Episode 29: Neil Braun: Make Your Difference Your Advantage
Neil Braun has great advice for the 50+ job seeker: make your life experience your advantage. He knows what he’s talking about. Now 69 and on his 15th career role, Neil has held jobs as divergent as President of NBC Television Network and Dean of the Lubin School of Business at Pace University. He continues to seek out new challenges – his latest version is co-founder of a health-related streaming service called Mediflix. Neil’s conversation is full of great advice for anyone seeking a new job or more fulfilling career.
Topics include:
Putting yourself in “the flow of traffic” by building a network of contacts
Understanding that everyone you come across is a potential collaborator or mentor, even if they are currently an adversary
Knowing when it’s time to leave a job or position
How he got his two biggest jobs by making his outsider role his greatest advantage
Preparing for the Big Interview
His biggest job failure
Getting through a long period of joblessness
Advice to the 50+ job seeker
His newest venture, Mediflix
Guest Bio:
Neil S. Braun started out as a corporate attorney and has served as President of the NBC Television Network, CEO of Viacom Entertainment, and President of Imagine Entertainment (Ron Howard’s and Brian Grazer’s production company). He has been an internet entrepreneur and partnered with the producer of SHREK to create CGI animation company Vanguard Animation. He has served on the Board, Audit and Governance Committees of IMAX Corporation and chaired nonprofit boards and committees. He was Dean of Pace University’s Lubin School of Business from 2010 until 2020. Now at 69 he is again an entrepreneur as a cofounder of Mediflix, a video streaming platform providing medical mentorship from hundreds of the world’s top specialists to help individuals navigate their chronic conditions.
Transcript:
Betsy Bush (00:01):
Welcome to the latest version, a podcast about change growth and reinvention. I'm your host, Betsy Bush. Maybe you are in your fifties or sixties, and you're ready for something different. Taking on a new challenge or picking up that passion. You set aside in your youth, kids out of the, a house. Now it's your turn to fly, or maybe you've been walled with a life change. You didn't see coming. You are not alone. I'm talking to people who have been on that journey and they're sharing their insights and advice. So what's your latest version.
Neil Braun (00:39):
But I think the more thing to do is really to take self inventory about all the things you are, all of the things you've done, all your experiences, both professional and non-professional and ask yourself where can the fullness of who I am add the most
Betsy Bush (00:52):
Many of us know that there are very few linear careers. These days, the average worker can expect to work for multiple employers, even have multiple careers over the course of several decades. And in that time they can expect ups and downs. Nobody knows that better than my guest today, Neil Braun, he's had some impressive ups as president of NBC television network and Dean of Pace University's Lubin school of business, but there have been some downs and some challenges too. Neil has an important message for the 50 plus job seeker. So Neil, thank you so much for joining us on the latest version. I really appreciate your making time for us today.
Neil Braun (01:36):
Well, your topic is my wheelhouse, so I'm happy to be invited and I'm happy to be here.
Betsy Bush (01:41):
Thanks. Oh, fantastic. You started off as a young person with an Ivy league undergraduate degree. You went to a top law school, but you do not have the traditional law career that maybe was expected of you at the time. What happened?
Neil Braun (02:00):
Yeah, that's right. I mean, I grew up in an environment where a good student would either go to eventually be setting their sites on either medical school or law school or go into the family business. Those were sort of the three career paths that were most common where I grew up and medical school. It was clear. I was I'm I'm, I'm a hypochondriac. I had a, uh, disease all the time. Although I I'll tell you about what I'm doing now later. Um, cuz it's ironic given what I just said, but I was always verbal. I was always a good writer. I could write great essays that made a position clear. I was a good communicator. So law school seemed like, uh, the, the right path and my father was a professional. He was a CPA, so we didn't have a family business option. Um, so it was, it was really a default choice, more than, um, a passion.
Betsy Bush (02:54):
So, you know, I I've heard that from people who have gone through law school, it's like, ah, I don't wanna do this. You, you kind of stumble into it, right? You went from, you didn't have a gap year after your college or anything like that. You just went from straight into law school. So, so, uh, so what happened next? You, you got into the business world.
