In today’s post we interview Ted Acworth, the founder and CEO of Artaic, an innovative startup leveraging cutting-edge technology to revolutionize the art of mosaic design and production. With educational and professional experience spanning academia, engineering, entrepreneurship and more, Ted shares how his diverse background inspired him to establish Artaic and make mosaics more accessible.

Under Ted’s leadership, Artaic has developed proprietary design software and robotic manufacturing techniques to transform the traditionally labor-intensive mosaic creation process. By empowering artists and designers with new flexibility and efficiency, Ted aims to elevate mosaics as a dynamic medium. Through national science grants and early customer sales, Artaic overcame challenges to pursue Ted’s vision of innovative problem-solving.

In our discussion, Ted provides insight into Artaic’s unique value proposition and competitive differentiators. He also openly reflects on important lessons learned around focusing efforts and go-to-market strategies. Ted’s perseverance is evident through his resilience in navigating challenges and willingness to thoughtfully evaluate experiments. This interview offers invaluable perspective for aspiring entrepreneurs on building a successful startup.

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

My name is Ted Acworth, and I am the Founder and CEO of Artaic. Prior to founding the company, I pursued various roles as an entrepreneur, educator, scientist, and engineer. I earned an MBA in Management of Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where I was a Sloan Fellow in Innovation and Global Leadership. Additionally, I hold a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and both an M.S. and B.S. from Columbia University. My professional journey includes working with NASA on space telescope calibration, teaching Computer Science in China, serving as a Scuba Divemaster in Thailand, and founding a non-profit flight school affiliated with MIT, where I am also a private pilot. Additionally, I spent several years as a co-host and science producer of a television show on The History Channel called UFO Hunters. As for my stance on UFOs, I neither believe nor disbelieve .

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

At Artaic, we aim to revolutionize mosaic creation, making it accessible to artists of all mediums and mosaic enthusiasts, as well as designers and architects. Our goal is to enable them to translate their artwork and vision into mosaics that contribute to the creation of meaningful spaces. We utilize proprietary robotic technology and a mosaic design software called Tylist to facilitate this process. Our unique manufacturing approach is heavily tech-centric, addressing the design industry’s challenges by increasing design flexibility, reducing lead times and costs, and enhancing the accessibility and usability of mosaics. Artaic’s robots operate in collaboration with craftspeople, creating a symbiotic relationship between technology and artistic skill.

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

I’ve always been interested in innovating, and I liked the idea of designing machines to solve problems or apply creative solutions. I first stumbled upon mosaics in some of the great museums in Southern Europe, namely Italy and Turkey, the heartland for mosaic design. As I traveled, I started looking for more. Crossing paths with traditional mosaics felt like an opportunity to make a beautiful art form more accessible by making it quicker to produce, easier to manufacture, affordable, and more flexible.

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

The Great Recession hit us just as we were launching our company, coinciding with the 2008 Real Estate collapse, which affected our target market. We survived on National Science Foundation Research grants, which we used to further develop our product and make it more market-ready, coinciding with the market’s recovery in 2012.

If you ask any designer or architect if they know what mosaic is, they’ll say of course. But if you ask if they use it, they’ll say no, because it’s too expensive, hard to customize to their project’s vision, and takes too long. Our mission is to make this medium more accessible and solve these pain points.

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

The best funding for a startup is customer orders. From the earliest days, I worked to sell products to customers—starting the selling process even before the product was ready. However, few businesses, especially those requiring significant technology development, can fund themselves solely on customer orders. I started with my own savings—always good to have your skin in the game—and secured funding from the National Science Foundation SBIR grant program. We also sought a few friends and family investors. Our business doesn’t fit the pattern for Venture Capital, so I didn’t put much effort in that direction.

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

There have been several. Deciding on whether or not to manufacture our own tile (we opted not to). Deciding whether we’d handle the installation (we chose not to). Determining which part of the vertical stack to focus on, because you can’t do it all. We focus on where we can offer the greatest differentiation and value—the design and assembly of custom projects.

