Samar Birwadker Cofounder/CEO Good.Co at TechStars

I had the privilege of working with Samar on multiple client projects while at Anthem San Francisco. He’s a smart, talented and very insightful brand strategist. Hard working and committed to excellence, Samar always delivers outstanding work. He is warm, genuine – and has an up-beat attitude and a terrific work style.

Samar is a quick learner- I was impressed at how rapidly he got on-board with BAV. His biggest strength, in my opinion, is his ability to think creatively and bring-in fresh ideas and perspectives. He always tries to push the envelope.

Samar is one of the most perceptive and strategic marketers I have worked with at his level. He brings a rare combination of solid research capability, an inherent ability to understand consumer motivations, and a knack for unearthing those critical nuggets of strategic insights.

What impresses me most about Samar is the ease with which he navigates complex scenarios and effortlessly synthesizes large amounts of information to create practical and compelling strategic solutions. Samar was responsible for initiating the research practice at Real Branding and instrumental in winning and retaining key agency relationships. A personable young man who I hope to work with again in the future.

During the Fall '10 semester, Samar gave a brilliant presentation to my trend research class on effective strategies for interpreting a brief and designing research. The class was composed of graduate and undergraduate students in the Advertising department at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

After explaining what I wanted from the class, Samar developed a dynamic presentation that was both entertaining and informative. He did an extraordinary job at explaining (without over simplifying) the nuances of the industry and providing relevant case studies.

Samar is a natural educator/consultant. He was profession, but remained accesible.

Samar's strategic leadership at Landor is indispensable. He has a flawless track record for diving into clients' business and brand issues with a critical eye and producing breakthrough insights that serve as a catalyst for change. He has a rare, highly beneficial blend of left and right brain intellect, has tremendous personal presence and communications skills, and is as skillful with analysis as he is adept at presenting to a room full of executives. From EA to DreamWorks to FedEx, his strategic thinking and branding expertise has enabled our firm to deliver outstanding work to our clients. I would jump at the opportunity to work again with Samar.

I have been working with Samar on several programs and find myself continually impressed by several traits:
• His ability to balance the structured, analytical side of his thinking with the explorative, creative view on the world- bringing both to bear on solving brand problems .

• His pattern recognition skills, helping him to quickly identify broader trends and describe their implications for branding and business in very pragmatic terms.

• His immense curiosity about the underlying human complexities of the brands - and the client relationships he’s working on.

• And on that note, being a bit of a global nomad like myself, his ability to understand how to detect and bridge differences in culture-driven communication and behaviors- an important skill to have in a world of global brands.

Oh - and he’s also a very nice guy and all in all, a great colleague to work with.

Samar is a superbly hard working, perceptive analyst and strategist. He confronts every challenge head on and makes things happen. New challenges excite him and he always finds creative ways to get answers that will help drive our client's businesses.