Neil Braun (03:14):
I was a corporate Lawyer, uh, corporate associated, a big law firm in New York that had a thriving entertainment practice. And one day I was in the conference room that was set aside for associates to have lunch together. And um, one of the associates from the entertainment department came in all excited about a new client. He was gonna be working on. And he mentioned that they were looking for a corporate associate and it was a new way to movies. And that sounded more interesting than any of the things I was working on. So I literally got up from lunch, went to the assigning partner and said, I just heard about this new client. And you're looking for a corporate associate pick me. Right <laugh> and so he did. And so I worked on putting this new vehicle together for finance movies and when it all came together, the client offered me, you know, uh, the opportunity to leave and become general counsel. I was 16 months outta law school. Wow. So from being the lowest, uh, person on the totem pole at the law firm to being the client with the title general counsel, it was an unusual circumstance and I jumped at the opportunity. So
Betsy Bush (04:21):
What was the path from that to NBC? What came in between those things?
Neil Braun (04:27):
Oh God, I, I don't, I, I have a video streaming startup. Now this is my 15th role. Oh my God. Not even sure I can repeat them all in order anymore. I was doing lots of things around film financing for a while. When I left the client, HBO had come to the point in their evolution when they decided that it would be a good strategy to begin financing films directly rather than just licensing the TV rights. And because of my experience with my clients, financing films, I became sort of a film financing expert about different ways to do it. Co-production deals, tax incentive deals all kinds of ways to finance movies. And so when I met with the people at HBO, I had been really studying the answer to the question that was a priority for them. That was a good luck of timing thing. I spent four years really understanding the various ways films could get funded at a time when HBO thought that was important for their strategy. And so I became director of motion picture planning with the idea of putting them in the business of financing movies. I came up with something called silver screen partners, which really made it a no risk proposition for them to finance movies. It accelerated my career. I went from making like $75,000 a year to $250,000 a year in the span of four years. Because again, I, it was the right place, right time. And it was a
Betsy Bush (05:48):
Good fit. So many times those opportunities just fall into your lap or, you know, you happen to be in the lunchroom when that first opportunity made itself apparent some things we can't plan for. Right? Yeah.
Neil Braun (06:01):
Well, you know, not a F I'm not a destiny kind of guy. I believe that things don't really fall on your lap unless you put yourself in a flow of traffic where that can happen. But HBO, which at that point, the, there was no Netflix. I mean, if HBO was the biggest deal in the movie business, we were spending more money, uh, in Hollywood than any other company I met with producers. I met with the studios. I, I, I was in an incredibly good flow of traffic. A producer had mentioned me to the people at HBO and that that's how it happened. It, it was because it did come to me. It was, it did flow my lap, but it was really as I was in this great flow of traffic,
Betsy Bush (06:39):
I love this concept. Can you expand on this idea of the flow of traffic? Is this advice you give to young people or anyone put yourself out there, uh, get yourself known to people. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Neil Braun (06:53):
Yeah. I believe that the people you're working with, the people you're negotiating against the people you compete against everybody who gets to know you and see you becomes part of your network, whether they're formally, you know, you consider them part of your network or not. So being in a role where the people you are working with, for and against are, um, people who are also in positions of interest and doing interesting things and, and related things almost by definition, they're in something adjacent to what you're doing. And so that's the way opportunities. I think a lot of opportunities came to me that way.
Betsy Bush (07:35):
That sounds, You know, I can tell you're a lawyer because you don't. No <laugh> because I don't know if other people think of the person across the table as someone who could be in your network and be a partner or someone of help to you, as opposed to, um, that person is always going to be, uh, an adversary. To me, a lawyer looks at people who, you know, we're, we're trying to come to an agreement here and what, and working, you know, what is ever, you know, what's best for you and what's best for me and that you will come across these people at other times. And in other roles.
Neil Braun (08:18):
I mean, I, uh, I I'll tell you a quick story. 40 some odd years ago, I sat across the table from a, I was this June very junior lawyer. I was now at the client that I left the law firm for. And he, this lawyer who was a partner in a major New York firm was representing a producer. And so we were negotiating against each other, but we solved a lot of problems together and mutual respect and there was chemistry and he became one of my most important mentors throughout my career. He's 91 now, uh, I had a zoom catch up with him a couple of weeks ago. And I'll tell you a quick thing. He's, he's one of, one of the happiest, most satisfied people with his life that I know during the conversation I asked him, I said, so, so Tom, how do you understand that your life has turned out so well? And he had a really pithy answer. He said, I got up every morning and I thought to myself, how can I make this a great day? And at the end of every day, I recounted to myself why it was, and, um, not as easy to do I, I, but I think of him every day since he said that to me. And now I just try and think about what's one thing I can do in the day That will be great. Um, because if I can do one thing that feels great every day, it will be a great day.
