The Journey

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The Will to Survive with Clarence Bethea, Founder and CEO of Upsie Jul 30, 2019

Show notes

Clarence Bethea (Twitter, LinkedIn) is the founder of Upsie — a company that sells extended warranties for consumer electronics. But Clarence isn’t a typical startup founder. He didn’t go to an ivy league university. He doesn’t live in Silicon Valley. And entrepreneurship wasn’t even on his radar as a kid. He had a rough childhood. And most of the time, his biggest concern was finding food, and surviving until the next day.

“If you had asked me when I was ten years old, what do you want to be when you grow up, my answer was always the same, and that was “alive”. I still remember my mom saying to me, you're going to be dead or in prison by the time you're 18. And, so for me, I had this running joke for a long time, I just want to make it to be an old man. I feel like that would be a success for me. And, even today I fight towards that.”

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

The Journey is sponsored by our friends at Salesforce Essentials. We use Salesforce Essentials every day and it’s part of our own business journey. Essentials combines sales and service tools in a single app to help small businesses win customers and keep them happy. See how Salesforce Essentials can help you be your best business at salesforce.com/thejourney

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The Power of 'I Don't Know' with Nadia Masri, Founder and CEO of Perksy Jul 26, 2019

Show notes

Nadia Masri (Twitter, LinkedIn) is the Founder and CEO of Perksy, a platform for gathering consumer insights and market research. She believes that life is too short to pretend you have all the answers. As a leader, it can feel like you have to always know the answers. You’re the captain of the ship, and success or failure rests on your shoulders. But the truth is, you’re not alone. You have friends, family, advisors and mentors for a reason. It’s okay to say “I don’t know”. If you ask Nadia, it’s more than okay — it’s empowering. Admitting you don’t know gives you permission to gather new insights, learn, and strengthen not just yourself, but your whole team.

“I think what is loneliest in the founder journey is the feeling like you have to do everything alone, and that it's all on you. And while that's kind of true in some ways, I think the process doesn't have to be as lonely. I think you can loop other people into it. Even if they're just sitting there with you, I think that's a big thing.”

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Letting Go of Your Plan with Rachel Carlson, Co-founder and CEO of Guild Education Jul 22, 2019

Show notes

Rachel Carlson (Twitter, LinkedIn) would tell you that it's great to have a plan. But sometimes you have to throw out the plan. She's the Co-founder and CEO of Guild Education, a company that helps employers design and offer education-as-benefit programs to employees.

“You're not in charge of the plan. You can plan, but what do they say? Planning is everything, but the plan is worthless. And the plan gets thrown out the door sometimes.”

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Optimism in the Face of Uncertainty with Kmele Foster, Founder of Freethink Media Jul 18, 2019

Show notes

Kmele Foster (Twitter, Website) is an optimist. He’s not blind to the challenges facing the world. As a former cable news anchor, he’s keenly aware of daunting global issues, including the pitfalls of a 24-hour news cycle. But he also knows there are independent thinkers out there working tirelessly to fix those problems. Kmele co-founded Freethink Media to showcase the problem-solvers going toe-to-toe with the world’s biggest threats.

“We've never been better positioned to be able to tackle the world's big problems. We think that's the most important and under-explored story of our time. The things that people might do today and tomorrow could change the course of human history for the better, so we want to tell that story.”

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Building a Legacy with Brian Linton, Founder and CEO of United By Blue Jul 16, 2019

Show notes

Brian Linton (LinkedIn, Twitter) started out as a kid who loved fish and wound up founding United By Blue — a company that’s focused on cleaning up the world’s oceans. Despite starting the business in a recession, he’s thrived and learned lessons along the way about becoming a leader, building a focused business, and not losing sight of what’s really important.

“When you look at the world, the world doesn't need sustainability at this point. It needs to get better. And so we want to be a part of helping the world thrive.”

