Todd Khozein’s journey from medical school to founding SecondMuse was fueled by a lifelong passion for understanding and improving social and economic systems. As a young refugee from Iran who settled in the U.S., Khozein struggled to reconcile the racism and inequality he observed with his belief that more just systems were possible. These experiences drove Khozein to found SecondMuse in 2008, an impact and innovation firm dedicated to fostering systemic change.

In this exclusive interview with Entrepreneur Loop, Khozein explains how his unconventional background shaped SecondMuse’s unique approach to creating resilient economies that benefit people and the planet. Trained as a medical doctor, Khozein views economic systems through a biological lens, seeking to understand how economies can become sick and designing interventions that foster health and sustainability.

Over the past 15 years, SecondMuse has delivered over $10 billion in social impact across more than 160 countries by building relationships, designing solutions, and catalyzing change. As SecondMuse looks ahead to the future, Khozein shares his vision for innovating financial instruments to better drive positive outcomes, reflecting his lifelong commitment to improving systems that shape our shared future.

Please provide a brief intro of yourself and your background.

• I am the Founder and CEO of SecondMuse, an impact and innovation company dedicated to building resilient economies.
• My perspective on economic development and systems theory is deeply influenced by my personal history and a commitment to lifelong learning. Having left my home country of Iran to find refuge in Latin America before ultimately settling in the United States, I have struggled to make sense of racism and glaring inequality. These experiences shaped my belief that economic and social systems can be built inclusively and not at the expense of human dignity or the health of the planet.
• I continued to dwell on broken social systems as I pursued a medical degree at the University of New Mexico, where I began to imagine the human body as a framework for understanding economies. I saw that cancers hoard resources for a select few, and pathogens ravage cells throughout the entire system. After earning my degree, I  continued to study economic modeling based on biological systems, further solidifying my belief that all systems—whether broken or thriving—were the result of design.
• In 2008, I co-founded SecondMuse. Over the last 15 years, we have generated $10B in social and environmental impact, reaching over 160 countries and territories, prototyping 11,000 ideas for innovative solutions, and funding over $18 million to directly support over 1,200 portfolio companies. These supported ventures have, in turn, raised over $850 million in additional funding during their involvement with SecondMuse programs. We have developed a global reach and collaborated with renowned organizations like NASA, Nike, The Rockefeller Foundation, and more.

Please tell us a bit more about your startup/company – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

• SecondMuse is an impact and innovation company addressing climate, equity, and tech challenges. We bring together innovators, entrepreneurs, and community resources to create market-driven solutions that benefit people and the planet. Our focus on building relational infrastructure drives deep and lasting outcomes, uniting diverse stakeholders for transformative change. Our adaptability in climate, equity, and tech realms fosters a regenerative future.
• We aim to bring about transformative change by understanding systems, designing solutions, and implementing them in alignment with reshaping relationships between people, communities, organizations, and the planet. Because of our highly collaborative approach, our audiences range from innovators and entrepreneurs to organizations and corporations.

How did you identify a gap in the market or need that your business fulfills?

• When we founded SecondMuse, dialogues about market impacts and climate change were limited, and resources for marginalized communities were confined to international development. Seeing an opportunity, we built a firm dedicated to creating markets that benefit people and protect the planet. Over the last 15 years, we’ve returned to core questions around our vision for the future, how to make it a reality, and what we need to get there. Today, we are at the forefront of blending economic prosperity with environmental sustainability.

What have been some of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make as a founder? Any stand out as pivotal?

• As an entrepreneur, navigating the delicate balance between maintaining relationships and making tough, vital choices for your business growth is inevitable. Early on in the development of our business, we had a client that represented about 80% of our revenue. As our partnership continued, we recognized that the work didn’t align with who we wanted to be as an organization. Making a decision that can threaten the livelihood of your colleagues is never easy, but going down a path that didn’t align with our mission was a non-starter. We found that staying true to our core values was key to sustainable success, paving the way for opportunities that resonated deeply with our mission and vision.

What have been your key strategies for growth and gaining traction?

• For many years, we didn’t have dedicated business development or marketing and communications teams. Our primary growth strategy was predicated on the delivery of outstanding work, with the expectation that it would naturally attract more opportunities. At a certain point, relying solely on organic growth becomes unsustainable and inconsistent as the organization expands. We’ve established specialized teams in the last few years to concentrate on growth. Still, our core strategy remains centered around cultivating strong relationships with individuals we enjoy working with.

How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets you apart?

• We are building economies that are good for people and heal the planet, but our argument is not necessarily moral; it’s economic. When our economies include more people and don’t destroy the environment they depend on, they’ll be more innovative, creative, and sustainable.
• SecondMuse stands out in the impact and innovation space through our unique, holistic approach to fostering systemic change. Our method has three core phases: Discover, Design, and Implement.
• During the Discover phase, we amalgamate diverse perspectives to comprehensively research and strategize for systemic transformation, leveraging our proprietary tools for deep insights into community needs and system dynamics.
• The Design phase sees us co-creating with communities, blending lived experiences, proven methodologies, and traditional wisdom to forge actionable, strategic visions and program designs.
• Finally, in the implementation phase, we scale these solutions to reshape systems globally, supporting entrepreneurs, building capacities, fostering innovation, and developing ecosystems that collectively drive transformational change.
• This adaptive, inclusive approach allows us to address the world’s most pressing climate, equity, and technology challenges. Across all of our work, we are committed to building and maintaining relational infrastructure while developing solutions centered around the community’s needs. This strategy differentiates us from other organizations and generates lasting and meaningful impact.

What do you find the most rewarding or challenging about being an entrepreneur?

• We all have unique insights into today’s world and how we can make tomorrow better. Entrepreneurship allows us to dedicate our lives to seeing those insights play out. Building something you believe in from scratch can be challenging, but it helps that we have an extraordinary amount of choice in who we surround ourselves with on that journey.
• The early stages of entrepreneurship often require us to juggle multiple roles, some of which we may not excel at—accepting that it’s okay not to be good at everything you have to do can be challenging in the early days.

What are some future goals or plans you have for your business in the next few years?

• We’ve spent the last few years building out our financial instrument design and asset management capabilities. One of the challenges we see is that today’s traditional financial instruments were not designed to create positive social and environmental benefits. So, they are ultimately limited in how well they can be used for those outcomes. I’m excited about scaling this work with impact in mind.

Through deep insights into economic systems and steadfast collaboration with partners worldwide, Todd Khozein has led SecondMuse in developing a bold vision for the future – one where economies prosper in harmony with people and planet. As SecondMuse continues to scale its impact, Khozein’s unconventional path offers invaluable lessons on the power of systems thinking and relational infrastructure to drive transformative change.

The post From Medical School to Impact Entrepreneurship: How Todd Khozein Leveraged Systems Thinking to Create Change appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Laurence Ruiz, Co-Founder of Orbiss, recently shared his entrepreneurial journey and advice for aspiring founders in an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur Loop. As someone with over two decades of experience in accountancy and financial analysis, Ruiz has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to launching and growing a business.

In 2020, Ruiz embarked on a new venture and co-founded Orbiss – an advisory and tax firm specializing in enabling international business expansion in the US. “It is an exciting moment when a company expands into a new region like the United States. It signals increased growth and new opportunities,” says Ruiz. However, he realized that many companies face complex regulations and policies when entering new markets. This complexity can hinder growth if not properly managed.

Orbiss was created to fill this gap. The company’s mission is to “simply scale up” operations for international businesses expanding to the US. Backed by a stellar team and leading technology, Orbiss streamlines day-to-day operations and provides guidance on following regulations properly.

When asked about advice for new founders, Ruiz emphasized “celebrating achievements, finding balance, and prioritizing personal well-being.” He states that being a successful founder involves weathering emotional highs and lows – and self-care is key to maintaining resilience.

1. Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

   I am a Co-Founder of Orbiss, an advisory and tax firm specialized in business growth in the United States. Before starting Orbiss, I held multiple leadership positions in international accounting firms based in Europe and the US. With more than two decades of experience, I have expertise in accountancy, financial analysis, and strategy.

2. Please tell us a bit more about your company – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

It is an exciting moment when a company expands into a new region like the United States. It signals increased growth and new opportunities. While this is a thrilling time, there are many new rules and regulations that an internationally expanding company faces. Without the proper guidance in place to follow these policies, the company can, unfortunately, face a negative experience expanding and ultimately hinder its development.

Founded in 2020, Orbiss is a CPA firm with unique expertise in enabling international business expansion in the US. Orbiss helps businesses “simply scale up” and streamline their complex day-to-day operations. Backed by outstanding people and leading-edge technology, Orbiss is driven to provide the best services and deliver unparalleled peace of mind.

