inclusive, open-source to the core, and in that way, quite similar to what I’ve seen in startup world. The short answer is...any community, any organization with a culture that makes room for geniuses and average folks alike to come together and legitimately “build consensus” is pretty awesome if you ask me.
Take what Stephanie So’s done with GEEQ for example. Stephanie’s not afraid of and actually encourages debate. All our best and brightest in the industry are mission-driven to the bone. For an example of how this is being done on an international level, I recommend checking out India’s Inblox Network.
EKMH: In February you co-founded BlockRelations with Kenneth Garofalo to “de-silo, de-mystify and define Blockchain-related individuals, entities and opportunities through a comprehensive and bespoke method encompassing multiple disciplines.” Any updates to share?
Steve Vilkas: The seven months I spent establishing BR with Ken were among the best of my entire life --- Ken and the team we built together are solid and set up for success. I departed from my role on the 28th of August having done my utmost and am eagerly observing, with the biggest smile on my face, the continued excellence in building and enhancing that BR exemplifies.
I left BR with my sights set on new horizons --- new dots to connect if you will. There were several teachable moments, reflection points encountered along the way, and ultimately, whenever I look back on those times it’s with fondness and best wishes for the future of the firm.
EKMH: How have your leadership experiences informed your views on entrepreneurship, fundraising, diversity and inclusivity, and community building?
Steve Vilkas: I’ve been humbled by seeing and being a part of authentic leadership-in-action operationally more than once across the span of my career. As you would expect Pandemic Response has produced some of the most noteworthy examples, and nowhere has this been more apparent than in the realization experienced by both public and private sector leaders in their collective desire to bridge gaps and foster collaboration to guarantee an advantage in combating the virus, countering the threat posed by adversarial bad actors, and ultimately establishing a better situation for future generations.
Where I’ve been able to contribute as a leader has primarily been in instances where my special skills were most in demand. This is where I’ve learned that real leadership is an example first and explanation second “follow me team” scenario --- with clear objectives outlined and an exit strategy in place (along with the if-this-screws-up contingency) as opposed to “listen to this download session and then attempt to figure out the point.” Startups continue to face challenges with DEI and digital transformation for example, but there is a ton of leadership talent out there intent on shifting the narrative and, ultimately, causing cultures and whole systems to evolve and upgrade.
EKMH: During early spring you shifted gears to focus on Pandemic Responses. How have you addressed work+life balance during these unprecedented times? What have you learned about yourself and your own MO?
Steve Vilkas: As I’m often reminded by someone extremely special to me, I’m not a robot. I’ve experienced depression, anxiety, and grief over the loss of my mother over four years ago. The pandemic did for me what it’s done for many --- shed new light on my physical, emotional, social and psychological conditioning.
I’m taking more frequent breaks, on/off the duty-station and am particularly fond of photography and writing poetry. It’s important for me and others who frequently deal with time-sensitive, high-stress and fluid situations to have our soft skills extra tender and our support systems on speed dial. Self-care is essential and, for me, begins with following Admiral William H. McRaven’s “make your bed” mantra.
EKMH: And finally, as an avid reader, which books do you recommend and what are you reading now?
Steve Vilkas: Daniel Quinn’s The Story of B is a trip, preceded by Ishmael by the same author. I’m just getting into Yiftach Reicher Atir’s The English Teacher which is really cool.
EKMH: Many thanks for sharing your insight, Steve!
Follow me @crowdfunderin and @ekmhinnovators
Search below and read more than 60 interviews, book lists and predictions in the EKMH Innovators Interview Archive…