Betsy Bush (09:33):
That's fantastic. The thank you for sharing that you've been in a lot of startups. You, this is your you're currently in your 15th venture. How do you know which means you’ve not only started ventures, but you've left them too when it's time to leave, or is it, do you leave always for a better opportunity or do you find a time when it's like I'm done here?
Neil Braun (09:56):
I think it, it varies. Um, it starts in the brain. <laugh> where I begin thinking, you know, I've actually performed this role to the best of my ability and what needs to happen next. Isn't really my relative strength. There are people better than me at doing what's next in this role. And so that starts my head thinking, and then my gut starts getting upset and the job starts feeling, yeah, this, I don't wanna keep doing this because I, I wanna do what I'm really good at. I don't want to, I don't wanna, I don't wanna be a pretender.
Betsy Bush (10:31):
That's so interesting. I think there are a lot of people who would like cling to, and, and who do cling to roles and jobs that maybe they've outgrown, or maybe the job has outgrown them and they don't have the skills to take it further, but, um, they don't know what to do. I've had experience in the nonprofit field. And I think this is a problem in the nonprofit world. You have a person and in charge who doesn't have the skills that, that he or she needs to take the organization to the next level, but nobody wants to tell that person, you need to move on, cuz we need to bring in someone else who has the ability to, to grow this organization.
Neil Braun (11:15):
The best Thing about going to the you university of Chicago law school. For me really about being a lawyer, it was really about building my intellectual self-confidence. I was surprised that I got into the university of Chicago, um, because it is a top three law school in this country and it's a small class and it's really intellectually intense people. And I definitely wasn't the smartest person in the room, but I belonged in the room and, and that, and that probably more than what I learned about the law served me well throughout my career because I wasn't afraid to take the next step because I figure, I, I knew if I threw myself into the deep water or something new, I would figure out how to add value. And I don't know that I would've had that confidence if I didn't have that law school experience.
Betsy Bush (12:11):
Have you started anything again among all your 15 ventures, uh, that really took you to a place where you were uncomfortable or where maybe you did feel out of your depth?
Neil Braun (12:23):
I mean, a lot of the roles I've had, I, I was able to secure because of my difference. I did didn't have what most people would consider the right and relevant experience for the job when I pitched for those roles. And the two that are most, um, aligned with that strategy was becoming president of the NBC television network. Having never worked at a television network and, uh, becoming Dean of a business school, having never even gone to business school. Um, and my pitch in both cases was you have a building or a campus full of people who know what I don't know, but how many people do you have, who know what I do know? And here's how I could. And then I gave them concrete examples about out how, the way I thought and the way the experiences I've had and the people I know could add value. And, uh, in the case of the, of the NBC job, the job wasn't even open really a conversation with the then CEO of, of NBC who got him thinking that, wow, I'd like to find a place for Neil. And, you know, the person who was in that job is kind of near retirement and he's really cursing from a different era and it is time to make a change. And he called me two days later and he said, how would you like to come and interview for the becoming president of the, of the network?
Betsy Bush (13:50):
Wow. Did you fall over?
Neil Braun (13:55):
I would say that's the best pitch meeting I ever had was when I met with him. And I mean, I read two books in anticipation of meeting with him. Um, one called three blind mice about how the networks had lost their way and called, um, the, the late show, which was about the decision, um, when Johnny Carson retired from the tonight show whether to give it to David Letterman or, or Jay Leno. And, uh, when I read the book, I kept thinking to myself, gee, I would've thought about this quite differently. Um, and so when I met with Bob Wright, who was the CEO at that time, I said, I read the book and I, I have, I have a different way of looking at that decision and might have, uh, done things differently. And he said, what do you mean? I said, well, I was at Viacom. I didn't have a network. And I, when you passed on David Letterman, I made him a, a $60 million guarantee pay or play deal. And I was gonna syndicate a market by market. Um, and I G I guaranteed them that it'd be on in all, um, you know, at 1130 to go up against the tonight show what would've happened. If you, you, this greatest scarcity in the entertainment business is commercially proven creative franchises. So you had two of them <affirmative> and you decided you looked at it like a network executive saying I have 1 11 30 time slot. Who do I give it to? I would've looked at it as I have two commercially fr two proven franchises. How do I own both of them? What would've happened if you made them both big commitments, maybe you'd own half the show that's on CBS. When, when let 'em did the competitive show on CBS. And he looked at me and he goes like, I don't know if that actually would've worked, but you're right. I never would've thought that way. And I said, well, that's, that's how I can add value. I've been in syndication, I've been in pay cable. I I've been in all the other aspects of television. So I'm gonna think more like a television executive and not like a network executive.
