#1 Lesson I’ve Learned From Each Startup I’ve Built (Failures Included)
I’ve built 6 startups, but 3 were EPIC failures.
Here’s the #1 lesson I learned from each startup (failures included):
STARTUP #1
Beet Competitor LLC: Shipped beet juice across the country to endurance athletes.
Lesson: Shipping, fresh juice across the country is very challenging. Do your research to determine if your idea is financially viable. In my case, the (beet) juice was 100% NOT “worth the squeeze” as the cost with keeping it cold (and bacteria-free) was too high.
STARTUP #2
INBLOOM JUICERY: Grew from pushcart to open up two separate brick & mortar locations plus one mobile food truck 🏬🚚🏬
Lesson: Start with things you’re super passionate about. My love for healthy food & local customers helped me push through the late night juice sessions and early morning deliveries. Also, you can’t build alone. Build a great team ASAP.
STARTUP #3
HYPE APP: Local influencer and restaurant marketplace and app. Pivoted several times, but never got to paying customers.
Lesson: Don’t assume just because you have a problem that others do as well. Talk to prospects early and get them to open up their wallets.
STARTUP #4
Local NIL Marketplace: NIL Marketplace connecting local businesses with nearby athletes. Company is still alive, but taking a different direction and talking to prospective customers in the NIL space to build the right solution.
Lesson: Change in laws/regulations makes for a great time to build a startup. Specifically, changes in the NIL rules allowed us to build traction fast. However, again we failed to talk to the right customers as local businesses do not result in paying customers. Listen and adapt.
STARTUP #5
Townee: First customer referral & advocacy platform designed for businesses with a physical location(s)
Lesson: Early in your startup journey your focus should be on one of two things: building product or talking to/selling to customers. Everything else should come second.
STARTUP #6
Open Faucet: Consulting work to help other businesses to go from zero to 100 customers and beyond while putting their products & services in the hands of users all over the world.
Lesson: TBD.
