Build Bridges Before Kingdoms

Some advice for building the right things first and the first things right

I was sitting across the table from three founders in their mid-twenties in a trendy restaurant tucked away on the north side of Manhattan Beach, California. During our dinner conversation over the last hour, it had become relatively clear that all of them were intelligent, ambitious, and creative — which led me to my next question: “So why hasn’t this thing taken off?”

These founders had traveled from halfway across the country on a rapidly depleting bank account to have this conversation. They were here to explain to our leadership team why they hadn’t been able to find traction for their new line of ed-tech products over the last three years, and why our company should acquire them nonetheless.

Immediately, one of the founders responded in a tone that reeked of late nights asking himself the exact same question:

“We built a kingdom on an island, but we never built a bridge”.

He went on to explain that he and his two co-founders had built a line of products for the “Future of Education” — for the future teacher, student, and parent. Yet, when they attempted to sell their products to the schools of today, the pitch fell flat…