Founder Pivots and Adaptability
“Forward movement is not helpful if what is needed is a change of direction.” ~David Fleming
Ever run into a brick wall?
What do you do?
The key is to pivot. Don’t let a “slump” get you in a dump. Not even a global crisis.
Search for knowledge and proven techniques to break through!
If you are serious about finding answers,
If you want to learn from actual business founders in the field,
Then this week’s event was perfect for you!
But, if you did miss it, I have you covered!
I captured the key details here, so hopefully you can glean some valuable nuggets from this short read:
Our 5 featured founders kicked off the event with their personal pivoting stories. Open discussion then prompted deeper conversation on current world issues and even some on the adaptability of humans with philosopher and writer, Garret Dailey (aion.media)
You came with your thinking caps on and there were some rather bright bulbs in the audience asking questions (thank you!) and I look forward to the next event this Thursday!
So, tell us how can we #SHIFT:
Adrian Larrea
Co-founder of Tribucha
What do you do when life gives you lemons?
You make some Main Squeeze lemon flavored kombucha.
Except in a can. . . not that beautiful glass bottle like Adrian had dreamed.
A passionate entrepreneur, Adrian Larrea co-founded Tribucha with his partner and it is now one of the fastest growing companies in the United States. It sells like hotcakes in 23 states, at over 1400 locations. So his lesson learned is don’t hold on to that ‘sinking boat’.
Let go.
Adrian had a dream of his famous kombucha brew in a beautiful glass bottle, savoring each delicious drink in classic style. Unfortunately, the world wasn’t interested in glass bottles at the time… In a dynamic, consumer driven market, bottles were trending down.
So when he was offered a chance to supply his kombucha in cans, for half of the midwest, he quickly adapted his vision to include cans. Maybe he could finally see his cold brew in cool, frosty cans in fridges across America. Thanks to their ability to quickly pivot, Tribucha has become a thriving brand.
Lesson learned: Adrian believes there is an underlying passion inside of all of us — a driving force — pushing us into the future and spreading consciousness as ideas. Your ideas cause rifts and shifts, you might even drift, but in hindsight the results are always beneficial to others and self.
So share. Tell how you overcame and grew from your struggles.
Matthew Phillips,
Founder & CEO of Project Transcend
We’ve all had that “30-minute daze” — e.g. that mind-numbing blur, sitting in front of Facebook, scrolling, getting absolutely nothing done for half an hour and coming out frustrated at Zuckerberg . But after hearing Matthew’s story, I reconsidered my own motivation on social media—was it for family? Community? The journey? It is something worth considering.
Highly-acclaimed in enterprise tech and digital transformation, Matthew was responsible for over 9-figures in revenue across federal, commercial, and international markets. At 38 years old, he was at the top. Until a near death experience left him keenly aware that every minute matters. . .
In that “moment” of clarity, he shifted his perspective on life. His entire paradigm changed: life is too short . So he created an entirely new platform to preserve those precious parts of life we savor. Project Transcend prioritizes what matters: people, memories, photos, and relationships.
In his mind, the time-wasting, eye-glazing energy we constantly throw at our screens should be spent embodying the people. By filtering for purely wholesome content, Matthew’s app captures the memories and personalities of significant others in his life .
His dream will revolutionize how we experience life and love — forever — creating a place to remember, share, and immortalize the things we want to remember. The things worth passing on to our children.
Lesson learned: Decide what really matters and pursue that ideal with everything. Project Transcend returns us to that state and preserves what makes us human. In a simple, succinct, shareable way. Forever.
Dr. Gabe Pappalardo
Founder & Director of Six Wing Studios
Six Wing Studios is a Raleigh-based, video-game studio. As a designer and influencer, Gabe’s vision is to deliver quality, compelling narratives that don’t skimp on players. He is reaching his audience on a social levelthrough engaging and intricate game-play.
His method? All in, comprehensive service across the board. He empowered players to improve their self, thus enabling them to help others. They gain mastery over their mental and emotional well-being while playing his games. In addition to the social elements, players are interacting with positive animated characters he created. Over all, the goal is to invest in real people through virtual narratives.
Lesson learned: Be realistic in your scope of revenue. Be willing to compromise on your predicted revenue projections. The key is staying balanced — do NOT blindly pursue your ideal revenue avenue. Don’t sink when there are possibly life-saving (albeit less appealing) options available. Adapt and shift — survive.
Randall Shapiro,
Co-Founder & CEO of Miravel.
Randall Shapiro is a quirky, lighthearted designer — extremely passionate about giving back to his community — who enjoys working with bright, determined people. But he really loves working with the ones who are a little crazy — maybe just crazy enough to think they could change the world. . . (In all honesty, those are the ones who usually do.).
Randall’s goal is to empower people to lead healthy and sustainable lives. “You give a poor man a fish and you feed him for a day. You teach him to fish and you give him an occupation that will feed him for a lifetime.” Randall has made it easier than ever to grow fresh food at home. By educating and providing resources to average people, he has enabled them to become self-sufficient — a rarity in today’s culture.
Randall believes life is a framework of opportunities. When a crisis emerges, he quickly adapts and overcomes — R.I.P. the “Good ‘ol Times” — he cut costs and reduced overhead. Quick thinking and the resulting accomplishments have received international acclaim (and rightly so).
Lesson learned: don’t death spiral. Obstinate is as good as quitting on yourself. Really, just think of all you could accomplish and everything you could achieve if you adapted from the start.
Randall invites you to check out his company at www.miravel.com
and on IG & FB: @miravel.life
Connect with Randall on LinkedIn: @miravel
Tim Clarke
President of Remarq
Tim Clarke graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne with a marketing degree — he was drafted into the NFL but refused to play the politics game and resigned.
After leaving the NFL, he spent most of his career as a real estate agent — determined to be the best in his niche. Unfortunately, Tim switched careers in 2008 — right before the housing crash — and his only option was selling foreclosed houses. So he sold houses for banks for years — but he applied himself with the same passion he applied to his football career.
He became the best in bank real estate, earning his piece of pie by pivoting.
Lesson learned: Early in my career, I understood the importance of digital marketing. I’ve explored many variations of marketing and learned that effective marketing doesn’t pigeonhole. The best marketing actually comes from multiple unique angles. So, I founded Remarq as an extension of my real estate marketing. My goal was to enhance our client’s digital presence and to emphasize the value proposition each individual brought to the table.
Pivot and refocus on what matters: people. If people are not happy — if the people are not passionate about it — then it can not work.
“Losers focus on winners, winners focus on winning.”
Paradigm is an alliance of forward thinking founders, innovators, and thinkers — Learn more about how Paradigm can help you design better product, brand, and digital experiences that help you fund-raise, develop, and launch: www.paradigm.cx
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— \\ Up coming events // —
If you have not yet attended a Founder’s series event, consider marking your calendar for May 7th, Thursday at 5:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time). We will be listening to 10 intriguing pitches from founders and discuss their strengths and weaknesses.
If you know anyone who would benefit from pitching their idea, please have them email us at pitch@paradigmid.com
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Otherwise, we hope you enjoyed some first-hand accounts of pivots that saved businesses.
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Together, we will master the future.
Together we will dare to #SHIFT.