3. What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?

The “Aha Moment” that led to the idea for Orbiss was rooted in bringing modernity to the very traditional sector of accounting and tax. In an industry where the human element is often underutilized, we identified the crucial role of tone of voice and the absence of a comprehensive onboarding process. Our experience revealed the need for flexibility, emphasizing the importance of adapting based on individual experiences in a challenging industry that often lacks modern processes.

Having encountered consistent challenges in our previous professional experiences, where growth was frequently hindered by the struggle between team dynamics and managerial expectations, we wanted to create something better. We decided to reevaluate and reconstruct the traditional CPA firm model, prioritizing values and resembling more modern industries in terms of structure and practices.

4. What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

One particular challenge stands out vividly from the beginning of my journey. On February 14, 2020, I had just signed a new client. While this was a significant milestone, up until that point, I had struggled with securing any clients at all.

Just one month later, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and I found myself confronted with the daunting reality of navigating business during a global crisis. Despite this global challenge, Orbiss saw an opportunity to differentiate itself by delivering exceptional quality work and implementing a meticulous COVID plan with stringent rules. While these measures were challenging to adhere to, they proved to be immensely beneficial as clients appreciated our dedication to safety protocols.

Despite the initial struggles, our reputation for excellence in COVID policies and client satisfaction propelled our business forward, resulting in a strong client base.

5. How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?

First, Orbiss has developed a high-quality, distinctive product that not only distinguishes itself from competitors but also provides a more streamlined solution to industry challenges compared to more traditional, rigid platforms. As a company, we prioritize streamlining processes and keeping them organized. We want the same straight-forward procedures to occur with every client, so they have a positive experience working with Orbiss.

Second, ​Orbiss lives and stands by its values, which helps us stand out in the market. We are focused on the happiness and satisfaction of our employees. We want them to be satisfied and fulfilled in an industry where these types of values are traditionally absent and employees are typically under-recognized.

Our values that represent our company are the following: “Kindness,” “Commercial Honesty,” “Respectful Relationships,” “Partner Selection,” and “Professional Integrity.” These guide our daily operations and how we treat both our customers and our internal teams.

6. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

Earlier in my career, many of the companies I worked for had a culture in which employees were treated like they couldn’t be trusted. Some of the former leaders I worked for would constantly monitor employees’ whereabouts, and enforce specific office hours from 9 am to 6 pm. The leadership also advocated that it was better to be physically present in the office for better productivity and oversight.

However, I came to realize the fallacy in this approach. Contrary to this belief, I learned that placing undue emphasis on physical presence and micromanagement stifled creativity and productivity. Instead, embracing remote work and allowing flexibility in working hours not only fostered a more positive work environment but also improved overall team performance. Ultimately, the advice to trust the team, regardless of their location, proved to be far more beneficial.

7. What are the most important skills someone needs to be a successful founder, in your opinion?

Kindness, quality, and maintaining a strong work ethic have all been instrumental to my success as a business owner. Embracing kindness has not only shaped positive relationships within our team but has also fostered a collaborative and supportive work environment. Prioritizing quality in all aspects of our work has been a key driver in achieving excellence and building a reputation for delivering high standards. Finally, being a hard worker and demonstrating determination have been crucial in overcoming challenges and driving the company forward.

8. What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

To weather the highs and lows of starting a new business you have to celebrate achievements, find balance, and prioritize personal well-being. Another benefit to recharging and practicing self-care is that by stepping away from your usual environment, you often come back to work with new ideas and solutions to problems. I cannot overstate the importance of engaging in self-care and physical activities. For example, I am an avid runner and find that this helps me to step away from work and disconnect.

The post Guiding Businesses to Growth: A Conversation with Orbiss Co-Founder Laurence Ruiz appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Sol Nasisi has always had a knack for bringing creative ideas to life. As a student building rockets and gadgets with friends, to forming a band in high school, Sol saw the potential in nurturing creativity from a young age. This drive led him to pioneer one of the internet’s first digital companies and eventually found Booksie – a global online publishing platform aiming to elevate writers worldwide.

During a recent interview with Entrepreneur Loop, Sol reflected on Booksie’s 18-year journey and shared insights every startup founder should heed. From recruiting the right team to weathering challenges, Sol’s story offers a inspiring blueprint for building sustainable ventures focused on empowering communities. Under his guidance, Booksie continues pushing boundaries through pioneering AI and blockchain tools that provide avenues for artistic expression and monetization.

Sol Nasisi’s Journey

Neha Mehra: Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

Sol Nasisi: I grew up in a suburb of Boston in a small neighborhood with two friends living next door. We spent most of our time building things – forts, games, rockets, gizmos and gadgets. In high school, I formed a band and we spent hours writing and rehearsing our songs. We played a few gigs where we opened for some well-known local Boston bands. I think all of this provided me with a taste of creating something new and the exhilaration that comes from seeing it come to life.

In business school I started playing around with this thing called the Internet. It was early days and I was captivated. I started my first Internet company with a classmate selling posters and prints. Since then, I’ve started two more online companies, worked in the digital space for a Fortune 500 company, start-ups, and a higher education institution. I started Booksie eighteen years ago as a community of writers and readers and have bootstrapped it into an increasingly robust and large platform. AI is the first of several new technologies we’re going to be adding over the next couple of months.

Neha Mehra: Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

Sol Nasisi: Over the past 18 years, Booksie has helped hundreds of thousands of writers from across the globe tell their story via its online publishing and promotion platform. Its vibrant platform is a place where writers have practiced their craft, received feedback on their work, and connected with readers eager to find the next big writer. With the introduction of its AI and blockchain tools, Booksie will become an even better platform for writers to develop their craft and monetize their creativity. The Booksie Online Bot has been trained on millions of pieces of content, books, poems, short stories, and more so that it can provide writers with specific advice on how to make a work commercially and artistically successful. In addition, there will be new features launched on the platform throughout the year to continue to elevate the capabilities of Booksie for the writers. Booksie is an entity of TheNextBigWriter, LLC, a private, bootstrapped company founded to help writers tell their stories.

Building Booksie

Neha Mehra: What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

Sol Nasisi: One of the biggest challenges I faced early in my career was finding the right people to work with to build the products I dreamed about. When you’re young, you think the right fit comes along all the time. Like meeting someone romantically. But it doesn’t. I learned you really have to be deliberate in looking for people, have to put yourself out there, and once you find the right people, hang on to them.

I think another challenge was getting people to see the future. I started my first digital company in the early days of the Internet. At the time, I remember my business school classmates looking at me like I was cr@zy. They were all getting jobs at management consulting companies or Wall Street and here I was betting in something called the Internet. I took the plunge and never looked back. You have to make calculated bets and have the conviction to stick with it.

Neha Mehra: What have been your key strategies for growth and gaining traction/users?

Sol Nasisi: Our strategy has been to listen to our users and develop easy-to-use tools to help them achieve their goals. We’ve paired that with an acquisition strategy that cost effectively allows us to market and acquire new customers. For example, we run frequent writing contests which aren’t big money makers, but they draw a lot of traffic to the site and we’re successful at cross-selling our other services to these users.

It’s a formula. How much does it cost to acquire a customer versus the lifetime value? We’re constantly monitoring those metrics and increasing our marketing budget when the ROI is positive. Our product development roadmap is to create new products that increase our conversion rate and positive ROI. At least that’s the financial way of looking at it. Going back to where I started, we really want to create a great, valuable experience for our users so that they are willing to engage and take advantage of the platform.

Succeeding as an Entrepreneur

Neha Mehra: How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?

Sol Nasisi: With a few clicks, we provide writers with the ability to publish their work, get feedback on their writing from humans to AI, promote their work, build an audience and following, and soon, earn money via blockchain platform we are calling Limited Editions. For readers, we provide an intimate way to discover new writers, become a fan, interact, and support your favorite work and authors. It’s a comprehensive site made to benefit writers and readers and we don’t think anyone has a platform that comes close.

And we’re going to keep adding functionality based on what our users tell us but also based on where we think the industry is going.

Neha Mehra: What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

Sol Nasisi: I wish I knew how hard building a business could be. You read all of the stories of entrepreneurs becoming overnight successes but I realize now that’s not the norm. It can take years of hard work with lots of ups and downs. Some people win the lottery with their company, but I suspect the vast majority need to put in years of toil to make it a success. Related to this is the fact that the highs are never so high and the lows are never so low. It’s important not to get stuck in the moment but keep moving towards that original dream. Progress can come in fits and starts but that’s normal. Entrepreneurs need to stay mentally tough.

Neha Mehra: What are the most important skills someone needs to be a successful founder, in your opinion?