Betsy Bush (15:47):
Wow. that's brilliant. I mean, do you think they should have offered it to Letterman and let Jay Leno go?
Neil Braun (15:57):
There was no wrong decision there? Um, it was really just an idea of could, could NBC have ended up owning a piece of both franchises rather than feeling it had to choose one or the other?
Betsy Bush (16:08):
I know you have had some, uh, well them up and downs in the, in the introduction. And I know you've had times when you have not been <laugh>
Neil Braun (16:20):
Let's, let's call it like it is. Yeah. I, there have been times I've failed.
Betsy Bush (16:24):
Tell, tell me about those times and how you got through them.
Neil Braun (16:27):
Well, I left NBC because it was 1999 and the internet was, I mean, it was, it was the industrial revolution and I got very excited about being part of it. And I, I got involved, uh, with some other, uh, people, some entrepreneurs, obviously coming off, coming out of a job like president NBC television network were, you know, there were plenty of people who wanted to talk to me and I found, uh, an opportunity to, to do something with a, somebody who was really ready to put up a lot of funding. He, he had already funded 60 internet companies and had a great track record and, and, and anyway, so I left NBC to do that. And it's an interesting, thanks. You know, we really didn't have a business plan. He was buying my title and experience, and I was buying his funding and, and knowledge about an area that I was just learning about and what I, and the mistake in that relationship was we didn't have enough common ground established upfront that would guide our relationship. And I, so I, I often felt that after every conversation, he and I had, uh, the, the next person we talked to, uh, we said, we said about each other. He doesn't get it. And we just never found the way to communicate and agree and, and, and educate each other about what our relative knowledge was and what our relative value was. And he ultimately wanted me to make a presentation to the board that I completely disagreed with. And I refused to do it. I got fired. It was the only time in my career that I got fired. Yeah. It was a painful experience. Um, I mean, I won't go into it, but I, I mean, it was also the one time in my career where I really felt I got screwed. Um, uh, because I, the counterparty didn't live up to the commitments he made and it's a long story. It, but, uh, it's not worth going into, but it, it, it was a painful, it was a painful experience. And, um, it's something that becomes part of who you are, you learn from it, and you move on, you do other things. Um, and you know, I, you know, I've had a lot of alumni visit when I was Dean in the business school. And one of the themes, I mean, every alumnus who comes back, who successful talks about how failure is part of success, that if, if you've never failed, it's because you're not trying enough. You're not, you're not reaching high enough.
Betsy Bush (18:59):
So you, you had a moment in your home life where you were really unsure about how to move ahead and you had children at home. And what would they think about a dad who had been fired? Can you tell me about that?
Neil Braun (19:17):
Um, yeah, well, it was, it really wasn't, um, I'm trying to think when that 15 month period happened, but there was 15 months when I was between things. Um, that's a long time. It was a long time. Um, and I was I'm 69 now. I was in my fifties and, uh, my kids were, I still had a lot of college to pay for given who my kids are. I presumed I'd have grad school to pay for. Um, and you know, not that, that was an obligation, but it was something I really, really wanted to do for my kids. And I was really afraid. It was the, it was the most fearful I've ever been that I wasn't gonna figure out what's next. And the fear kind of turned to depression as well. I mean, it was, it was, you know, it was a long time to get up every day and not have a job to go to. And so I, I made, I made it my, my job to figure out what's next. And I had lots of credibility and lots of contacts, both in the movie and television businesses. Um, and so I started networking and thinking about it and presenting ways I could add value. I didn't necessarily, I wasn't looking for jobs because people were, it was a period. The, but this was two was in the bubble burst. That's when this happened. So everybody was contracting. It was, there was not a lot of opportunity and it was impossible to start a new business cuz of getting that positive cash flow, nobody was gonna invest in you. So I really had to figure out how to get a job again. And that was, that was, it was hard. Um, having been outta corporate world for a while, having some ambivalence really, maybe that showed also that I about going back to the corporate world. And so what I, I, I, I made it my job. I made a lot of contacts. I, I had a movie idea. I had a television idea. The movie idea worked. I got together with the producer of Shrek, the, uh, oh, computer generated animation animation film. It was at a time when most of the studios didn't have an animation department and, but computer generated animation was really making, enabling everybody to make those kind of movies. And because of my earlier film financing experience, uh, and, and the lawyer mentor that I, the 91 year old mentor that I mentioned, he was the lawyer for the producer of Shrek. And he was my lawyer. He had become my personal lawyer after, uh, uh, later in life after I, I met him and he thought the two of us could figure out something together. And we decided it was a good time. Enough movies have been made with computer generated imagery that you could, you could now do it as an independent, you didn't need to be a studio. And so we started a company called Vanguard Animation and we made movies, uh, computer generated animation movies.