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

You always seek to find a space where you offer a unique, defensible value proposition. Artaic has become the go-to leader in our niche.

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

Going in a direction with product and sales that didn’t pan out. We’ve left a trail of product and channel experiments that didn’t work out. While trial and error is important, you have to be extremely thoughtful and disciplined about which things you do try, so you can hit success before your funding runs out. I like to say yes to anything that sounds interesting and promising. What’s much harder is the no’s. I’ve learned to choose more carefully where to invest in your business—you can’t do it all.

In aviation, there is a saying that you start as a pilot with 2 buckets, the lucky bucket is full and the experience bucket is empty. Your job is to fill the experience bucket before the lucky bucket runs out. It’s not dissimilar in entrepreneurship… before the funding bucket runs out, you have to be filling the revenue bucket.

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

It’s not enough to have a great product; you have to have a great go-to-market plan. You need to know how to sell it, how it will sell, and how that will lead to scale.

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

Skills can be learned, but traits are generally inherent. A critical trait is perseverance: the ability to compartmentalize. If you’re constantly thinking about your startup 24 hours a day, you’re going to be ground down. Work hard and give it your all, but try not to take it to bed at night if you can avoid it. Optimism and perseverance are key.

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

I get up at 5 a.m. and get my first workout in, then drink my protein shake for breakfast, and head into the office by 8 … Ha. Kidding. I simply try to manage the day-to-day responsibilities of work and family and aim to fit in bike rides for my health, live music for my well-being, and a good night’s sleep to juggle it all.

The post Bridging Creativity and Technology: How Ted Acworth is Transforming Mosaic Art Through Innovation at Artaic appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Foresight and perseverance are guiding zero5 CEO Jae Hyun Paik’s visionary efforts to modernize parking infrastructure. With autonomous vehicles on the horizon, Paik recognized the need to transform outdated systems to accommodate tomorrow’s mobility. Driven by this insight and his engineering expertise, he co-founded zero5 to develop an AI-powered platform futureproofing parking operations.

From the startup’s inception, gaining credibility for their unconventional approach proved a hurdle. Undeterred, Paik and his co-founder demonstrated zero5’s value through persistent outreach. Their dedication paid off as clients experience streamlined management improving efficiency. Now, zero5 analyzes petabytes of parking data daily, yielding actionable insights that maximize revenue and optimize the user experience.

Paik’s leadership navigates challenges as zero5 steadily expands. With each success, they further fulfill their mission to bridge innovation gaps. Looking ahead, AI integration will realize their ambition to automate the parking process end-to-end.zero5 is primed to reshape infrastructure supporting autonomous driving. Paik’s story illustrates how envisioning disruptive change and seeing efforts through establishes industry leaders. This interview offers entrepreneurial insight for optimistically addressing today’s problems with tomorrow’s solutions.

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

UCSD-trained mechanical engineer. Engineer at Nokia, Microsoft, Amazon, and Misfit Wearables. I immigrated here from Korea as a teen and had a passion for cars and transportation

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?

The initial idea started from a simple question – if people are talking about cars driving themselves, how would these autonomous vehicles handle parking? Would they need robotic arms to navigate in and out of parking garages? It didn’t make sense to me how outdated our infrastructure around parking was. In the 21st century, we were still stuck with 20th-century technology when it came to parking. This curiosity drove us to explore why this gap existed and how we could innovate to bridge it.

Our platform solves the problem of outdated and inefficient parking systems using AI. This enhances operational efficiency and prepares cities for tomorrow’s transportation.. Our target audience includes property owners, real estate developers, and urban planners looking to optimize parking operations and integrate advanced technology for a future-ready experience.

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

The moment we decided to pursue our startup idea came when we saw the inefficiency in parking operations firsthand. People were heavily involved in day-to-day tasks, managing stacks of paper and juggling multiple Excel sheets. And how hard stamps, paper clips and staplers worked. We quickly realized how unreliable the data could be and how costly these operations were. We knew that what we envisioned could not only streamline current operations but also have a significant impact on the industry. This motivated us to take the leap and start our business.