Sol Nasisi: One of the most important skills is not really a skill but a mindset. As I mentioned, founders need to be mentally tough. You don’t receive any pats on the back or congratulations or adulation. It’s a constant grind to make your customers happy and satisfied and there are lots of long hours and hard work. So, being willing to put up with that is a key necessity.

As far as skills go, I think the most important is being able to recruit and retain the right people for your project. Without other people to help you achieve your vision, you won’t go far. No person can start and grow a successful venture by themselves.

In Booksie’s case, I needed technical people to code the website and maintain it because I’m not a developer. And I needed legal advice and help managing customer service. Creating a well-functioning team is as important as the initial idea, maybe even more so.

Neha Mehra: What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

Sol Nasisi: I would tell them to make sure they pursue something which they believe in and feel some passion for. There will be times when the money won’t be there and you need some higher motivation to keep you going. If it’s just the money, then when the money is tight, you’ll fold. For Booksie, I was always interested in helping people across the world tell their stories. This is my north star and what motivates me to keep going. I think the world is a better place for it and it keeps me motivated. Find your north star, whatever it may be, and apply it to the business you want to start. Then, you’ll create something fantastic and the money will follow.

Sol leaves us with an important reminder that entrepreneurship is a marathon, not a sprint. While the excitement of an initial idea fuels many founders, long-term success requires mental fortitude and true belief in a vision. Booksie has flourished due to Sol’s commitment to nurturing creativity and bringing writers’ dreams to life. Through ambitious plans to incorporate AI and blockchain, the platform looks primed to revolutionize the publishing industry. Most of all, Sol’s journey exemplifies that by empowering community, both founders and their customers can reach

The post Sol Nasisi, Founder of Online Publishing Platform Booksie, Shares his Insights into Building a Successful Startup appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Leading innovation in large organizations requires new ways of thinking. For serial entrepreneur Danny Nathan, founder of the product design and venture studio Apollo 21, the key lies in empowering intrapreneurs and establishing a renewed culture of collaboration.

With decades of experience launching innovative products and advising startups, Nathan recognized the untapped potential within companies to transform through empowering individuals with transformative ideas. This vision gave rise to Apollo 21, which partners with corporations to implement venture building practices and incubate solutions from within.

Through Apollo 21’s consultative approach and proprietary Mission Control platform, the organization works deeply within client organizations to understand needs, streamline workflows and unlock new efficiencies. Not content to solely drive clients’ innovation agendas, Apollo 21 also incubates its own ventures like Meeting Cost Calculator – helping companies analyze how they optimize limited meeting time.

In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur Loop, Nathan shared insights from Apollo 21’s journey so far. He stressed the importance of resilience when tackling complex problems, and a collaborative mindset to effectively serve evolving client and market needs. Nathan also discussed lessons from prior ventures and the value of bootstrapping early growth through referral networks versus dependency on investors.

Nathan’s perspectives offer valuable guidance for entrepreneurs seeking to bring innovation to established organizations, as well as leaders looking to empower creativity from within their ranks. With its solutions-driven culture, Apollo 21 is poised to transform how companies embrace challenges through people-first innovation.

1. Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

Professionally, I am the consummate square peg. I’ve been called a product person, a UX guy, a designer, a strategist, a marketer, an entrepreneur (and a few other choice names like “The Cleaner”). I have led product build and launch efforts at an international scale, and I’ve helped many startups down the path toward product/market fit.

I’m currently the founder of Apollo 21, a product design and venture studio focused on helping our clients solve business problems (via technology), launch new products, and build new businesses. Today, Apollo 21 can be broken down into two core business units:

Apollo 21: This is our client services studio. We function as a business and technology consultancy and product design studio. Our clients generally come to us to because they have a difficult business problem to solve and believe technology can provide the answer. While this has come to fruition as consumer-facing product launches (mobile apps, commerce platforms, etc.), equally often our focus is on internal goals and workflows. We have helped numerous clients drive operational efficiency through workflow management and automations, coupled with AI, that are tailored specifically to that business.

Apollo 21 Ventures: This is the venture-building arm of Apollo 21. In addition to building new products, services, and workflow platforms for our clients, we also invest in and launch our own ideas. For example, we recently launched Meeting Cost Calculator, an analytics and insights platform designed to give team leaders detailed data on the health of their company’s meeting culture. (Did you know that the time employees spend in meetings has increased by 252% since the start of the pandemic??)

2. Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

Apollo 21 sits at the intersection of a management consultancy, a product design studio, and a venture studio. We partner with corporate partners to establish venture building practices as a path to transformative growth. We work with established businesses to implement technologies that remove barriers to scale, particularly around streamlining operations, automating workflows, and making data actionable via AI. And, through Apollo 21 Ventures, we work with ambitious founders to launch groundbreaking new ventures.

3. What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?

My previous role was at an L.A.-based, video-focused technology company called SEER. I was one of the founding team members and led the design of our initial platform offering. About two years into a bootstrapped journey with SEER, we secured outside funding from a family office with a small portfolio of investments. One of the stipulations of this funding was that our team would help their other portfolio companies accelerate their technology efforts. For the next year, in addition to my role at SEER, I led a small SWAT team focused on helping our partner companies design and develop new software that would underpin operations and increase efficiency by an order of magnitude.

At the end of this period, some of the folks at the investor level took note of our efforts and approached me about stepping out to create a new company focused on this type of work. This opportunity led to the creation of Apollo 21 and the introduction of our first major client — an engagement that helped us get our business on the rails.

4. What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

As a service oriented company, one of the initial (and frankly ongoing) challenges is growth. Finding clients in a busy ecosystem is difficult. I’m working to overcome that challenge by recognizing my shortcomings as a sales person and bringing in the right resources to help us establish a consistent sales pipeline.

5. What has been your approach to funding your startup? Did you use your own savings, seek investors, crowdfund?

Apollo 21 is entirely bootstrapped, and our client work funds our venture efforts. While difficult, I’m a huge proponent of bootstrapping your venture for as long as you can. The VC and investor market has gotten incredibly competitive, and most investors want to see substantive traction before they begin contributing. The result is that founders have been forced to travel further and further down the venture process prior to bringing in outside funding. While some businesses may benefit from the “growth at all costs” effort that VC involvement brings, many founders overestimate the need for that funding and underestimate the amount of control and decision-making power they’re giving up in exchange for money.

6. How did you go about building your team and attracting talent in the early days?

I leaned on people I’d worked with in the past. Our core leadership team at Apollo 21 is made up of folks who have all worked together in the past. We already knew one another’s idiosyncrasies and working styles — so when we decided to work together again, we had a clear idea of what we were getting into.

We generally source individual contributors on a contract basis. This helps to ensure that we’re hiring the right people for each project and allows us to manage cashflow by limiting resources at times when projects are in transition.

7. What have been your key strategies for growth and gaining traction/users?

To date, we’ve relied heavily on word of mouth and referrals. While that process works, it doesn’t generate enough opportunities in the sales pipeline to support the growth we’re pursuing. With that in mind, we’re pivoting in 2024 to more deeply explore how sales work for Apollo 21, especially given the unique place in the market that we sit in.

We’ll let you know how it goes!

8. How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?

There are a few key differentiators that help Apollo 21 stand out:

1. There aren’t many companies focused on helping corporate partners innovate and build new venture practices as a means to growth. Our team’s unique experience across both entrepreneurial ventures and corporate client work positions us uniquely well to participate in this space.
2. Our other efforts are focused on building technology to support our clients’ ability to scale. To serve that goal, we have built a proprietary foundational technology called Mission Control. Not exactly a SaaS offering (we view it as a supported platform as a service), Mission Control is like a box of legos where each piece is a core bit of functionality that serves a goal. For every client, we assess the needs and then dump that box of legos on the floor and pick out the pieces we need. Having this core technology at our disposal enables Apollo 21 to build and release new products (particularly those focused on internal use cases) roughly twice as fast as building from scratch.
3. Our last major differentiator is our focus on absolutely relentless collaboration. Our clients find us deeply embedded into their organization as we assess processes, opportunities, and needs in order to define solutions. This level of strategic involvement is unique amongst software-focused companies who often want to take a laundry list of features and simply build them to spec. We’re not fans of rote execution without strategic involvement.

9. What have been some mistakes or failures you’ve made along the way as an entrepreneur? How did you recover and learn from them?

Too many eggs in one basket. With our focus on relentless collaboration, it’s easy to get deeply caught up in the needs of the client in front of you without considering where the next client or opportunity will reveal itself. And in a world where clients can disappear at the drop of a hat, not knowing means being caught off guard.

At the beginning of 2023, one of our largest clients rolled off somewhat unexpectedly due to internal strategic disagreements. This left us scrambling to fill the funnel and find new opportunities. Suffice it to say, 2023 was a difficult year.

