I recently went one-on-one with Samerial Johns, founder of PUG.ai.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? 

Samerial: Right after graduating high school, I packed my bags and moved across the country to Silicon Valley with only $100 in my pocket, some ambition, and a dream. I made three attempts, and on the third attempt, I finally got accepted into a prestigious university in the heart of San Francisco. 

I had to leave behind my family of Liberian immigrant refugees in PG County, Maryland, to pursue my dream. I grew up in a household of immigrant entrepreneurs, and they disagreed with me leaving and tried to convince me not to move, knowing that I knew no one in California. 

When I first moved to San Francisco, I encountered numerous obstacles. I worked tirelessly, balancing 3-4 jobs to afford my traditional education and study finance. I experienced severe burnout, so I decided to train myself with in-demand skills, which opened doors I never thought possible.

Eventually, my strong work ethic and dedication paid off when I secured a full-time contract role at Cisco Systems in San Francisco as a strategy and operations professional while working full-time as a junior in college. I had to balance a full-time tech career with a full-time college career.

That opportunity led to me working in a similar role at Google before returning to Cisco Systems to lead a team.

I had built a successful career right out of college, but something inside me wanted to do more—I wanted to create a lasting impact and help others take a faster approach to career growth as I did. So, I took another leap of faith and launched a small passion project aimed at helping people land their dream careers and lifestyles using software.

Surprisingly, people started paying for my passion project after I built it and wanted more features. The passion project evolved quickly into a full-fledged business, and I soon found myself at a crossroads.

Though comfortable in my corporate job with a steady paycheck, I knew I had to take a chance on my new business. Intending only to bootstrap my startup, I never imagined seeking funding until I saw how it propelled the success of one of my male associates’ early-stage startup, who raised millions from his community based on an idea he had and no traction.

He came from a privileged background with access to capital. Since my startup was profitable, he inspired me to venture into the world of fundraising, so I did, but our experiences were completely different. It was a humbling experience for me. 

As a young black woman from PG County, Maryland, with a family of immigrant refugees from West Africa, I quickly realized that access and privilege were not equally distributed in the VC world.

I faced hundreds of rejections from investment firms but refused to let discouragement stop me. Instead, I pivoted from raising VC capital and joined professional programs for entrepreneurs to help me become a better founder.

I joined programs such as Black Girl Ventures and Nasdaq, which eventually led to my first real investment from a VC accelerator. There, our business accelerated, and PUG.ai finally received funding from additional VC firms after our first investment agreement.

The impact of this funding was immediate and profound. We upgraded our platform, and the results were tangible. Users began securing full-time jobs in the tech industry, dramatically improving their career satisfaction and lifestyle. Witnessing this transformation has been the fuel that drives our team to push forward, knowing we are making a difference in people's lives.

As I look back on this journey, I am reminded of the power of perseverance and determination and the importance of empowering those who face adversity. PUG.ai's story is a testament to the incredible heights we can reach when we believe in ourselves and our vision and never give up, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas? 

Samerial: In college, I worked 3-4 jobs to afford my tuition. Struggling with burnout, I eventually tried a new approach of teaching myself new skills that are hot in the market. I instantly landed a tech job while in college as a strategy and operations professional at a Fortune tech company in San Francisco. I found a faster approach to career growth that cost ten times less than traditional college, so I created software to share with the world and help others. I landed my dream job as a junior in college and balanced both full-time college and a full-time tech career. 

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea? 

Samerial: When I designed my software, it was supposed to be a simple passion project that helped people improve their careers and lifestyles. Then people started paying me real money for it and asking for more features, and that’s when I knew I had a real business on my hands. I then quit my corporate job to work full-time in my new startup. I advise entrepreneurs to test their ideas with low-code or drag-and-drop developer tools in the early stages to see if they can get traction. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?

Samerial: Build a team of specialists who are experts in a specific skill or field, and make sure they are open to wearing many hats in the beginning. Be cautious with your budget. These highly skilled experts can be costly. Do your best to find experts who are just as qualified but within your budget. Don’t lose all your money to engineers. When managing a team, use project management, time tracking, and OKR tools. 

Adam: What are the most important trends in technology that leaders should be aware of and understand? What should they know about them? 

Samerial: Common trends in technology include new automation tools that can outperform traditional mundane tasks and low-code developer software that can be implemented in seconds with embeddable APIs (for example, dashboards). 

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level? 

Samerial: An effective leader can bring together different groups of people, such as customers, business partners, team members, and investors, and manage them all at once like a beautiful dance. As a leader, lead by example and execute your vision with action and clear communication. Train yourself daily and upskill your talents religiously. 

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders? 

Samerial: Be a compelling storyteller and articulator, have a strong network of A players around you, and execute your ideas immediately as if time is running out. 

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received? 

Samerial: Anything that you dream of can be created, especially with the best and smartest people around you. It's all figureoutable.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one-on-one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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