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

One of the major challenges we faced in the early days of our startup was that we were not considered “insiders.” Neither Sarah nor I had a background in parking or real estate, which made it difficult to gain credibility in general. Those who agreed on the problem didn’t view us as someone who could solve the problem because of our background – we weren’t graduates from top universities with computer science backgrounds, nor did we have experience at companies like Google or Meta. We certainly had to overcome these perceptions.

We overcame setbacks and challenges by actively selling our vision and our product. We went door to door with donuts and coffee in hand, and it landed us our first pilot location. From there, we secured our first real client and grew from there. As people started seeing what we were building, they began to believe in our potential. While we haven’t fully overcome all perceptions and challenges, we tackle them one by one, using every “no” and “you can’t do it” as fuel to keep pushing forward.

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

Our approach to funding zero5 started small with our own initial savings. We then raised a family and friends round, followed by a Pre-Seed round from a hardware company in the parking industry that shared our vision. In 2021, we secured a Seed round from a VC that invests in mobility. Now, as we continue to grow, we are raising our next funding round to further expand our operations and enhance our platform.

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

We are continuously working on refining our growth strategies. For customer acquisition, we’ve focused on building strong relationships and demonstrating the value of our product. Word of mouth and referrals have also played a significant role. In terms of team expansion, we’ve prioritized hiring individuals who share our vision and have a strong willingness to learn and adapt. While we’re still developing and improving our strategies, these foundational approaches have helped us gain traction and grow steadily.

7. How do you stand out from the competition in your space? What sets your product/service apart?Our deep integration of AI and technology into parking infrastructure sets us apart from other players in the market. Our holistic approach addresses the entire parking operation. Our platform offers property owners seamless access to comprehensive reports, data analytics, revenue control, event parking planning, and valet control.

Additionally, our data-driven approach uniquely positions us to prepare cities for autonomous vehicles by collecting, analyzing, and sharing valuable mobility data. By focusing on both current needs and future advancements, we provide a solution that is not only efficient and user-friendly but also future-ready.

8. What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were first starting out?
I can’t always do what I want to do. I quickly realized that staying in my bubble or comfort zone isn’t an option. There’s a constant struggle between what you want to do and what you need to do. As a founder, it often becomes more about focusing on what needs to be done to move the business forward, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone. I wish I spent more time learning the skill sets I knew would be important but I did not enjoy.

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

Successful founder must not let others change their mind or vision. They just keep at it no matter what others say. Learning how to code is easy. Being persistent and resilient is not.

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

A typical day for me starts with a call with the team to sync up on daily tasks and priorities. After that, I focus on customer calls, checking in with existing customers to ensure everything is running smoothly and reaching out to potential new clients. I’m still heavily involved in the development of our product, so I dedicate time to coding whenever I can. Managing work-life balance is challenging, but I make an effort to set aside time for personal activities and family to ensure.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an entrepreneur is seeing the excitement and satisfaction of people using what we’ve built. Knowing that our technology positively impacts their daily lives is incredibly fulfilling. On the other hand, the most challenging part is that you never know what the “right” answer is. As a team, we have to navigate through uncertainties together. As a leader, I guide the team in certain directions, and my decisions aren’t always right. Acknowledging mistakes and moving forward is crucial to our progress and success.

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

AI parking management agent. We believe that integrating technology into daily operations is the true copilot for parking management, unlocking the next generation of parking solutions that are more efficient and user-friendly.

Our vision is to deeply integrate technology into building the next generation of infrastructure, focusing on a market that is often overlooked but ripe for disruption. By addressing the gaps in parking and mobility infrastructure, we aim to support everything from today’s vehicles to fully autonomous ones, playing an integral role in the future of transportation.

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

Enjoy the highs and the lows. When you receive bad news or someone tells you “no,” it can feel like the worst thing in the world. Don’t let that change your mind or your vision. Remember the story of The Tortoise and the Hare—just keep at it no matter what others say. Persistence and resilience are key to the entrepreneurial journey.