We survived by turning our focus to one of our latest ventures and dedicating time and resources to building out Meeting Cost Calculator — an analytics dashboard to help managers understand how their team is utilizing meeting time.

10. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

Trust is a currency. Spend it wisely.

I’ve made the mistake of assuming that some people close to me have my best interests at heart. Given my personal need to operate with integrity, I have fallen into the trap of assuming others do as well.

This is a mistake that’s cost me a few times throughout my career and one that I’m still learning how to overcome. It has taught me to be more careful about the assumptions I make in my business relationships. And it has taught me to step back and view business dealings through the eyes of the other person. Whereas in the past I might have taken someone’s words at face value, I now remind myself to think about the situation from their perspective to understand where they stand to gain or lose. In doing so, I can be more objective in considering deal terms, partnerships, etc. and in assessing the other party’s motives.

11. What are the most important skills someone needs to be a successful founder, in your opinion?

As I was starting Apollo 21, someone asked me if I was “ready” to be a CEO…to lead a team.

After a moment of consideration, the answer was obvious… No. There was no world in which I was “ready” to be a CEO and lead a company.

I’d led teams before. I’d founded a company before. But I also knew that there was an immeasurable amount that I *didn’t know* about running a company and how to support the team supporting that company.

In that moment I couldn’t imagine anyone ever answering “yes” to that question. Who in their right mind would think that they were ready for the endeavor that is starting a company, becoming responsible for the livelihood of others, aiming to keep clients and customers happy, etc?

But did I answer “no” when asked? No!

My answer was simply, “I’m ready to figure it out.”

Little did I know just how much that would ring true. I’ve learned more in the last couple of years running this company than I probably have in the decade or two prior (a time when I also would have sworn that I was learning a ton). And the amount of constant context switching required of a founder is intense. This isn’t something that’s talked about widely.

I think back on that question often: “Are you ready?”

Hell no. But I’m doin’ it anyway.

So, to quote Sam Altman, “The most underrated quality of a founder is being really determined… So much about being a successful entrepreneur is just not giving up.

12. What does a typical day or week look like for you? How do you manage work-life balance?

A combination of meetings and consistently asking myself, “What’s the one thing I can do with this chunk of time, right now, that would most benefit the company, the team, or our clients?”

13. What do you find most rewarding and most challenging about being an entrepreneur?

One of the most rewarding aspects of entrepreneurship is living outside the corporate fear cycle. My theory is that 95% of the negative aspects around corporate culture is driven by fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of losing a job. Fear of bucking the trend. Fear of standing out. As an entrepreneur, I get to set those fears aside and focus on building a company, a team, and a culture that aligns to my own vision for how we should operate.

That, of course, leads to the challenging part. While I get to remove myself from the corporate fear cycle, there are other fears and concerns that I still contend with. Fears around supporting my team, ensuring that they’re enjoying the work we’re doing. Fears related to client needs and whether we can deliver on them. Fears about how we establish ourselves and cultivate new opportunities.

Being an entrepreneur is incredibly difficult. It’s just a different breed of difficult compared to the “standard” career path.

14. What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

Start small. Stories of entrepreneurship are generally focused on the wild success of folks who raise millions of dollars and grow their companies in record time, becoming billionaires in the process. What we don’t hear about are the hundreds of thousands of businesses that started with every bit as much gumption but didn’t become rocket ships. Every business out there started somewhere, and small is a perfectly reasonable place to start.

If you want to be an entrepreneur, start a side business. Learn by doing without the pressure of needing to raise money, build a team, etc. Instead, find something you love that you’re knowledgeable about and create a way to monetize that knowledge. Grow over time until you’re ready to pull the ripcord and focus on your endeavor full-time.

The post Innovating for Impact: An Interview with Apollo 21 Founder Danny Nathan appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

I’m pleased to be joining Wendy Forkas, CEO of Adjoin and creator of Path-Now, to discuss her innovative new platform and over a decade of experience advocating for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Through her work developing programs and services to better meet community needs, Wendy gained valuable insights that inspired her to launch Path-Now – a groundbreaking digital solution aimed at tearing down barriers and opening new doors of opportunity. In this interview, we’ll learn more about Wendy’s motivations and vision for Path-Now, the challenges of building an startup, and the lessons she’s learned along the entrepreneurial journey. Her advice for aspiring change makers provides thoughtful perspective on bringing impactful ideas to life.

Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

I’m Wendy Forkas, CEO of Adjoin, and I bring over a decade of entrepreneurial experience in developing and bringing to life new ideas, programs, and services to better meet the needs of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including the creation of Path-Now, a progressive mobile app. My journey has been fueled by a passion for people, innovation and a relentless drive to make a positive impact in the world.

What is Path-Now and what problem does it aim to solve for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities?

Powered by Adjoin, Path-Now is a groundbreaking platform designed to revolutionize the way individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) connect with the services they need to have the best quality of life. Our platform offers a safe and accessible experience, bridging the gap between individuals with IDD and new opportunities. Whether they are seeking vocational, living, or social recreational services, Path-Now empowers users to unlock new opportunities. Our target audience includes individuals with IDD, family members, and care professionals as well as service organizations across the IDD community throughout California who are in search of or provide meaningful connections to accessing the community.

What inspired you to create Path-Now and address the need you witnessed?

The inspiration behind Path-Now was born from my realization of the urgent need for an interactive statewide system directory. This epiphany occurred during my involvement as a facilitator in focus groups within the disability community, engaging stakeholders such as families, professional staff, individuals with disabilities, and community partners. Through these interactions, a recurring theme emerged: the desperate need for a comprehensive statewide directory that encompasses all available services. Participants shared their struggles in navigating the complex support options and the barriers they faced in accessing these services.

Witnessing this significant gap in the IDD community, I embarked on a mission to create what is now known as Path-Now. This platform aims to break down the barriers to success for people with disabilities by offering personalized pathways tailored to each user’s unique needs. I saw an opportunity to harness technology to create a platform that not only unlocks opportunities but also fosters genuine connections and drives tangible outcomes for individuals with IDD.

What were some of the initial challenges you faced in getting Path-Now off the ground?

Like any startup, I have faced numerous challenges in the early stages from securing approval from the Adjoin Board to fund the development of the Path-Now application to gaining traction in the market, each hurdle presents its own set of obstacles. However, through perseverance, hard work, and my relentless passion and belief of the platform, I remain focus on the vision, and work to overcome these challenges and set Path-Now on a path to success.

How did you come to recognize the significant market gap that Path-Now aims to fill?

The need for Path-Now became evident through firsthand experience and analysis of California’s disability support system, revealing a significant market gap. With 400,000 individuals eligible for DDS services and over 40,000 community providers, a centralized platform for IDD individuals was lacking. Regional Centers’ basic directories were insufficient, as noted in stakeholder focus groups and DDS Community Resources Workgroup discussions. The demand for an online directory or marketplace for easier access to suitable services and the introduction of a new service model contributed to Path-Now’s development, aiming to improve access and outcomes in California’s IDD community.

What makes Path-Now stand out from other platforms and directories?

What makes Path-Now truly stand out is our unwavering dedication to people. Our passion lies in ensuring that individuals with disabilities have access to the services they need to fully belong in their communities. We are purposefully designed to empower and promote independence among our users. One of our standout features is our customized matching functionality, which streamlines the process and allows users to connect more swiftly with the services that are tailored to their needs. Our emphasis on user experience, personalized connections, and measurable outcomes sets us apart from traditional platforms. Unlike others that prioritize quantity, we prioritize quality connections, ensuring that every interaction on Path-Now leads to meaningful opportunities that make a real difference in people’s lives.

What have you learned about the importance of resilience and perseverance when developing a new application?

Recognizing the importance of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity is key knowledge when developing a new application. Building a successful startup is akin to running a marathon, requiring mental fortitude to navigate the challenges and setbacks along the way. It’s crucial to understand the relationship with developers, as well as the different development models and the significant amount of time it truly takes to create a quality product. One person often cannot do it alone, emphasizing the importance of teamwork and collaboration in achieving success in the competitive landscape of app development.

What skills do you think are critical for a successful founder?

Critical skills for a successful founder encompass adaptability, resilience, strategic thinking, and the ability to inspire and motivate others. Understanding industry dynamics, market trends, and user needs is crucial. Additionally, gaining buy-in, staying focused on goals during challenging times, and being open to feedback and suggestions are key attributes that contribute to entrepreneurial success. And don’t forget having a sense of humor!

What have you found most rewarding about being a founder and what challenges does it present?

The most rewarding aspect of being a founder is witnessing your vision materialize and experiencing its positive impact on people’s wellbeing and quality of life. Although it comes with challenges like navigating uncertainty, managing setbacks, and overcoming obstacles, I find witnessing innovation in action exciting and rewarding as it challenges me to grow both personally and professionally. Also, seeing Adjoin fulfill its mission of creating limitless pathways for people to belong only adds to the rewarding nature of being a founder.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs?