Betsy Bush (22:03):
So you really were able to pick out something that was on the horizon. And that would become very big in the next few years. I mean, uh, that, that, that shows a lot of foresight.
Neil Braun (22:15):
It was pretty obvious that more an CGI movies were gonna get made. And one of the lessons I taught my students often was it's a lot easier to make a career when you have inertia working for you rather than against you. Um, so, so going to a segment of the market, that's growing, there's much more opportunity than in a segment of the market that's gonna contract over time.
Betsy Bush (22:36):
Interesting. Uh, you said something really, um, oh, you know what, Neil, let's go back and talk about. Um, and, and this is gonna of cheating because I know I I've heard you say this in another interview. I think it's a really important thing to, to touch on your wife had said something about how you are modeling your response to your situation and how important it was for your family. If, well,
Neil Braun (23:05):
I'll tell you a couple of things about that period. And the first thing, it actually really not that my I've, we have a good marriage. We're married over 40 years. We're happily married. We still have fun together. It's all good. Um, but that period for me, really told me something about my marriage that, you know, I carry with me to this day, during that 15 month period that I was between gigs. I lost confidence in myself. I was scared. I was worried that I wasn't gonna figure out how to get back on track. And not only was unequivocally supportive throughout that period. She was unequivocally confident, um, that I would figure it out. I never saw a shadow of doubt in her mind. I never felt any of anxiety from her. And I think, I think that really was probably, you know, one of the, it was definitely one of the two important things that sustained me through that period. Um, and the other thing is, is, is what you're referring to when she and I had had the conversation that getting up every day and how I behaved, you know, even if, even those days when I would've liked to stay in bed and pull the sheets over my head and just sleep away the day I getting up, getting dressed, making it my job to find my next thing was gonna probably be the most impactful lesson I ever would would teach my children be, cuz it could go either way. I mean, I didn't lecture them. I didn't talk to them about it, but they just watched my behavior and modeling that behavior about adversity, not stopping you and being persistent and resilient, even when you don't wanna be whether that came to pass or not, whether that moment had that impact or not. I, I can't tell you, but I will tell you that my kids have that resiliency and, and persistence and diligence. And I think, you know, I have to believe that that that period certainly was part of it. That's
Betsy Bush (25:13):
A great, uh, lesson for so many people who are now finding themselves out of work or in this weird COVID times, some people are leaving their jobs, but we also know others are having trouble finding them. Um, the job seeker who is 50 plus, you were 50 plus at that time looking for a new opportunity, what message do you have for the 50 plus job seeker who is having trouble making the connection or is feeling like they're ready to, you know, they're just being thrown on the discard pile.
Neil Braun (25:46):
I get guess I would say to really go down two parallel paths or, or, or maybe they're not parallel, maybe they're just congruent, but one is all the traditional ways. One looks for a role. You look for the openings, you look for the specs and you pitch, you know, that's what most people I presume are doing. But I think the more thing to do is really to take self inventory about all the things you are, all of the things you've done, all your experiences, both professional and non-professional and ask yourself where can the fullness of who I am add the most. And often the answer will be like it was for me at NBC and again at the business school where I was Dean, where there's nobody else like you and begin to navigate, uh, and, and make connections and meet people where the conversation you want to have is getting them to understand how you can add value.
