"There’s an art to getting advice in business: knowing who and when to ask"

After years of experience — and a firsthand understanding of the ins and outs of your industry — would you recommend this field to others?

It’s an interesting field, but also very challenging. Any field that deals with trying to make money will be up against huge competition from other companies that have huge resources, thousands of doctorate degrees, and infinite budgets. It’s tough to try and carve out a space for yourself. It boils down to always researching, finding new directions, and keeping your ears open for the new opportunities that are available. As business founder, I’ve had to perform in many capacities in this field — math, strategy, development, research, accounting, legal. Some of the roles, like the actual trading, are high pressure and some of the other roles are more of a typical nine-to-five. There’s no question that if someone is interested in the hedge-fund field, there’s a lot of room to get involved. But it’s definitely not the place for everyone.

—Boruch Dvinsky, founder and CEO at Elaris Technologies and managing partner at Concentus Partners

It’s a field that lets me roll up my sleeves and help lots of different people with lots of different challenges. It’s intellectually challenging, stimulating, and very rewarding to see people who you helped succeed. You literally watch them go from having an idea to running a fully functional, thriving business.

—Yonatan Frankel, start-up consultant and founder of Nucleus

I’m completely biased but I love marketing. My father had a PR firm and I literally grew up in this environment. If you’re both creative and have a good business head, this is the perfect place to land. It’s always fresh. If you love challenges, wearing many hats, mental stimulation, and connecting with different people in different environments, digital marketing is a wonderful place. You get to work on different parts of your brain and use different skill sets all at the same time — which is why any good digital marketer is probably a little ADD. You have to love being bombarded from every angle — and not only love it, but thrive on it.

—Fran Jakubowicz, CEO of Sunhouse Marketing

Seeing through the Sticks

I have read Rabbi Shalom Arush’s famous Garden of Emunah a few times. I strongly believe that no human being is giving me business or taking it away. I believe that we are all shluchim from the One above and need to act accordingly. Our brachah in life comes from the way we act, and the way we daven.

One example he gives in his book is that when someone hits you with a stick, do you turn around and yell at the stick? Of course not. You know the stick is not the force that hit you. The people we deal with every day are only the “sticks.” If we think about this, it leads us to never get too high from the wins and it helps us always stay composed when a deal falls through. Hashem is the One who sends our success.

—Dovid Gabay, Senior Vice President at Banquest Payment Systems

Ask with Caution

There’s an art to getting advice in business: knowing who and when to ask. If you’re struggling with something, but know deep down what the correct move is, you don’t need advice — you just need to go for it. If you’re doubting yourself, then you need advice from someone who won’t sugarcoat a thing. You have to be intimidated by what they might say. If you’re a bit scared before you call this person, and just the idea of calling them gives you butterflies in your stomach, then you know you’ve found the right person. A good advisor tells you what you need to hear, which is usually not what you want to hear.

—Moshe Hecht, former COO of Charidy

Diversity Breeds Success

The truth is, diversity is a real game-changer when it comes to building a company. Swimply was founded by two people with yeshivah backgrounds, but the team is made of rock stars from all walks of life, both from religious and cultural perspectives. You have the yeshivah people with their Gemara kups and everyone else from their own works of life — Vietnam, Ukraine, California, Louisiana — bringing their own perspectives. Ultimately, every single conversation is fascinating. Because when we interact with people who were raised differently and have different beliefs, but you still have achdus working toward the same goal, every interaction is both a profound learning experience and an opportunity for a kiddush Hashem.

—Bunim Lasky, CEO of Swimply

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 849)