My advice to entrepreneurs is straightforward: believe in yourself, remain steadfast in your vision and values, and never underestimate the strength of perseverance. Trust your idea and intuition, and do not allow one dissenting voice to deter you. Remember to have fun, laugh often, and surround yourself with a supportive network. Embrace failure as a chance to learn and grow, and most importantly, never stop dreaming big.

Through Adjoin and Path-Now, Wendy Forkas is demonstrating how social entrepreneurship can drive tangible impact by addressing pressing real-world needs with creative solutions. With her relentless focus on empowering independence and community belonging, she serves as an inspiration for any aspiring innovator determined to make a positive difference through their work. As Forkas charges forward on her mission, countless lives stand to benefit from her vision of inclusive opportunities unlocked through both daring inventiveness and compassion.

The post Finding Limitless Pathways: An Interview with Adjoin CEO Wendy Forkas appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Determination in the face of adversity is the driving force behind many successful entrepreneurs. For Amore Philip, CEO and founder of Apples & Oranges Public Relations, turning challenges into opportunities has been the key to her ongoing success. Starting her agency from scratch 15 years ago after being laid off, Philip used her savings to self-fund the startup and teach herself web development when she couldn’t afford to outsource it. With no prior connections or reputation in the industry, she spent countless hours networking to build relationships and credibility to attract early clients.

While the lack of resources and credibility presented huge obstacles, Philip’s commitment to solving problems for small businesses through consistent brand awareness kept her motivated. Through dedicated effort and perseverance, she overcame these early hurdles to steadily grow her client portfolio. Today, Apples & Oranges PR proudly partners with established brands while helping emerging companies establish their unique stories. However, Philip remains grounded, believing that continuous learning and improving skills are crucial…

1. What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?

I always had a passion for entrepreneurship. I wanted to create something that was not just my own but also positively impacted small businesses. After working in the corporate world, entertainment, and fashion for several years, I decided to bet on myself. It was not just starting a business; it was my way of taking a proactive role to change the trajectory of my family’s legacy.

2. What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

When I started my business, the biggest challenge was not having the resources to get started. I did not have money to pay a web designer, so I figured out how to build my website, among many other things. I didn’t even look at funding; I needed the credit or assets to secure financing, so I decided to start small using my funds and savings. Additionally, building a solid client base was another obstacle I had to overcome, as I had yet to build a reputation in the industry. Establishing credibility and gaining trust with potential customers required much effort and networking. However, with dedication and perseverance, I overcame these challenges and succeeded in my business. Fast forward 15 years later, here I am.

3. How did you identify a gap in the market or need that your business fulfills?

As I was getting started in my business, one of the things I also realized was that if I was going to be successful, I too needed to be more visible to attract my target audience, which is also when I discovered that many small businesses struggled due to the lack of consistent brand awareness.

4. What has been your approach to funding your startup? Did you use your own savings, seek investors, crowdfund?

I funded my startup with my savings and help from a few family members. I was not even in the position to go to a bank then, so I became my own bank. If I didn’t believe in myself, then who else would?

5. How did you build your team and attract talent in the early days?

I hired an admin assistant to help with my business in the early days, but it could have gone better. One of the main reasons was that I needed concrete systems and processes built out to run my business. I needed infrastructure. Over the years, I hired more people who were liabilities, as their labor did not result in a fruitful outcome for the company. I had 10+ employees pre-COVID, which I downsized to 4 during COVID. Since then, I have decided to build out my team from the inside, meaning that I would promote candidates who were either interns or freelancers with whom I have worked and who proved they would benefit the company’s growth.

6. What have been your critical strategies for growth and gaining traction/users?

My key strategy has been to keep myself engaged in learning and improving my skills to add value to my clients. In addition, building my network has been immensely valuable.

7. What does a typical day or week look like for you? How do you manage work-life balance?

A typical day for me: I rise at 5 am, mentally prepare, plan for the day, then head to the gym at 6:10 am.

Around 8 am, I start by checking emails and responding to urgent messages from clients or team members. I then research and gather information on industry trends, news, and competitors.

From there, I develop strategies and create plans for upcoming projects. This involves brainstorming sessions with team members, drafting press releases, writing content and other communications, or preparing presentations for clients. I meet with clients, attend industry events, pitch stories for roundups, gift guides, thought leadership, and editorial opportunities, and build relationships with journalists throughout the day. I may also analyze data and metrics to measure the success of current outreach efforts. Overall, my day is fast-paced and can go late into the evening. I rarely work less than 10 hours on a typical day. I plan to replace myself within the next three years to focus my efforts on expanding the agency’s footprint internationally.

8. What do you find most rewarding and most challenging about being an entrepreneur?

The most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur is the ability to turn your idea into reality and leave your mark on the world and your industry.

On the other hand, the most challenging aspect is dealing with uncertainty and facing the risk of failure. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and resilience to succeed as an entrepreneur. I have been in business for many years, and there is not one day that I don’t think about failure. On the other hand, quitting is not an option for me, no matter what happens.

9. What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company would be to focus on their “why.” Why are they starting this business, and what problem are they trying to solve? Secondly, they should be prepared for the long haul, as entrepreneurship is a journey that requires persistence, patience, and resilience. Thirdly, they should be willing to take risks and embrace failure as a learning opportunity. Finally, they should surround themselves with a supportive network of mentors, advisors, peers, and family members who believe in their vision and can offer guidance and support.

The post Moving Mountains: How CEO Amore Philip Built A Successful PR Agency From Scratch appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

After exiting his scheduling startup Acuity Scheduling for $50 million, serial entrepreneur Gavin Zuchlinski set his sights on a new challenge – helping families stay organized. His latest venture, BeFamily, is a smart assistant app designed to help families collaborate and share schedules, tasks, plans, and activities.

As a father and husband, Zuchlinski was inspired to create BeFamily after frustrations trying to coordinate family life during an early retirement. He saw an opportunity to fill a gap in the market, as most productivity apps focus solely on individual organization rather than true family collaboration.

With BeFamily, the goal is to reduce the mental load of running a household by removing gatekeeping issues and improving communication. The app allows families to share responsibilities more evenly, with everyone’s schedules, tasks, and plans visible by default.

Zuchlinski brings a wealth of experience to his latest startup, having bootstrapped and grown Acuity Scheduling from a solo project into a business worth tens of millions. We sat down with the serial entrepreneur to learn more about his vision for empowering families through technology with BeFamily.

Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

With a background in computational mathematics, I initially worked at federal agencies in the intelligence community where I had a side hustle developing my own company called Acuity Scheduling. Acuity was an online appointment scheduling platform that I initially built to help my mom, a massage therapist. The side hustle eventually became full-time and by 2019 Squarespace acquired my company for $50 million. It was Squarespace’s first acquisition, and it included an equity grant to have me join them to lead Acuity’s integration efforts.

Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

BeFamily was created to address the real problem families have when they are trying to organize their lives, beyond scheduling matters. Typically, family work is unevenly shared between partners, as one family member almost always handles more of the load than the others – and even then families operate archaically. BeFamily solves this by providing the tools through its smart assistant, tools that remove gatekeeping issues which improve communication and in turn allows families to share more of the work and reduce the mental load of running a family. Every member’s schedules/tasks/plans are shared by default on the app, which makes space for partners to see what each other are doing, possibly help out on more tasks, and collaborate.

BeFamily was developed with families in mind, but it can also be used by any group of people who want to share schedules, tasks, etc. Anything from a very tight knit group friends to couples on-the-go who need to communicate about what is happening in their lives.

What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?

After my time at Squarespace, a stroke of inspiration hit me during my newfound free time with my family during an early retirement. I found over time that I was becoming frustrated with the difficulties my family and I were having coordinating things, schedules, and tasks – all which lead to more work! I started developing a platform that would best help families spend more time collaborating and less time working to get things organized. This is when BeFamily was born.

What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

My last business, Acuity Scheduling, struggled with efficient bootstrapping, but BeFamily is very different. After exiting Acuity with millions in the bank, BeFamily is a project of passion and one looking to solve a very personal need. To be totally honest, the biggest challenge is convincing my immediate family that, after such great past success, there’s even a need to spend our resources and so much time building something new.

How did you identify a gap in the market or need that your business fulfills?

After researching the market, I found that most of the apps in the scheduling/planning space focus entirely on organizational needs for users, but not necessarily how they could help families communicate better. I felt that there was room in this corner of the App Store for something that can help families be more present – and no one scheduling app seemed to be a silver bullet for this need.

What has been your approach to funding your startup? Did you use your own savings, seek investors, crowdfund?

