While many kids these days go all-in on a single, competitive sport, Chonchol Gupta’s mom had a different idea.
“When I was growing up my mom put in me in all the sports and told me, ‘You don’t need to win. You just need to learn to play,’” he said.
And that willingness to experiment with different athletic pursuits and resist getting pigeonholed has translated into a career bridging disciplines and pulling lessons from multiple sectors.
Gupta is founder of Rebirth Analytics, a Spokane, Wash.-based startup that launched in 2018 and provides AI-driven risk assessment services for businesses. It focuses on risk reduction between suppliers and buyers, lenders and borrowers, and insurance companies and the insured. The work requires him to incorporate data on fintech, supply chains, health and safety, intellectual property, insurance, fraud and geopolitical risk.
“It’s an incredible opportunity,” he said, “to analyze a world of information from different verticals all around the globe.”
Gupta, who holds a degree in civil engineering and an MBA, began his first startup in 2009. The company worked on lending to underserved and minority-owned businesses, including those in New Orleans that were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. During that time he invested in Mama Mountain Spirits, a distillery in West Virginia — his mom’s home state — that had struggled to get financial support because alcohol is in the “sin” industry.
His diverse resume includes serving for more than a year as vice-consul for the British government promoting transatlantic investment and trade. In recent years he acquired and sold a Microsoft consulting firm and was in leadership at a Seattle IoT business. Since 2014, Gupta has been an honorary ambassador for the nation of Georgia, working on innovation and technology.
With Rebirth Analytics, he is eager to be in a role to again support minority-led businesses.
“People count minority companies out when it comes to economic downturn and changes,” he said, “but what we’re happy to show is that minority companies are performing as some of the strongest companies.”
We caught up with Gupta for this Working Geek, a regular GeekWire feature. Continue reading for his answers to our questionnaire.
Current location: Spokane, Wash. with offices across the globe.
Computer types: For data-heavy applications and my non-cloud financial data analytics, the MSI GS75 Stealth 9SG is a beast.
Mobile devices: Apple iPhone Pro Max 11. During the pandemic I try to work from various outdoor locations and the Microsoft Surface Pro X is a perfect device — I really enjoy the full Microsoft experience with LTE connectivity. I recommend one for anybody who is tired of working inside all day.
Favorite apps, cloud services and software tools: Microsoft’s Office 365 Suite has given my global team a seamless way to work virtually. Even before the pandemic, we relied on the cloud-based tools to collaborate and stay connected, no matter where in the world our team was traveling.
However, my favorite cloud services and software tools are the ones Rebirth Analytics provides, to help large enterprises mitigate their risks and keep supply chains running smoothly!
Describe your workspace. Why does it work for you? Since our downtown office building has been closed, I’ve been working from my home office. My wife has been kind enough to let me turn the garage into a virtual command center, and our garden into a virtual green space. (One challenge: preventing the Keurig from getting ruined by the sprinklers.)
Your best advice for managing everyday work and life? Make sure you find joy and happiness in your work. Your career is such a big part of your life, you should be enjoying it. Having worked in post-Katrina New Orleans and dealing with post-Brexit United Kingdom, it’s important to know that change is inevitable. It is important to be flexible and open to change, and to build your work-life and company to be flexible and resilient. This need for resiliency is being played out on a massive scale during COVID-19.
Your preferred social network? How do you use it for business/work? LinkedIn is a great tool to keep up with industry trends, but during the pandemic, FaceTime has become my favorite. It’s a great way to make sure everyone has changed out of their pajamas by 2 p.m., and for our baby to keep in touch with her grandparents.
Current number of unanswered emails in your inbox? None, now that this question reminded me to send that email I’ve been putting off! They usually stack up during the day while I’m busy with other work, but I have trouble going to bed if there are unanswered emails that need responses.
Number of appointments/meetings on your calendar this week? Only 14. Our team does a great job of managing and taking responsibility for projects, which lets me focus on bigger picture work.
How do you run meetings? I like to listen. We are lucky to have incredibly brilliant and talented people on our team who often have deeper subject-matter expertise than me. It would be a leadership failure to not spend meetings listening to what these great people have to say. Once everybody talks things through, there is typically a natural consensus resolution to any tough decisions.
Everyday work uniform? During the pandemic it has been some great LL Bean shorts and a cotton t-shirt. One nice part of everybody working from home is that most people are now choosing comfort.
How do you make time for family? We’ve been enjoying weekends in the RV during the pandemic, exploring Washington state and the Pacific Northwest. Although the pandemic has kept us apart from family, I make sure to FaceTime my parents every day so they can see their granddaughter.
Best stress reliever? How do you unplug? A walk in the park and Frisbee-time with our dog is a great stress reliever. It’s a good workout too, since I have to go find the Frisbee when the dog doesn’t bring it back.
What are you listening to? Jazz. I’ve always been a fan, but living in New Orleans really got me hooked.
Daily reads? Favorite sites and newsletters? I start my day with the Wall Street Journal, and always check Supply Chain Brain, Pymnts and our internal geopolitical news feeds at some point each day.
Book on your nightstand (or e-reader)? Having a 7-month-old limits my pleasure reading, but my daughter likes “Big Bear, Small Mouse” so that book is always close. I’ve become a big fan of Audible. It’s a great way to get through cleaning baby-related stuff. You can usually find a book by thriller and mystery authors Jo Nesbo or Angela Marsons queued up.
Night owl or early riser? I feel like this last set of questions all has the same answer: I have a 7-month-old baby … there is no sleep pattern.
Where do you get your best ideas? From talking and listening to people. I love learning about the pain-points of different industries, and finding solutions to help mitigate their troubles.
Whose work style would you want to learn more about or emulate? My father has been running his engineering firm since 1984, is one of the hardest working people I know, and loves his work. I try to emulate his ethics and tenacity. He taught me to always do what is right in business, and best for your clients.