Because if you can convince somebody, you can add value. There's usually a way to get a job there. They slightly redefine the role. They do the finding people who can add value, do what they need to be done immediately. Um, cuz people hire people to get tasks they need done, but that's not enough to get jobs today. So, and, and the, and certainly for the 50 plus person, I think you have more to offer than just what the role requires. It's what else do you bring to the table? And it's often things you won't think are relevant and your job is to make them relevant. When I used to meet with students, uh, who wanted my help in thinking about careers, you know, they bring their resume, I'd look at their resume and I'd put it down. And the first question I'd ask them is tell me something about yourself. That's not on your resume. And I, I, one person who comes to, I mean, one woman who came young woman, she was a black belt in karate that wasn't on her resume. A person who wanted a marketing role was a standup comedian on the weekends that wasn't on his resume.
And in talking it through with them, I was able to help them see that being a black belt in karate demonstrates a lot about who you are as a person, your discipline, your, your persistence, your, your, your goal orientation, people hire those, those traits. And with the standup comedian, I said, well, do you stand up in front of people every weekend? Do you write your own material? Do you get back up next week when you failed the week when you bomb the week before I, how do you think that's not relevant to being a market in marketing?
Betsy Bush (28:28):
Oh my god. Huge. I can imagine, you know, the taglines you would come up with that would be hilarious and memorable. Right?
Neil Braun (28:35):
Right. And so, um, so I think, I think for everybody, including the 50 plus people, it's really about taking that, taking who you are, the wholeness of who you are and figuring out how to make it relevant and tell, build that narrative about it's as if it, it be a marketer of who you are, you know, think of yourself as that as everything you are and, and make, develop the narrative about how you can add value in different situations and those conversations with people. Because I think that will get you to a second conversation.
Betsy Bush (29:10):
You've had a lot of experience in the corporate field, and I'm wondering if you can shed any insight on why, why there is this why 50 plus job seekers are meeting this or coming up against this hiring bias? Um, like all the things you're telling me and I'm, I've had this conversation with other guests of hire someone who's been through several business cycles, uh, who has the experience of, you know, oh, I thought I made a big mistake and it turned out not to be so bad. And in fact, it turned out to be a good thing. You know, the experience that, that you only get, if you've lived a while, why is that not valued?
Neil Braun (29:54):
I think it's because the hiring person, isn't smart enough to relate your experiences to what they need. That's your job. That's what the, the, in the interviewees job. That's what I was just talking about. It's about the narrative telling people why your experiences are, it's not enough that you've had experience. You have to make it relevant to the person you're talking to and let's face it business. Every part of the it economy of, of society. I mean, between the bipolar nature of bipartisan politics, the climate change, the pandemic ESG reporting. I mean, there's so many things, businesses going through a fundamental transformation, the work environment, people, you know, millennials don't wanna go to the, off this anymore. Um, so I think people are less receptive to the idea that the past is relevant to the present in the future. It's, it's each individual's job to explain in detail why your particular past is relevant to the future. And also, you know, keeping up, keeping up with the latest software programs you might need to know on the job and that sort of thing. I mean, there is a lot of there's work involved in staying relevant There's I mean, uh, yeah, I mean, being able to, I mean, be able to work remotely and set up a zoom meeting and, and, and, or go on teams or go on slack. And I mean, I mean, it's, uh, it's a, it's a different culture now. And, um, people who haven't kept pace are gonna look like dinosaurs.
Betsy Bush (31:35):
Tell us about your new venture. Mediflix.