100% my own money. My last company was purely bootstrapped, I took absolutely no money at all and saw the creative freedom it gave me. I’m open to investors in the future, however, as the only major negative to bootstrapping is the lack of acceleration a founder may need for growth at inflection points. UntilI see BeFamily at an inflection point, it will remain 100% personally funded.

How did you go about building your team and attracting talent in the early days?

Over the years I’ve worked with many talented people, but when starting something new it’s wonderful to pick the absolute top few of the greatest people. By choosing people I’ve already worked with I don’t have to sweat the vetting process but more importantly our work is accelerated from day one because we skipped past the “team gelling phase” and onto more productive work.

What have been some of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make as a founder? Any stand out as pivotal?

When to grow/invest and when not to are challenging. At a later stage so many of the most important decisions are resource allocation, and at an earlier stage those are less obvious but no less important. When I first started BeFamily we saw such an incredible amount of excitement and positive feedback it would have been easy to try to grow quickly. But, I didn’t. That was hard.

To question #6 I might regret this, you don’t always see an inflection point until after it has passed. Right now though we’re holding back much of our resources to ensure that there are 3 main points all signaling success: (1) people love the product (2) people stay with it for the long term (3) it can grow on its own. We’ve nailed #1 and #2, but #3 is still to be seen and it’s not clear what the future will look like.

What have been your key strategies for growth and gaining traction/users?

B2C products like BeFamily cannot grow by paid marketing alone. Looking at the top B2C profitable apps in the app store, none rely on paid marketing.

However, we’ve seen great success initially with Google banner ads (something myself from 5 years ago would never have dreamed of saying) and newsletters for acquiring users. Prior to investing in acquisition we spent a significant effort working on retention, which primarily is around making a product that people enjoy using every day (and don’t forget about). Our two main tactics for this were filling gaps in features & push notifications to pull people back in.

Finally, the hope is to snowball off of this initial paid acquisition and into more product lead growth through features, like collaboration, that are more valuable when others you know are invited.

How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?

What makes BeFamily different is that the app helps families share work, tasks, and plans by being a smart assistant to help them run a calmer, more collaborative family. The app provides the tools that remove gatekeeping issues, which improve communication and in turn allows families to share more of the work and reduce the mental load of running a family.

Organization is great, but it is a byproduct of using BeFamily, not the means to an end.

What have been some mistakes or failures you’ve made along the way as an entrepreneur? How did you recover and learn from them?

Firing.

Hiring is easy and it’s definitely harder to hire the exact right people, but personally I’ve struggled more with firing. I want to get to the best company as quickly as possible to create something great for customers. I’m going to make mistakes along the way and most are quickly reversible -except for hires. Fixing the hiring process only works for future people, but current employees can drag down morale, distract high performers, and worse.

I had been too generous to low performers and productivity vampires thinking that I can fix them or find a root cause of their issues. Sometimes you can, but that usually turned out to be incremental, so over time I found it was better to suck it up, risk the legal issues, and just terminate someone who is dragging down the company.

What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?

Everything is growth.

In the early stages (and possibly even later ones) if you can’t draw a direct line to how what you’re working on connects to growth then it’s not worth doing. I feel much more focused now and I see more results knowing this. Before I mistook customer happiness as the main success, and that’s only one of many factors.

What are the most important skills someone needs to be a successful founder, in your opinion?

Creativity.

As the cost of creating things continues to decline, your own creativity is the differentiation that creates value. Personally, this is one of the main things I’m trying to cultivate in my own children since I think market dynamics are changing and will disproportionately reward creativity in the future.

What does a typical day or week look like for you? How do you manage work-life balance?

I’ve worked too much in the past, it hurts creativity and my family life.

Now I work roughly 6 hour days, exercising in the morning and spending time with family in the afternoons. I strictly limit meetings to give space to productive activities.

What do you find most rewarding and most challenging about being an entrepreneur?

Most rewarding– talking to a random person at a party and having them use what I’ve built. It’s really fulfilling, it’s like the product is a child that has grown up on its own and been successful.

Most challenging– staying focused for the long haul. Entrepreneurship is definitely a marathon.

What are some future goals or plans you have for your business in the next few years?

We’re just at the beginning of our journey to help families think less about managing their family, and more time on enjoying their lives. We’ve created some phenomenal tools to keep things organized, and the future will be in doing more of those tasks for you.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

Just do it already.

I meet too many aspiring entrepreneurs who overthink their ideas, or think they need more experience, more connections, or more of “something.” You’re probably wrong about almost everything, so it’s better to face it sooner than overthinking it and facing the same problems later.

After two successful tech startups under his belt, Gavin Zuchlinski shows no signs of slowing down. The BeFamily founder continues to refine his family organization app, with plans to further automate tasks and reduce the day-to-day management burden on users. For aspiring entrepreneurs, his advice is simple – stop overthinking and just get started.

The post Family Organization Simplified: Interview with BeFamily Founder Gavin Zuchlinski appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Necessity breeds innovation. When Georgios Grigoriadis found himself bogged down by endless data analysis in his role at Sony Europe, he knew there had to be a better way. Out of this challenge, a vision was born for Baresquare – a company aiming to pioneer a new approach to data analytics.

As Founder and CEO, Grigoriadis draws on his diverse background spanning software development, business strategy, and analytics. With Baresquare, he’s on a mission to liberate analysts, marketers and strategists from the shackles of traditional dashboards. The company’s AI-powered platform delivers proactive insights in natural language, freeing up precious time and mental bandwidth.

Grigoriadis’ entrepreneurial journey has been defined by perseverance, learning and adaptability. Starting off bootstrapping and self-funding Baresquare’s software development, the company has now carved out a niche serving the needs of ecommerce retailers. Their tech stack delivering narrative insights instead of just numbers gives them an edge. At the helm, Grigoriadis’ experience enables him to intimately understand customers’ pain points.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Grigoriadis stresses the non-linear reality of startups. He advises embracing the highs and lows, building a strong team, and maintaining your unique passion as the rudder steering your journey. Most of all, perseverance and a relentless quest to keep improving are key to startup success.

Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

I started my career loving the idea of developing a software solution but soon discovered my real joy comes from understanding and shaping products that people love. This curiosity led me to dive deeper into what makes a product succeed, realizing I had a lot to learn.

I took a leap and pursued an MBA in Belgium, aiming to fill the gaps in my knowledge without breaking the bank. That experience opened the door to Sony Europe’s digital headquarters, where I found myself fascinated by the impact of data on decision-making. Within the analytics field, it became apparent that the industry’s approach to data gathering and analysis needed to be better optimized for efficiency and timeliness.

I built a team of consultants to help me grow the outcomes for my customers. This became Baresquare. But to gather and analyze data became only marginally easier. Faced with this challenge, we thought there might be a better way. This idea sparked the creation of the Baresquare platform, a tool designed to simplify how teams access and use insights to start their day effectively, without getting lost in endless data analysis.

It’s been a journey of learning, adapting, and striving to make things a little better each day.

Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

Baresquare is turning data analytics on its head by transitioning from traditional dashboards to proactive, AI-powered insights delivered directly to the right person at any time. We pioneer a new approach where manual dashboard analysis and human intervention are unnecessary for identifying crucial business events and their underlying causes. This frees marketers, strategists and analysts to focus on creative endeavors and expanding business opportunities while providing insight that no other data set can provide.

Baresquare solves the data overload and data analysis problem, closes the loop of automated knowledge creation and solves the question of both “why” and “how” customers are making their purchase decisions throughout the sales journey.

Our target audience are online and ecommerce brands eager to boost their revenue and unlock potential growth areas. We’re here for those who aim to make their data work for them, rather than the other way around.

What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?

When we were teamed up with a big global brand, we found ourselves doing the same thing over and over again, just for one market. Then they hit us with the big ask: to scale up from just that one market to 40-50. That was massive, and honestly, there was no way we could keep up with the daily grind for all those regions. We knew we had to switch gears to maybe doing it once a week. That’s when we got to working on an algorithm to take over some of that heavy lifting. The real ‘aha’ moment came when we saw the results – they were pretty much on par with what our analysts could produce.

How did you identify a gap in the market or need that your business fulfills?

We built the solution first, then started scouting around for where it was needed most. That’s when we stumbled upon ecommerce retailers. Turns out, our platform was just what they needed to stop their people from being glued to dashboards all day. It clicked with them right away.

How did you go about building your team and attracting talent in the early days?

In the beginning, we were bootstrapping and self funding the development of the software. At the time, our business model was very much relying on the efficiencies of our current team, so we had to ask ourselves what we could do with the talent pool we had on deck.

Ultimately, we focused on people who had global aspirations and diverse backgrounds, prioritizing passion for what we were doing and an eagerness to learn. Let’s not forget that during those days, it was nearly impossible to find people with extensive experience in analytics; everyone had to discover on their own or in small groups how marketing and experience analytics can give back value.

