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Blaine Light Founded + Leading the UBER AZ/NM Operations Team.

Phoenix, Arizona

I lead a team of 75 people across US & Canada for UBER. I also founded & led Operations for UBER in PHX & Las Vegas. I know the sharing economy, on demand startups, and how to succeed in hyper growth like the back of my hand. I love coaching leaders on Leadership, Managment, and how to motivate & inspire our people. Call me maybe? Previously COO @ real5D, Business Analyst @ DoubleRock VC. Advisor to…

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11

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Blaine donates to charity: water ($634.60)

Startup Consulting

Strategic Planning

Team Leadership

Leadership Development

Management

Excel

Conversational Spanish

Google Docs

Inspiring People

Inspiring Leadership

Member since May 2012

Areas of Expertise

Reviews 11
Answers 2

Startup Consulting

Strategic Planning

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Leadership Development

Management

Excel

Conversational Spanish

Google Docs

Inspiring People

Inspiring Leadership

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Clarity

Blaine Light

Phoenix, Arizona

I lead a team of 75 people across US & Canada for UBER. I also founded & led Operations for UBER in PHX & Las Vegas. I know the sharing economy, on demand startups, and how to succeed in hyper growth like the back of my hand.

I love coaching leaders on Leadership, Managment, and how to motivate & inspire our people.

Call me maybe? Previously COO @ real5D, Business Analyst @ DoubleRock VC. Advisor to Pillow Homes.

$5.00/min

Blaine donates to charity: water ($634.60)

12

12 Calls

11

11 Reviews

25 minutes
Avg. call

Startup Consulting Strategic Planning Team Leadership Leadership Development Management Excel Conversational Spanish Google Docs Inspiring People Inspiring Leadership

Call me to talk about

Leadership and Team Management

I've gone from being an indivdual contributor, to managing a small team of 6, to currently managing a team of 55.

I'll teach you what I've spent 1000+ hours deliberately learning: how to create a team identity, how to engage your team, how to develop your people to help them grow, and how to succeed as a leader in your organization.

Startup Consulting

I officially advised companies like Pillow Homes, Blueseed, Startup Agency, and many others.

Call me if you need help with strategic thinking, team management, website insights, or any other pressing issue you have. I'm donating my time to Charity: Water, which provides water for people living on $3 or less per day.

http://blueseed.co/advisors

How to Navigate Professional Growth - What I've Learned From 4+ Years at Uber

Building yourself in an organization takes grit, determination, and a keen sense of who you are, where you're going, and what value you can add to the org.

A mentor of mine once taught me to "follow the money," meaning find the biggest problem / area of impact, and go solve it.

I will coach you through how to find the biggest problems, ensuring you have the skills / confidence to push through your fears, and help you be the leader you want to be in your organization.

Answers 2
Reviews 11

Answers

Blaine Light answered

How do I find networking opportunities with entrepreneurs and influencers?

The best way to meet people is to show up.

Sometimes, you just have to jump over that fake 'red velvet rope' to get access.

1. I once attended a VC Cleantech summit by just walking into the hotel and into the summit. Made some good connections there.
2. I also walked into YC's demo day.. Security asked us to stop, but we smiled and kept walking. It was a good event.
3. I showed up at a VC firm a couple of times, and just talked to the partners like normal human beings -- most people will talk with you if you smile and are a real person (not groveling but just being present and adding value to them).
4. I went to the hotel bar at Sandhill Rd. in SF, got drinks, and met VCs who were in town.
5. I went to angel.co penthouse parties that I heard about from a friend of a friend. I showed up, said I was here for the party, and I've found the startup community to be super accepting -- they let me right in, twice.

What if the events don't exist? Create the events, and be the leader everyone is looking for.

1. When I moved to PHX, there weren't as many startup events as there were in SF, so I created my own.
2. I invited some entrepreneurs to be guest speakers, and having 2-3 concurrent sessions in 1 night
3. Another time, I had VCs and successful entrepreneurs that were "out of my league" be panelists by emailing and inviting them. (I was lucky and they all decided to show up, making for a great event).

In summary, if you city does have a tech / startup scene, show up, network, make friends, and ask about future events to stay in the loop. If your city doesn't have a tech / startup scene, be like Ghandi and "be the change you wish to see in the world".

Best,
Blaine

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Blaine Light answered

What are some tips to make the physical move to Silicon Valley, to ensure you are able to connect with talent/influencers, and find opportunities?

This is a great question.

1. Acclimate: Walk around SF and Palo Alto. Get to know the streets, be able to talk like a local, and understand the flow of the city.

2. Attend events. I wrote a post on that here: https://clarity.fm/questions/4379/where-do-i-network-with-entrepreneurs-game-changers-and-investors-to-find-not

3. Be brave. This is a city that rewards fearlessness and strength. Move with confidence, have an open mind/heart, and go do what you're meant to do in this world.

-Blaine

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Reviews

Thanks for the call! Got great insights to implement in our team.

Wilco de Kreij Source: Clarity

Blaine instantaneously read the full picture and gave me great advice on what steps to take. Looking forward to speak again with him!

Mauricio Montecinos Duran Source: Clarity

Great advice about building a marketplace startup. Provided me with some insights that allowed me to see the bigger picture and explore new operating models within my space. Two thumbs up.

Michael Park Source: Clarity

Clever guy!

Reuben Metcalfe Source: Clarity

Blaine and I were already deep into conversation after 2 minutes, and I really felt uplifted after the conversation. His suggestion to focus on "what's working" made me realize how important it is to focus on the positive!

Julia Armet Source: Clarity

Blaine was fantastic. Great energy, decisive and to the point. Excited to make the connection and his insight will be proven as instrumental in taking our business model in the direction it needs to go!

patrick swim Source: Clarity

Great, to the point advice. 10/10

Milan Vrekic Source: Clarity

Blaine loves what Blueseed is doing, and has been our most passionate advisor. He connected us with several organizations, including real5D and Start-Up Chile, which will be key to our future operations and development. He also provided insightful and detailed feedback on anything from our pitch deck to our video and our website; all in all - a highly versatile strategist, and a fun guy to work with.

Dan Dascalescu Source: LinkedIn

It was a real pleasure working with Blaine. He brought expertise to the table that we did not possess and through his efforts and guidance we were able to increase revenues for our vacation rental business. As an intern on the SF Properties team, Blaine was able to gear marketing efforts towards large groups (our target market), boost our mailing lists, and using Google Adwords, increase site traffic overall and double reservations over the same period last year. From his strategic research, we also learned how to contact our customers through enhanced mailing lists. Blaine was a great asset to our team, and we really appreciated his work.

Tammy Farris Source: LinkedIn

Blaine is the epitome of what the Vice President of a Fraternity should be. He is organized, fun to be around, and when it comes down to it, he always gets the job done. He has been an integral part of this fraternity's success over the past few years, helping to win the awards of Most Improved Chapter from the University of Arizona, Supreme Prior's Chapter of Promise and Founder's Honor Chapter from the Fraternity's National Headquarters. I would strongly recommend Blaine for positions that require leadership, analytical thinking, organization, and a drive for success

Evan Fehler Source: LinkedIn

Blaine was instrumental to our team's win of the Deloitte Case Challenge. His ability to combine his personal study of finance with his knowledge of engineering management allowed him to generate ideas which bridged the gap between business and information systems implementation. Additionally, it was ultimately Blaine's strong financial analysis which swung the judges' decision in our favor. His ability to take initiative and receive direction simultaneously make him an extremely valuable team member.

David Ware Source: LinkedIn

Member since May 2012