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Continue reading →: Larry Summers…like Trump: When men tell you who they are…believe them.
Believe Men! The #MeToo movement sparked this novel idea: when women tell you a man did something bad to them…you should believe them. Then how come we don’t use the same logic for men? Men’s bad behaviors towards women, bad words to women, bad opinions about women are all ignored.…
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Continue reading →: Essential Tips for Winning Investor PitchesMy friend Insa called the other day, asking for some help with their investor pitch – they were a finalist in a pitch competition. Real Cash Opportunity! Now they just had to win over the investor judges. She sent over their ‘draft’ pitch, which was good, but not great. Missed…
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Continue reading →: The Rise of Entrepreneurial Kings: Lessons from Shark Tank
When I was doing stand-up comedy in Los Angeles (yes, you read that right. I was doing stand-up comedy in LA.), there was a show going on at the time – that they turned into a movie – called The Kings of Comedy starring some of the very best in…
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Continue reading →: Spring Forward… 3-12-25
It’s 2025! Yes, I’m aware it’s March and that I’m late to the new year party. I’ve spent the past couple months doing anything I can – hemming curtains, filing mail, scrubbing my oven – to avoid hearing the antics of the new administration. But that loud crashing sound from…
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Continue reading →: Career vs. Healthcare? 12-17-24
Now that I’m on my own, after either working for an organization or being in grad school, I have a new challenge: Healthcare coverage. I have spent multiple days looking into how to manage my and my family’s healthcare now that I don’t have a job. It’s all super stressful.…
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Continue reading →: Hello World! 12-12-24
This was the stock intro wording in the website so I decided to go with it… seems appropriate to say, Hello World! I’m taking the first step in my blogging journey. Now that I’m a free agent, I write for myself, about things that I have learned, and what I’m…
Hello,
I’m Lakshmi
Welcome to Just Say Yes, And, my long considered, deliberated and finally sharing spot on the Internet dedicated to all the things I have researched, pursued, determined and decided! When I was growing up, Nancy Reagan had “Just Say No” as the motto to fight drug use. I invite you to revisit that thinking with the rule of Improvising: Say Yes, And!
I have taught this rule of improvisation, along with the other lessons of improvisation through a course I created called Improvisational Leadership at Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, MIT Sloan School of Management as well as numerous organizations. I have my PhD and have taught and researched Entrepreneurship, Negotiation and Management as a tenured Professor. Most recently I spent three years in federal government working on innovation policy culminating in a bucket list experience of a trip to the White House!
Early in my career I worked in venture capital – at the first women owned, women focused fund in the country. I spent 20 years exploring the gender gap for women in entrepreneurship…and I got tired of hearing all the Nos for why things haven’t changed. I ran for local office (was “mayor” of my town) and performed stand-up comedy and improvisational comedy in Los Angeles and San Diego. So, indeed, my life has been a lot of Yes, And to trying new things.
I invite you to join me on a journey of reflection as well as learning as to how opportunities play out when you Just Say Yes, And!
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