BTU #78 - Josh Carter: TechStars, Operation Code, Patriot Bootcamp and more

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“ Stop worrying about the beta, and just get the product out. If you are not embarrassed by your first product, then you're doing it wrong. It should be ugly, it should be clunky, it should be what you think it should be... but less. And once you get it in the hands of the customer, the customer is going to tell you what they like and what they don't like. And that's what we realized - we were trying to be perfectionists. You want your product to be perfect, but you make these assumptions that it's going to be valuable. And the best way to do that is get it in the hands of the customer who will tell you if they find value in it." – Josh Carter

Josh Carter is the Co-Founder & CEO of Brightwork, a microservices platform that enables developers to build faster on a reliable and scalable solution. Since their founding they’ve raised over $300K in funding and have gone through Techstars in Chicago. Josh started out in the Navy, where he served for about 3 years. Since his time in the Navy he’s held multiple engineering roles in the Telecom industry and eventually a Senior Support Engineer at the startup, Twilio, a communication startup that went public earlier this year. Josh founded his own digital marketing agency - Plunk - and is also a former founding board member of Operation Code.

The top reason to listen to today’s show is:

• Support - Josh has been living in the startup world for a while, and has a great overview of different resources available for other veteran entrepreneurs. In particular, he talks about TechStars, and gives a fantastic overview of this 3 month program, as well as Patriot Bootcamp and other great resources. In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

Our Sponsor

Audible is offering one FREE audio book to Beyond the Uniform listeners. You can claim this offer here, and see a list of books recommended by my guests at BeyondTheUniform.io/books

Selected Links

• Twilio
• Brightwork.io
• Plunk
• TechStars - this was a great help for Josh in starting a venture backed company. It is a 3-month program offered all over the United States. They take 6% of the company in exchange for $120,000 in funding.
• FounderCon - all TechStar founders get together for one year
• Patriot Bootcamp - offshoot of the TechStars core program. It's a one weekend program that is very intense, but very targeted in preparing veterans for entrepreneurship
• Operation Code - Chris was a founding board member; they help transitioning veterans get into coding - finding mentors and sharing advice for becoming a programmer
• Resources
  • Meetup.com - Coffee with CoFounders - lowkey get togethers are rotating coffee shops for founders to connect with each other and talk about what they're struggling with

Show Notes

• 1:45 - Josh's background
• 2:30 - When Josh knew he would leave the military and how he approached this decision
• 3:20 - What Josh's first job search looked like and how he found the Art Academy to be different than he expected. He talks about how he found his way to the Telecom industry
• 4:23 - An overview on the Telecom industry and the sorts of jobs Josh held
• 5:16 - An overview of Josh's work at Brightwork, as well as the engagements he held before then
• 7:57 - What it was like for Josh to be actively employed at Twilio while running his own digital agency
• 9:15 - The moment when Josh first had the idea of Brightwork
• 11:55 - An overview of TechStars and how Josh ended up in Chicago
• 15:28 - How TechStars provides an investment of $125k for 6% of the company
• 17:38 - An overview of Patriot Bootcamp and Josh's experience
• 19:46 - What Josh's founding team looks like and advice to veterans for finding initial team members
• 25:48 - What Josh's life looks like on a day-to-day basis as part of an early stage startup
• 28:50 - Josh's advice to other veterans considering starting their own company
• 35:10 - Other resources Josh would encourage other veterans to check out
• 39:32 - An overview of Operation Code and how Veterans might engage with them
• 41:00 - One of the biggest mistakes Josh made in his entrepreneurial journey and what he learned from it
• 44:00 - Josh's final words of wisdom

BTU #69 - Alex Martin: Marine to Global Entrepreneur at AC Global Risk

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“At this point, I don't think I really could have a boundary [between professional and personal life]. It's not about a forty-hour work week, and being able to accomplish everything in forty hours; I get that. It's about constantly thinking about the product, thinking about the customers we have and the customers we want, where we're going to go and what the next steps are. I just can't turn it off: I dream about it, I think about it every minute, and there is no separation. Maybe that's unhealthy and a bad thing, but at this point if no one is as fanatically excited and obsessed with the product we're trying to create than the founders then I don't think it can work at this stage." – Alex Martin

Alex Martin is the CEO & Co-Founder of AC Global Risk, a company that creates solutions to transform how companies & governments vet, screen and assess internal and external human-based risk. Alex started out at the Naval Academy and served in the Marine Corps for seven years as a Infantry & Ground Reconnaissance Officer. After his transition from the Marines he founded Skye Maritime - maritime security services to commercial shipping - as well as the Kenya Team Leader for the non-profit, Nuru International. Alex is currently a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves.