Although those days are long gone, in a way we are starting a new cycle where people have to teach themselves the latest in AI technologies. Perhaps that is why we don’t find the current AI technology landscape intimidating.

How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?

Our tech stack is built from the ground up to serve up paragraphs and words instead of tables and numbers. We’ve always had a feel of where the market is going, and that puts us ahead of the curve. Other technologies in our space are just now starting to catch on to the idea of analytics that speak in natural language. We’ve been on to it for ages.

Our core leadership is also made up of former digital marketers and data analysts, giving them a very strong sense of what our customers are seeking from solutions like ours. It’s a case of  marketers building something for other marketers.

What are the most important skills someone needs to be a successful founder, in your opinion?

A lot of what makes a startup tick is how fast the person at the top can pick up new knowledge. If the CEO can’t learn and adapt quick enough, that’s where you hit a bottleneck. For founders, keeping up with the constant shifts in the landscape is key.

What do you find most rewarding and most challenging about being an entrepreneur?

Being an entrepreneur is a unique gig; everyone’s journey is different. For me, the biggest reward and challenge is pushing to be better than I was the day before. Watching your team outdo their past selves is incredibly rewarding. But on a personal level, it can get tricky. Once you’ve built a great team, your role shifts – you’re not in the trenches dreaming up the next cool idea or getting your hands dirty, and that can feel like you’re missing out on making a big difference.

What are some future goals or plans you have for your business in the next few years?

This concept video

Imagine having all of your work wrapped up even before your day officially begins.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

Starting a new company isn’t driven by logic. It’s something you embark on not because you want to, but because you feel compelled; there’s no other path for you.

Risk, stress, and the chance of failure is strong. Success, when it comes is diluted with failures and it never feels like a true gold medal win. Exiting is never an end either. There is always another milestone to achieve, and something new to create. The simplified narrative of idea to action to success doesn’t capture reality.  It’s draining and tiring, but once you’ve started, there’s no turning back.

Here’s my advice: embrace the journey with open eyes. Understand that the highs and lows are part of the process. Lean into your unique drive and let your passion fuel your perseverance. Build a team that shares your vision, complements your skills and fills in your gaps. Remember, it’s not about having all the answers from the start, but being relentless in your quest to find them.

Keep learning, stay adaptable, and never lose sight of why you started. And if you ever stop feeling that irresistible pull, get out.

Grigoriadis’ journey with Baresquare exemplifies how necessity can drive innovation. Faced with inefficient data analysis methods, his vision for simplified insights using AI has come to fruition. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Grigoriadis highlights that perseverance through ups and downs is key. By maintaining creativity, surrounding yourself with the right team, and never losing your passion, you too can turn challenges into opportunities. Grigoriadis proves that with relentless improvement, an entrepreneurial journey can transform entire industries.

The post Exclusive Interview: Baresquare Founder Georgios Grigoriadis on Simplifying Data Analytics & Innovation appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Cooking fires claim lives and cause over $1 billion in property damage each year in the U.S., with unattended stoves being the leading culprit. Akshita Iyer set out on a mission to make kitchens safer by creating a simple retrofit device that converts existing stoves into smart, connected appliances.

After witnessing her mother’s cooking fire incident, Akshita realized how outdated and hazardous traditional stoves remain. With a background in neuroscience and business, she fused her passions for food, family, and entrepreneurship to launch Ome. Their flagship product, the Smart Stove Knob, enhances stove safety by allowing users to monitor and control burners remotely.

By making our most used appliance smarter, Ome bridges the connectivity gap in homes and apartments. Akshita overcame initial challenges like supply chain disruptions and her own inexperience by exhibiting grit, cautious optimism, and a thirst for knowledge. She schedules downtime and embraces feedback to maintain work-life balance and business agility.

Looking ahead, Ome aims to form partnerships to bring their safety technology to more households. Akshita also plans to support senior communities, helping residents retain independence in their homes longer. Her advice to aspiring founders? Adapt quickly and see feedback as an opportunity to improve.

Interview with Akshita Iyer , CEO and Founder of OME

Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

I grew up in Buffalo, NY where my life revolved around food and family. My grandparents lived with us from the day I was born, and cooking was a central part of our daily routine. My grandma’s cooking skills were amazing! This early exposure to the kitchen shaped my passion for cooking.

For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a doctor. I went to Duke to study neuroscience, but also knew I wanted to explore something in business. I just didn’t know what that would look like. Starting a company was not entirely foreign to me as my engineer dad had started his own consulting business when I was in elementary school.

While I didn’t know it at the time, watching him planted that entrepreneurship seed and my parents always encouraged my brother and me to embrace new experiences, face failure, and learn from it. Their guidance shaped my resilience and willingness to pick myself up after setbacks.

Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

Ome builds smart technology for home appliances. Starting with the stove, Ome created the world’s first Smart Stove Knob that makes cooking safer and less stressful. It can be installed on any gas or electric stove by simply replacing your existing knobs, transforming your stove into a smart appliance that lets you monitor and control your burners in real-time — from anywhere!

At Ome, our mission is to bring a sense of tranquility and peace of mind to every home. Our Smart Knob is designed to promote a stress-free and safe cooking environment through various benefits, including an automatic shut-off function for unattended cooking, real-time monitoring and alerts, automated cooking timers, and convenient hands-free cooking via Amazon Alexa.

While we have a strong consumer presence (typically parents buying our device for themselves and family members), we are also expanding our application for property management in multi-unit buildings.

What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?

Honestly, I never expected to know so much about kitchen appliances. After I graduated from Duke, I worked at a hospital to get some experience before applying to medical school. During that time, I got hooked on Shark Tank. It was inspiring to see how non-traditional entrepreneurs were just starting companies to solve problems they faced themselves.

What fascinated me the most was that many of these entrepreneurs didn’t have traditional engineering or business backgrounds. This got me curious about creating something myself, although I didn’t have a clear idea yet.

Around that time, my mom — who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s — accidentally left the stove on one too many times and started a kitchen fire. While looking for solutions, I realized how outdated kitchen appliances were, especially stoves — our most used appliance!

That’s when it hit me and I had my “aha moment.” The rest of the home is covered in retrofit smart devices — thermostats, door locks, doorbells — and I was determined to make one for the stove that would be way cheaper than buying a whole new appliance. I thought, “how hard could it be to make a smart device?” I didn’t know what I didn’t know and jumped right in. Of course, it turned out to be a bit trickier than I thought. Thankfully, I’ve had smart and capable people by my side throughout this journey. I wouldn’t have made it this far without them.

How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?

Ome’s technology bridges a significant gap in the smart home by addressing the lack of connectivity in the most used appliance — the stove. Our intuitive features provide a practical solution to enhance safety in both residential and commercial kitchens and unlike other smart kitchen gadgets that add to counter clutter, our retrofit design allows you to upgrade your primary cooking appliance without sacrificing valuable counter space.

Even more, Ome addresses a critical problem in the home — unattended cooking, the #1 cause of house fires with $1B+ in property damage annually. This issue extends beyond individual households, with the majority of multi-unit building and student housing fires attributed to unattended cooking incidents. Our centralized dashboard enables remote monitoring and proactive safety measures for property managers, reducing the occurrence of hazardous events and providing support to at-risk residents.

By providing a solution that enhances safety and control in the kitchen, Ome mitigates cooking hazards, reduces the occurrence of devastating fires, and as a result has significant potential to eventually reduce property insurance premiums.

What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

The pandemic supply chain issues were brutal for us. The delays in getting components manufactured not only paralyzed our operations but also left us unable to honor commitments to our first customers. We focused on transparency and directly communicated with our community, explaining our manufacturing challenges and delivery delays. We set up a dedicated war room to think of solutions for both immediate and future needs. Our proactive approach was not just about navigating the current situation but also securing our operations against any future uncertainties.

Another challenge was switching from neuroscience and a med school plan to the tech industry as a first-time entrepreneur. One of the biggest hurdles was figuring out how to raise capital. Even though I had support from friends and family, I soon realized that fundraising was a whole new ballgame. Having a brilliant product and a solid idea didn’t cut it. I needed to dive deep into the psychology of capital raising to really make it work and leaned on other entrepreneurs who walked this path before to do this.

What are the most important skills someone needs to be a successful founder, in your opinion?

Grit, (cautious) optimism, and an unending thirst for knowledge. Grit because you will be knocked down every day from every direction and you have to figure out how to get back up every time. Optimism because you are making the impossible possible — building a company rarely goes the way you expect it to and in those moments, you have to reassure yourself that you can and will figure it out one step at a time. And finally, always be learning and be humble. It takes a village to grow a business and you don’t know everything. Always surround yourself with people smarter than you.