Paik’s experience underscores the value of identifying lacking yet vital modernization, as well as persevering despite doubts. zero5 demonstrates how envisioning technological progress drives meaningful innovation even in overlooked areas. Their work installing future-ready systems empowers others to follow their lead upgrading dated operations for a new era of mobility.

The post Forward Thinking in Parking: An Interview with zero5 CEO Jae Hyun Paik appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Stacy Hayes knows the data protection industry inside and out having been at the forefront of innovation for over two decades. As the co-founder of DS3 DataVaulting, one of the early players in delivering backup as a service, Hayes has experienced the highs and lows of building disruptive technology businesses from the ground up. His latest role at Assured Data Protection sees him leveraging that hard-earned experience to once again change the game, this time through the company’s exclusive focus on Rubrik’s industry-leading data management platform. Hayes believes Rubrik’s reliability and flexibility has the power to finally drag backup into the modern era. If anyone knows how to successfully partner with and promote groundbreaking technology, it’s Stacy Hayes – a true pioneer who continues pushing the boundaries of data protection.

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

I am the Co-Founder and EVP of Americas at Assured Data Protection. Before joining Assured Data Protection in October 2016, I was Vice President of Channels and Alliances for Virtustream, a leader in the enterprise cloud management software sector. I started with DS3 DataVaulting, a company that I co-founded to deliver Backup as a Service in the early 2000s. As President, I led DS3 through a successful acquisition by Terremark in 2009. I remained in a business development role through their acquisition by Verizon in 2011. After this, I ran U.S. Civilian sales for Terremark’s Federal Division, leaving the company in 2013 to join Virtustream.

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?

Assured Data Protection is a global data backup, disaster recovery, business continuity, and extended detection, and response managed service provider. We aim to make data protection simpler for everyone. For too long backup has been living in the dark ages with archaic processes and convoluted systems.

Being the only exclusive Rubrik-managed service provider globally, our knowledge set truly differentiates Assured Data Protection and sets us apart from other MSPs. Our target audience includes individuals who hold decision-making power in IT or security departments and are responsible for safeguarding business-critical data.

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

Assured Data Protection was my second startup. My first was DS3 DataVaulting, a data protection company in the same line of work. My motivation to start Assured Data Protection was to leverage the experience I had gained while running DS3. My “aha” moment was the reliability of Rubrik when it came to restoring data – every time you clicked the button, the data came back quickly. Other technologies couldn’t say the same. I knew right away it was going to disrupt the data protection market.

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

After you’ve secured funding, a good offering, and the ability to deliver – the next obstacle is new business. That first deal (and the four that come after that) can be very challenging. You’ve got to call in a lot of favors. You have to hope someone believes in you, will take a risk, and buy your product before anyone else has.

There has to be an angle, and credibility in you, your company, or your offering. In my case, I had a decade of experience and happy customers from DS3. We also had the success of our selected vendor partner, Rubrik, which helped our credibility.

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

The toughest decision I’ve made is making a hiring mistake. As a founder, with early hires, they’re all personal. When you make a mistake, it’s imperative to fix it quickly. That’s never easy.  The takeaway is when you feel it going wrong it’s unlikely to get better. While challenging, it’s better to take action quickly. Both you and the employee will both be better for the action and decisiveness in the long run.

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

The best way to stand out is to have amazing service, a commitment that must start at the top. Amazing service is hard. This is primarily because it’s expensive, and in the early days it’s not easily scalable. But you must invest in the concept from the start, forgoing profits, to set the standard and seed those early customers as referenceable accounts for future use.

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

Never give up your customers, since they’re the hardest things to get. One of my biggest regrets is selling DS3 and giving up my customers in 2009. If you’re going to give up your customers whether by selling your company, exiting the market, or so on, then you should be at the retirement stage of your career and finished with the business for good.