Neil Braun (31:39):
Yes. It's a video streaming platform with the goal of transforming patient education because the healthcare system in this country is opaque, confusing, uh, even to people inside the system, even to doctors, even to, uh, and, and it, and it's, and the incentives are all wrong because they're transaction based instead of outcome based. Uh, although there is a growing movement of value based care, but what we're doing is creating the video content, using our entertainment experience, uh, cuz I, I have three partners and we're all from media. Um, uh, the former agent for rolling stones and manager of a CTC and Aerosmith, it was really his idea because he was the medical advocate for his wife who had a five year battle with multiple myeloma before she passed away. And even though he was at Dana Farber, which is at, with one of the top oncologists in the world, he didn't know about some immunology, uh, clinical trials that were going on at UPENN medicine that actually might have saved her. Um, um, but he only found out about him when it was too late. And so that was part of where the vision came from is helping people navigate. And so we've built in, uh, a network of 300 specialists tops in their field who are, um, helping us develop content, uh, are the ultimate control on the medical content of anything we put on the platform. But we're developing a franchise kind of programming. We're developing a medical news show. Uh, we're developing a veteran's health channel. We're developing a really interesting idea that we're developing grew out of seeing the 60 minutes piece on Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett's relationship. Hmm. And seeing the difference that advanced dementia ha the effect on Tony Bennett when he is off stage and his, and, and his ability to be the consummate performer when he is on stage, despite having dementia. So, so we're developing a series around that, oh, be, is probably the single biggest pandemic this country faces. And it's a co comorbidity for oncology and cardiology and diabetes and pretty much every other chronic condition, but it's, it's really not seen by most people in this country as a medical condition. It is a personal weakness. So we're working with a team to really change the narrative about obesity, uh, on a continuing series about obesity. So, and we have a free level of service. That'll be available to everybody. We're also curating content from, from trustworthy sources. Uh, we have, uh, the Cleveland Clinic has a category of content on our platform. Yale medicine does the and heart. Association's about to launch. We're gonna have a couple of dozen, uh, of those kinds of sources. In addition to the original content we produce. And then we're, we'll have a subscription level of service, um, where, uh, we're doing a couple of things. We're going to have video interventions by some, by this network of top doctors, we've assembled for people with access to top doctors, either because of their affluence or because they're in the profession or whatever, we get a level of guidance that most people don't have access to. And it's really a most doctors, most accomplished doctors, really became doctors, uh, with a strong sense of purpose and mission. And they they're really limited to publishing in the journals, presenting at conferences, having soundbites on the news. There's never been a mass market platform for giving the top doctors in the world voice. By the kind of guidance they, to their friends and family, not giving necessarily the medical advice, but helping frame the decisions the patient or caregiver needs to make, pointing them to the right direction and making a warm introduction to the, to the centers of excellence, to treat that condition, um, being available to them at those moments in their patient journey, when they have the next important question or they need to be prepped for their next clinical visit, need to know what should I be thinking about? What should I be talking to my doctor about what question should I be asking? And so that's really what we're, um, we're putting together is, is trying to satisfy that vacuum. Nobody we've talked to, doesn't see the need, everybody sees the need. So this is going, you know, the big challenge in this is execution as it is in most businesses. And so, you know, we've all rolled up our sleeves and we're working hard and we've raised our first 12 million dollars. And, um, you know, we've got a lot of things in motion, but we're still a very early stage company. Um, and if, if your listeners want to take a look very early, we don't even have a subscription level of service up. But if the first iteration of what we're doing can be seen at Mediflix. and you can see what we're doing there. Great.
Betsy Bush (36:41):
I'll have that link up on the show notes. Uh, in the episode page, this has been an incredible conversation. I usually ask for three pieces of advice and you've given them, I'm wondering if we can just very quickly go through those because I think you, this has been incredibly enriching episode for my listeners, uh, really unmatched in some ways.
Neil Braun (37:06):
Well, I don't know that I can recall everything we've talked about, but, but I think the major takeaway I would hope your listeners get is that the onus is really on each of them to really take stock of who they are, are in, in all dimensions and begin to practice talking about themselves as their uniqueness and their ability to add value in circumstances. Um, and you know, I always told my students, you always have to tell the truth, but there are lots of ways to tell the truth. So build your narrative of on, on the truth that's gonna be best received by the listener. So, you know, you may have different ways to tell your story based on the particular company you're talking to or the role you're applying for. It always has to be supportable with evidence. It always has to be true, but difference in order and difference in emphasis and a difference in the way you might even tell a story and be prepared with stories that demonstrate to people how you add value. I mean, I go back to the story I told you about having read two books and anticipation of meeting the CEO of NBC. I mean, I was doing homework to really think about, okay, what do I, what do I wanna say to this guy? I meet him. It was an informational interview. There was no job thing. It was just, I got introduced by somebody we had in common and he was willing to meet with me and I wanted to make the most of the time. So, so I did it. So I wanted to show him how I think and how I could add value by the way I think. And, and another important implicit lesson in that story, rather than being defensive about what you're not make your difference, your advantage. And it, your difference will be an advantage in a place where there's somebody, there's not a lot of people who are like you, and you can tell the story about why somebody like you would add real value.
Betsy Bush (38:59):
That's great. So be the, um, almost the contrarian voice, not the group think, but the person who can add something that, uh, the rest of the group isn't thinking of. Exactly. Yeah. That's great. Neil Braun. What an incredible conversation. Thank you so much for being my guest on the latest version today. This has been an amazing conversation.
Neil Braun (39:25):
Thank you. Thanks for inviting me.