Making Something From Nothing: James Rockwood Of CapIntel On How To Go From Idea To Launch
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
You’ll need to check your ego, constantly. As a leader, it is seldom worth it to be right. In order to grow, you’ll need to actively welcome feedback and lean on the expertise of your team. As the company grows, this will be of even greater importance as you will get further and further away from the day-to-day work each team member is doing.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing James Rockwood.
James Rockwood is the CEO and Founder of CapIntel, a B2B financial technology company that aims to streamline time-consuming tasks for advisors and provide quick perspectives on a client’s investments and proposal developments. After working in the financial industry for several years, James recognized the need for a digital transformation and set out to do just that. Now, over 10,000 financial advisors use CapIntel’s proprietary technology to enhance advisor-client relationships and client outcomes.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
I was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a Canadian city that’s very quickly becoming a tech and entrepreneurial hub. Growing up, I had always wanted to run a large business, but I initially pursued accounting and investment banking because I wanted a foundation in technical skills. While working in finance, I recognized I didn’t have a long-term future there so I started spending my free evenings working towards creating a business that would impact the world.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“First say to yourself what you would be, and then do what you have to do.” — Epictetus.
This quote plays a significant role in my life because of its relevance to enacting change. It reminds me that I need to take full responsibility in making my goals happen rather than leaving it up to external forces.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Yes! That would be “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.
While I knew I wanted to run a business, I wasn’t always certain about what type of business. What I was certain of was that I wanted to build a business in a way that served its people in a positive way. I read this book about six months before I started CapIntel. It stresses the importance of building a framework and culture that enables employees to find fulfillment and enjoy what they do.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
Building a business can seem like a big and daunting step, but I think it’s important not to put too much “ceremony” around starting a business.
I find that a lot of people put too much pressure on themselves by trying to wait for things to be perfect before starting. The key is to begin and continue to build on your product or idea while being flexible as things progress.
Give it your all and actively track what’s working and what’s not. By doing this, you will increase your chances of turning your idea into a thriving business.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
If you find yourself dismissing your ideas because of what others may or may not have done, you’ll need to shift your mindset. Your concern shouldn’t be whether an idea is new, but rather if you can execute on it best.
Initially, I recommend focusing on the existing pain points and not the solution. If there are clear, identifiable pain points, the current solutions in place are not addressing them, and that gap presents your opportunity. As an entrepreneur, your goal should be to address a pain point rather than to build a solution.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
Once you have an idea, devote time to developing it. Then, determine how to create a minimum viable product (MVP) for the lowest cost and effort. This would be a product or service that you can test in the market to validate that it can address a unique need. At this stage, I would recommend reading the book “The Lean Start-Up” by Eric Ries.
If you can’t afford to create an MVP or if you already have validation from an MVP, your next step is to raise money to create that product in a still-imperfect but more advanced form. A customer will likely purchase this version of the product or its next iteration, so you need to prioritize selling it. You must continue to iterate on the product or service while still selling it. Putting the product out there is the only way to know if people want to buy it.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?
- Fundraising is a lot harder than it sounds. In the early days of CapIntel, I used to benchmark myself against other companies because I repeatedly heard “it’s easy to get money.” That may be true for some, but it’s not the reality for most entrepreneurs, so you can’t let yourself get discouraged. You need to stick with it and try to block out what others are doing. There’s no such thing as an easy dollar, so you have to accept the reality, work hard and smart, and focus on your business.
- Raising money doesn’t necessarily translate to success. Many well-funded companies fail, so your benchmark of success should be rooted in your business. You’ll need to ask yourself the following questions:
Are people willing to buy my product?
Is the feedback I’m receiving positive?
Do I see a future where my product will improve and solve a pain point better as I continue to build? If you can solve that model, you’re already successful.
3. Your team will never operate at 100%. Especially at the growth stage, there are so many variables and factors beyond your control that will impact your team. You’ll need to actively look out for and be ready to respond to issues your team is facing. This effort will be continuous as long as you have a team working for you. The key is to build a culture where people feel safe to share when they’re not at 100% and ensure there is support for those team members.
4. You’ll need to check your ego, constantly. As a leader, it is seldom worth it to be right. In order to grow, you’ll need to actively welcome feedback and lean on the expertise of your team. As the company grows, this will be of even greater importance as you will get further and further away from the day-to-day work each team member is doing.
5. Say goodbye to your anonymity. People will start paying more attention to what you do and say. This means your words will have a lot more weight than they once did. You’ll need to be very mindful and intentional when interacting with your team because you can inadvertently impact people negatively. On the flip side, you can also empower people and make them feel good about themselves and the work they do. As a leader, your job is to create the best possible environment for people to succeed.
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
- Buy “The Lean Start-Up” by Eric Ries and get familiar with that approach.
- Build out the minimum viable product, feasibly.
- Test your product.
I would caution against over-analyzing the market because it will likely lead to you not trying. Trying is the only way to see if your idea will be successful. Unless you’re replicating something that already exists and is massively well-funded and incredibly successful, you can likely create a space for yourself in the market.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
Invention development consultants can be useful in certain situations, but I wouldn’t recommend them during the first attempt at entrepreneurship. No one, even an invention development consultant, can tell you whether your product will work, and by trying to bring someone on to do just that, there could be lasting impacts on your journey as an entrepreneur. Your first attempt is when you will be the least certain and knowledgeable — however, being in this position leads to plenty of opportunities for growth and critical learnings.
I had a mentor once tell me, “never fall in love with the hero.” There will be times when it seems like someone can solve all your problems, which is rarely ever the case.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
I don’t believe that one option is objectively better than the other as they serve different purposes based on your situation and goals. With CapIntel, we did neither; our approach involved completing two accelerator programs, Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) and Next Founders.
When we started looking for our first accelerator, we were at a point where we needed to realign our vision for CapIntel and get our product in front of more investors and clients. For us, it wasn’t just the opportunity to find investors that appealed to us but also the exposure to accomplished mentors and support on the business development side.
After we graduated from our first accelerator, CDL, I stayed focused on the business, and we began generating more significant revenue. We were very close to product-market fit, so it made sense to accelerate again to learn how to position the business for the next round of funding. Our second accelerator program, Next Founder, was specifically designed for companies at that stage.
Ultimately, no matter what approach you take, it’s important to remember that fundraising doesn’t always mean success.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Our long-term mission at CapIntel is to drive the industry towards a holistic approach to wealth management that builds wealth for all. Thus far, we’ve supported over 10,000 financial advisors across North America to improve their clients’ outcomes. Our platform allows advisors to provide greater support to their clients who have needed an unprecedented level of service over the last few years.
We are also working on a program to help new fintech companies kick-start their growth. Our vision for this new program is to equip these startups with quality hardware in the form of gently-used laptops, as well as access to mentors.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
One of my goals as a leader is to elevate the standard of work culture. People devote so much of their time to their work, so it’s important to me that they do it in a great environment.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I would have to say, Will Smith. I recently read his memoir “Will” and found his story very inspiring. A central theme that resonated with me was his focus on spreading the message about motivation and work ethic. I’d be very interested to dive into that conversation a little deeper over a meal.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.