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

Keep up the hard work but maintain a steady headspace. As an entrepreneur, you have to pour in the hours. Running a startup is more than a typical Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. job.   In terms of headspace, I’ve never lost my temper and not regretted it afterward. My advice is that if you’re angry, take a break, sleep on it, give it a rest, and come back to it with a clear head. As much as possible, avoid approaching a hard situation without thinking it through.

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

Your idea has to have a market. You need to figure that out before you get too deep in.

Markets come from history – you’ve worked in the space and have had a chance to see a gap or improve on an existing process, product, and more. If you have conviction and work hard you’ll define the market. If you can get pricing right, deliver effectively, and enable the solution for the long-term (reliability) then you’ve got a chance.

Hayes’ journey exemplifies the vision and perseverance necessary to disrupt entrenched industries. Through his work championing Rubrik, he is helping organizations protect their most critical asset – their data – in a simpler, more agile way. Assured Data Protection’s laser focus on the platform reflects Hayes’ belief in Rubrik’s potential to transform the staid backup market. His expertise and passion for the challenges of data risk mitigation shine through in this illuminating discussion.

The post Insights from Experience: An Interview with Data Protection Visionary Stacy Hayes appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Martin Rufo is a serial entrepreneur working to modernize the way governments operate through his startup Govify. With years of experience at major tech companies like Amazon and Uber, Rufo brings a unique perspective on how innovative strategies can streamline bureaucracy.

When the pandemic forced sudden remote work transitions, Rufo saw an opportunity to apply lessons learned in Silicon Valley to the public sector. Govify’s cloud-based tools help agencies digitize antiquated systems, allowing tasks like HR, recruiting and financial management to continue seamlessly regardless of workplace changes.

Early clients in Pennsylvania attest to Govify’s impact – outdated paper-pushing gave way to streamlined processes and data-driven decision making. Through user-friendly interfaces and APIs, Govify maintains the highest security and compliance standards while also empowering employees with mobility.

Our exclusive interview with Rufo uncovered motivations from his immigrant upbringing to founding Govify. Hear his insightful perspectives on challenges overcome, research strategies, and vision to modernize government nationwide. Rufo’s proven experience successfully scaling startups sets Govify up to transform bureaucratic systems at their roots.

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

After graduating from the Wharton School of Business,I started my career at Amazon, with a focus on home improvement and automation. I later joined Uber, where I managed the Rides business in Pennsylvania before moving to Chicago to join the early days of Uber’s freight business. Since then, I’ve led operations for hypergrowth startups, Creative X (Series B) and FINN (Series C). Most recently launching FINN’s business in the US.

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

Govify is digitizing government back-office software. We’re working with local government agencies to help modernize their recruiting, HR management, and finance. Govify uses AI and automations to make repetitive government processes more efficient.

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

As a product of two first-gen immigrants, I’ve always known I’ve wanted to start my own business – the entrepreneurial spirit has always been a big part of my life. For me, the ‘aha’ moment was when I was getting a specific point of feedback: “I don’t know why this doesn’t exist already, the world would be better with this in it”.

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

Ultimately it has to do with market research. I keep up to date with news that affects workforce development basically every day because it materially impacts the way I have to think about the business. Whether it’s Google Alerts or reading the Times, you have to stay up to date on what your business needs.

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

I think some of the toughest decisions have had to deal with product strategy. I originally started my idea with a very specific focus in government, but have since changed course. It’s always hard to change your mind when you have conviction, but as a founder you have to be flexible to adapt when necessary.

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

When I was first starting, I wish I knew how to parse out the ‘noise’ when learning about the business. There’s often times as a founder where anyone and everyone will give you their opinion – you need to be able to figure out what’s valid for your business and the way you want to grow it.

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

The most important thing for a founder is the ability to learn. There’s no “course” in learning how to be a founder – you’re thrown into the deep end immediately. You have to have a relentless pursuit of knowledge to keep upleveling yourself and your business.