What does a typical day or week look like for you? How do you manage work-life balance?

It’s easy to paint a picture of a daily routine where work and personal life co-exist harmoniously. In reality, I’ve realized that this view is unrealistic, especially for those of us navigating the ever-changing landscape of entrepreneurship.

For me, finding an equilibrium that was sustainable meant figuring out how to stay mentally and physically healthy. I schedule downtime in my calendar, literally — early morning exercise, lunch, dinner, breaks —  and try to intentionally maximize this time for personal rejuvenation, wellness, and life outside work.

I also make sure my team can see my calendar so they also feel it’s ok, and much preferred, to take time for yourself! Having these periods where my mind is occupied by something else that I enjoy also allows me to decompress, clear the noise, and truly disconnect.

What are some future goals or plans you have for your business in the next few years?

Ome’s journey of growth and innovation continues as we prepare for the launch of our next-generation Smart Knob. This upgraded version will be compatible with an even wider range of stoves, have some much requested feature upgrades, and be offered in new colors to match your kitchen look and feel. We’re also actively exploring strategic partnerships with appliance manufacturers so we can deploy our solution at a much larger scale.

Lastly, I’m thrilled about our plans to introduce the Ome Smart Knob to multi-unit buildings such as senior living communities, where we can provide valuable support for those who wish to age gracefully in their homes and foster a sense of security and control. Our ultimate goal is to encourage positive cooking practices that contribute to the overall well-being and vitality of those we love.

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to start their own company?

Embrace feedback and adapt quickly. As an entrepreneur and leader, encountering rejection is an inevitable part of the journey. Whether it comes from customers, investors, or team members, it’s important not to let it throw you off. Instead, look at these situations with an open mind and actively listen. Identify what you find relevant, act on it, and let the rest go. Remember to take a step back every once in a while to look at the forest from the trees.

Akshita’s journey shows how personal experiences can spark innovative business ideas that solve real-world problems. By embracing feedback, persevering through challenges, and maintaining work-life balance, aspiring founders can also turn their passions into purposeful startups. Akshita and Ome prove how a simple but thoughtful device can transform convenience, safety, and peace of mind in the home.

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The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated remote work and location independence worldwide. But traditional insurance models have lagged in meeting the evolving needs of globally distributed companies and remote workers. Enter Insured Nomads, a startup aiming to revolutionize global health insurance.

Led by CEO Andrew Jernigan, Insured Nomads leverages fintech, insurtech, and traveltech to make insurance intuitive and mobile-friendly. “We have built insurance for today’s workforce; health insurance for remote workers and group employee benefits for distributed teams, multinational companies and organizations,” says Jernigan.

Key innovations include a geo-located emergency response app, digital payment cards for care, and integrated travel safety features. “Our native apps with instant response…truly make interacting with us closer to our goal of being the first lovable insurance,” he shares.

Jernigan draws from decades of experience across healthcare and insurance to reimagine coverage. Read on to learn more about his vision for the future of global health insurance.

Please provide a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background.

As co-founder and CEO of Insured Nomads, a young company disrupting the way insurance is delivered, Andrew stands dead center at the intersection of insurance and traveler safety innovation, building a delivery model for travel and global health insurance that will serve as the standard for the future of insurtech/fintech/traveltech. Passionate about protecting people around the world, Andrew is hyper- focused on building a new insurance model, so travelers, expats and digital nomads can explore the world freely and work within it with increased wellbeing and peace of mind.

Andrew’s extensive experience in the healthcare, insurance and banking industries locally, regionally and globally, and his early adoption of expatriate/nomadic life, has provided him with the unique experiences and perspective to break boundaries through the merging of technology with humanity. Having volunteered, traveled and lived on several continents, he learned first-hand that insurance had to evolve to provide relevant, trustworthy, and intuitive, person-centered services that world travelers and remote workers needed as remote work increasingly became normalized and expected.

Andrew is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, and currently working on a Master in Big Data & Business Intelligence from European Business School of Barcelona, married to co-founder Juliana Jernigan, of which they share three young adults. In addition to serving as CEO, Andrew is also a Strategic Advisor for Shap, and Share Hope International, a fellow with Travel Tech Executive Fellowship and On Deck (ODS3), and co-host of the popular podcast, The New Nomad. A frequent speaker at industry events such as Insurtech Insights, Travel Insurance Forum, Global Health Insurance Conference, and others.

Please tell us a bit more about your startup – what does it offer, what problem does it solve, and who is your target audience?

Insured Nomads has built insurance and employee benefits for the modern company; empowering those that have operations in multiple countries, a work anywhere program, remote workers or a distributed team with health, medical, safety, security and wellbeing. We are a fully integrated insurance, finance and travel ecosystem powered by AI/ML, GPS enabled so our communities can safely and intelligently live work and play globally. Global uncertainty is here to stay. Insurance for the modern company to provide health insurance for workers in different countries or ‘work from anywhere’ has not been accessible and the legacy carriers have not adapted to the technological shift that the insured expects and deserves. We have built insurance for today’s workforce; health insurance for remote workers and group employee benefits for distributed teams, multinational companies and organizations. Through the application of fintech, traveltech and insurtech developments we make your travel as safe and smart as staying at home. We design, re-engineer the way insurance is build and delivered for the distributed team, traveler and corporate client through robust product design, native app for ease of use, and digital payment card for payment of care. There has not been a solution for health insurance for both local employees and cross-border/expat/nomad team members that is priced according to each persons location and benefit need but all in one efficient group, Insured Nomads has this solved and with ai/ml and fintech/traveltech.

What inspired you to start your own business? What was the “aha” moment?

Going back to university years I was on the team to build online banking (bill pay, view your accounts, etc) then many years later realized that our sector of insurance was still lagging in the customer and broker experience, policy design and application of technology so I gathered great minds to form an innovative solution: Insured Nomads: the evolution of insurance for the revolution of work and travel.

What were some of the biggest initial challenges you faced in getting your business off the ground? How did you overcome them?

New builds are not common in ‘Accident and Health’ and technology has been slow to be applied within our space so getting the reinsurance/capacity for what we envisioned to re-engineer what is needed in the world of work and for the future of living was the biggest challenge we faced. Our collaboration with giants in the field to take the financial risk (Allianz Partners and C&F) while allowing us to stretch the limits and be innovative with the ease of use for what the member expects today of their insurance provider.

How did you identify a gap in the market or need that your business fulfills?

We birthed this from decades of experience by our founding team that came from Cigna Global, MetLife Expat, AIG, United Healthcare Global, and from the brokering of dozens of traditional carriers. It was the extensive background that propelled us forward to build to fill a void in the financing of healthcare for the globally distributed company, and those beginning to have a flexible work and work from anywhere program.

How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?

The service through modern application of technology interfaces powered by a team that cares immensely is at the core of what differentiates Insured Nomads. Our native apps (iOS & Android) with instant response button to global emergency assistance with geo-ip enabled so a response vehicle can be dispatched or evac arranged is a powerful travetech element that is included for all our members. The fintech component (Nomads Cash) is a branded Mastercard for payment at the point of care simplifies the pay-and-chase claims process that is predominant. Our non-insured assistance products such as Legal Guardian (pre-paid legal assistance around the world), InstaPass (lounge access for delayed flights), and other innovative integrations truly make interacting with us closer to our goal of being the first loveable insurance.

What does a typical day or week look like for you? How do you manage work-life balance?

Living the founder lifestyle in a globally distributed and fully remote company has presented growth opportunities for me. Now, many years in I believe that I have landed at a rhythm that is more effective and healthy. My day starts quite early at 4:45 to 5am with meditation, prayer and reading, coffee and then a dive into touchpoints with team members on the other side of the globe. I pause to eat breakfast, family time and drive kids to school, then back to work-out before diving in to early calls to Europe and Asia. Email and follow-up blocks during my day are essential, along with blocks for music, meditation and family time. I do break for dinner, then a short segment again after for follow-ups with those in the APAC region. Ending the evening with family time, and a final segment to read and pray before bed around 9:30pm (average).

What are some future goals or plans you have for your business in the next few years?

My biggest goal is to be extravagantly generous in giving through our social impact partnership with Not For Sale (https://insurednomads.com/social-impact) in our efforts to support work to help those vulnerable to exploitation and human trafficking. As a company, our commitment to provide protection to our members with insurance, assistance and risk management is paired with our pledge to protect those affected by modern-day slavery.

Andrew Jernigan and Insured Nomads demonstrate that innovation in insurance is possible when driven by deep care for protecting people. As remote work evolves, visionaries like Jernigan will lead the charge in insurance models that transcend borders and empower location independence. The future of global health coverage is bright under their stewardship.

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