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Asymmetric Forces with Adam Blitzer, Co-founder of Pardot Jun 10, 2019

Show notes

Adam Blitzer (LinkedIn, Twitter) had an $8 domain name when he and his co-founder started their company, Pardot. They were battling against other competitors with hundreds of millions of dollars in VC backing and resources that Adam could only dream of. But instead of seeing a tough fight and throwing in the towel, Adam took lessons he learned on the judo mat and applied them to his business.

"The whole idea of judo, in theory, is designed around the idea of asymmetric forces, so not competing strength against strength but using your strength against your opponent's weakness. In the startup world, if you try to compete strength for strength against an established player, it's kind of a fool's errand. You're just playing the game that they want you to play."

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Learning From Your Mistakes with Rick Nucci, Co-founder and CEO of Guru May 09, 2019

Show notes

Rick Nucci (LinkedIn, Twitter) is the co-founder and CEO of Guru — an enterprise tool to unify knowledge across the teams in your company. But in the early 2000s, he was still working on his first business, Boomi, and he was having trouble getting along with his own team. He was just 24 years old. He loved living in Philadelphia, but he had no network of peers. He had to learn lessons on his own, the hard way.

When I started Boomi, I was 24 years old and I really didn't know what I was doing at all, to be honest… There was no Lean Startup, there wasn't any of that stuff. I think we hoped we'd build a cool big meaningful business… But a lot of naïvity, to be totally honest.

After parting ways with his co-founders, Rick rebuilt his company with a new team, a new sense of purpose, and a new trajectory. Boomi was reborn in 2005. They took a big bet on cloud integration — a technology that wasn’t yet proven — and it paid off. Boomi was acquired by Dell in 2010, 10 years after its founding. The acquisition provided Rick an opportunity that would soon be the focus of his next venture, Guru, which he is building today with all the lessons learned during the past decade.

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Reinventing Yourself with A.G. Riddle, Author and Former Entrepreneur May 03, 2019

Show notes

Jerry Riddle (Website, Twitter) grew up in an entrepreneurial environment. His grandpa was an entrepreneur. His dad was an entrepreneur. So when he found himself in college during the dot com boom, the way forward seemed clear. He started an internet business. Despite initial success, Jerry found himself unfulfilled.

“I think the first 10 years of your professional life, I think should be about self-discovery. And that if you're willing to be honest with yourself about what your strengths and weaknesses are, I think it's that's the wind at your back. I mean, you are able to kind of zero in on what you ought to be doing, what you can do best.”

By being brutally honest with himself, Jerry was able to ascertain his true strengths and weaknesses. From there, reinvented himself as a science-fiction writer. This path has not only led to further success, but to true fulfillment.

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Finding Happiness in Life and Business with Shawn Achor, Author and Happiness Researcher Apr 30, 2019

Show notes

Shawn Achor (Website, Twitter) has built a successful career as an author and a happiness researcher. It’s a niche industry, but one that impacts every single person in the world. You might assume that someone who studies happiness would always be on the upswing, but for Shawn, his greatest findings — and what has helped him be successful as an author and advisor for businesses large and small — came from some of the toughest struggles of his life.

“When I got depressed at Harvard, the turning point was when I moved away from trying to solve this individually to opening up to my friends, my eight closest friends and family, and telling them, ‘I've been depressed for two years. I really need your help. I don't know if I can overcome this.’ The groundswell of support is amazing.”

Going through that experience colored how Shawn went about his work, built a business and created a career that was meaningful for him and all those who work with him.

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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Your Unique Advantage with Tero Isokauppila, Founder of Four Sigmatic Apr 25, 2019

Show notes

Tero Isokauppila has a strange background. He grew up hunting mushrooms in the woods with his family. He’s a man of many contradictions. He’s a new age hippy, who also served in the Finnish military. But by taking the things that are unique about himself and putting them out into the world, he was able to create value and start a successful business.

“Health, wellness, and sports nutrition were always kind of a big focus of mine. But I never thought I would build a business around them. That was not my intention at all.”

Tero took his passion and the knowledge he had that set him apart and he built Four Sigmatic. The path was unconventional for sure, but Tero’s journey teaches us that sometimes the things that make us different are actually what set us up for success.

Learn more about The Journey at mission.org/thejourney.

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