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

Fortunately or unfortunately, there isn’t really a typical day or week in the life of a founder. As a solo-founder I get to wear so many different hats, where sometimes I’m focused on selling the product or sometimes building the product. As everything, it must be in moderation so I definitely have found my creative/active outlets in pickleball, working out, and spending time with family.

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

I want Govify to power every government agency in the US. My goal is that Govify is the catalyst for making governments more efficient and ultimately the services they provide more effective.

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

People > Surround yourself with people who make you better as a founder, manager, person -> success will follow.

Under Rufo’s leadership, Govify is at the forefront of a government technology revolution. By leveraging artificial intelligence and the cloud, Govify products translate decades of private sector best practices into streamlined public administration. If early client results continue on their trajectory, Rufo’s ambitious goal of powering agencies across America may soon become reality. Most importantly, more efficient operations can translate to enhanced services for citizens. Rufo remains dedicated to responsible, results-driven innovation that maintains oversight and integrity above all. Through determined yet practical approaches, entrepreneurial minds like his may rediscover government’s potential as a purposeful force for positive change.

The post From Silicon Valley to State Capitol: An Interview with Martin Rufo on Modernizing Bureaucracy with Govify appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

Taryn Jerez is on a mission to empower female entrepreneurs to kick self-doubt to the curb and boldly go after what they want most. As the founder of Go For It, Creative, Taryn serves as a creative business coach and industry expert, teaching strategies and systems to help women create the most wildly passionate and profitable version of their business.

Taryn’s own journey as an entrepreneur inspired her advocacy and coaching work. After leaving her corporate job to start her own business, she found herself overwhelmed, lacking confidence and struggling to find her creative passion again. Through dedicated work on mindset, strategy and community building, Taryn transformed her outlook and her business. Now, she’s devoted to guiding other women through that journey so they can reignite their passion and increase their profits.

Over the last eight years, Taryn has made it her mission to empower hundreds of fellow female business owners. She provides personalized 1:1 coaching, hosts workshops, speaks at events and facilitates the Empowered for Profit Collective, a monthly membership community for early-stage creative entrepreneurs. Her high-touch support and accountability helps women make meaningful moves in their businesses.

As Taryn shares in our interview, it’s about much more than just making money – it’s about women stepping into confidence, pursuing what they want most and enjoying the thrill of entrepreneurship again. Read on for her best tips on mindset shifts, helpful systems and building community so you can transform from overwhelmed to empowered in your own business.

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

I’ve met and worked with hundreds of the most interesting, innovative, talented, and ambitious female business owners for nearly a decade. Yet, there is this similarity threaded through that I can’t help but notice—and it’s the power comparison that holds us back from what’s meant for us.

I help creative women with big dreams and busy lives silence the comparison noise and ditch what they think they “should” be doing so they can lean into what they really want most in their business: the joy, the finances, the freedom, all of it.

I offer individual coaching, speaking, and educator services for women and business events, both large and intimate. These services allow me to be that unbiased sounding board and straight-shooter business expert you need in your corner to help pinpoint where the growth you’re craving in your business is hiding and implement the right strategies to take you to the next level.

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

After interning in NYC during my senior year of college and landing a design job in the apparel industry back home in Tampa, FL, I quickly realized I needed an outlet where I could be my creative director.

I started a creative lifestyle blog called “One Crafty Miss,” covering everything crafting and DIY-related, and was working closely with fellow makers and creatives. I realized I enjoyed answering their questions and helping them build their brands more than blogging. I also discovered the value I offered with my design and marketing background, so I decided to begin teaching, eventually leading to coaching.

I can still remember the very first time I was hired as an educator for a women’s business conference, and I left that day so overwhelmed that I cried in my car afterward and told my husband that I’d never felt more purposeful in my entire career. Within a few weeks, I filed for my LLC and started taking on clients.

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

Comparison was the biggest trap, and I was getting in my own way. I quickly learned that every entrepreneur’s path is entirely different; there is no one right way to start your business. You have to do what’s right for you and silence the noise of people around you who aren’t on your journey.

I was employed as a technical designer for women’s athletic apparel by one of the largest apparel companies in the world. I traveled to NYC and Asia throughout the year, working early mornings, late nights, and weekends to grow my business.

I had a lot of false narratives playing in my head, and I wondered if I was pursuing the right path (I also had plenty of people helping feed that narrative). I began listing all the reasons I felt compelled to build this business and the future impact it could have in my life and that of other women.

After all of the crazy hours, soul-searching, and calculated risk-taking, I left my job to concentrate on my business while freelancing as a marketing manager for two local start-up non-profit organizations.

In December 2019, I made the jump to pursue my business full-time. I am so grateful I stepped out of “comparison”’ and forged my path. We get so stuck in comparing our business to others that we miss out on the potential to create something so uniquely us that the world can’t look away.

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

The best advice I will continue to share with fellow business owners is if you’re unsure if something will sell, just ask. Deploy the most straightforward market research, including surveys, feedback forms, and/or Instagram story polls. This will confirm the individuals you cater to and how they require your presence in the marketplace.

I’ve been in business since 2016, and there have been many pivots and evolutions in how I serve my market. I want to grow with my clients, which means understanding how they are growing. Finding out how they like to consume content, how often they crave support, how they value specific offers, their goals at different levels of business, and other vital answers continue to help me identify where I’m most needed.

There will always be other companies doing what we do; rarely are we reinventing the wheel. It’s about the unique way we show up and serve our audience that makes the difference! I am honored when clients share how many businesses they went through before finding mine and how they truly feel seen and heard, knowing I was the right coach.

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

There are moments in business where you feel growing pains. You can either listen to them and embrace where you’re growing next or ignore them and try to shrink into roles you’ve outgrown.

I wish this only happened at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, but it occurs increasingly as you hit new milestones. In my experience, one of the most helpful business growth strategies has been listening and identifying where I’m being called to serve each season and not getting stuck where it feels comfortable. Whether it’s my customers, my offers, or my marketing strategies, I’ve embraced change and pivot when needed, and it’s allowed me to move forward in serving clients and sales.

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

Since 2020, the coaching industry has expanded significantly, with numerous enterprises incorporating consulting into their services. While it can be daunting to witness a saturated market, I am confident that my ability to distinguish myself and attract clients and opportunities stems from my commitment to never employing a “one-size-fits-all” coaching approach.

Each creative business has unique needs, wants, and desires. Success looks different to every business. The strategies we implement for each business are always different and reflect their business identity. “Go For It, Creative” is about building your version of success, not anyone else’s. It is about going after what people want most and being okay with following a different path to build a business that honors those things.

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

The most rewarding part of being an entrepreneur is also the most challenging: seeing your vision come to life. I always tell people, ‘The hardest part of entrepreneurship is everything!’ But hard doesn’t mean it’s not worth it. It’s like Tom Hanks’s quote in A League of Their Own: “It’s supposed to be hard. If it weren’t hard, everyone would do it. The hard… is what makes it great.”

Witnessing the breakthrough you’ve tirelessly pursued in your business is unparalleled. I’ve never faced more significant challenges or exerted more effort in my career than when working for myself. Pursuing your calling as an entrepreneur brings a uniquely gratifying experience despite the inevitable hurdles. From my journey, having the right community, coach, mentor, and business allies who genuinely understand your journey further enhances the experience.

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

Nothing is more powerful than someone who’s decided to go for it! To toss whatever narrative the world is shouting, tell fear to take a backseat, trust your gut, and lean into the life that you feel called to create. The perfect cocktail of creativity and confidence changes the world, and you can do that. Don’t get stuck in the weeds of what everyone else is doing. Lean in and focus on what you feel called to create. Don’t be afraid to ask for help, build relationships, and put your work out there before it’s perfect. Remember, you don’t need to have it all figured out; you just need to take one step at a time.

The post From Overwhelmed to Confident: How Taryn Jerez Empowers Female Entrepreneurs to Pursue Their Passions appeared first on Entrepreneur Loop.

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.

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.

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.