The top three reasons to listen to this episode are:

1. Service - Alex has continued to serve in the Marine Corps Reserves, he worked in Kenya with the organization Nuru helping local farmers grow their income, and his own company - AC Global Risk - has a service element as well. He’s a great role model for keeping service an active component in his life, and talks about how to serve as a for-profit venture
2. Startups - Alex started his first company straight of the Marine Corps and it failed. He learned from it, and is on his second company, AC Global Risk. He is very honest and balanced in this interview about failure, about mistakes, and how these are essential for entrepreneurs
3. Stanford Ignite - Alex goes in depth on the Stanford Ignite program as well as many other really valuable resources for those of you interested in startups

Our Sponsor

Audible is offering one FREE audio book to Beyond the Uniform listeners. You can claim this offer here, and see a list of books recommended by my guests at BeyondTheUniform.io/books

Selected Links

• A great article on Alex and his company: http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/career-advice/job-hunting/from-marines-to-entrepreneur-alex-martin.html
  • • Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World
    • The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers
    • Get Backed: Craft Your Story, Build the Perfect Pitch Deck, and Launch the Venture of Your Dreams - more on technical side, the top 15-20 pitch decks. Can take this and pick and choose what you like and choose your ownBook Recommendations
    • The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Law, 4th Edition - save $1000's on legal
• Related Podcasts
  • Great EO Fire podcast episode that talks about the power of obsession in startups. I reference this in the interview and think it’s really relevant to entrepreneurship. Be Obsessed or Be Average, it’s that simple says Grant Cardone 
  • Don Faul interview - referenced as a huge resource of support

Show Notes

• 2:08 - Alex's background
• 2:50 - Alex's decision to transition from the Marine Corps to a civilian career
• 3:39 - Alex's experience being part of the Reserves and how it has impacted his civilian career
• 5:32 - Alex's experience as part of the Stanford Ignite program and how this impacted his entrepreneurial experience
• 7:49 - An overview of Stanford Ignite as a program for veterans
• 10:22 - Alex's experience at Nuru International
• 15:15 - The genesis of Alex's second company, AC Global Risk
• 17:40- An overview of AC Global Risk
• 19:21  - What Alex's day-to-day life looks like as the CEO of AC Global Risk
• 21:11 - Alex's lifestyle as an entrepreneur married to another entrepreneur
• 24:27 - How long it took Alex to be able to pay himself as salary while he was starting his own company
• 28:43 - Alex's biggest mistake in starting his own company and what he learned from it
• 33:03 - Alex's team size at AC Global Risk and what his team looks like
• 34:22 - Advice for any veteran thinking of starting their own company
• 35:36 - Resources Alex would recommend to any veteran thinking of starting their own company
• 37:53 - Advice for veterans seeking to raising capital for their own company, and the fundraising experience
• 43:40 - Habits that Alex had to break when he left the military in order to be successful in his civilian career
• 45:55 - Other mistakes that Alex made since departing the military and what he learned from them
• 48:47 - Final words of wisdom for veterans of the Armed Forces

BTU #44 - Sam Bond: Bain, Coca-Cola, and General Manager at Lyft

“When I left Bain I reached out to a variety of folks… to explore what was out there. I kept in touch with those folks, and made a point to regularly get back in touch with people and see what they’re up to. It was after a meeting like that - we grabbed coffee and didn’t think much of it at the time, but he called me a few weeks later to let me know that Lyft was starting up in Atlanta. It was basically a lightening bolt that made me aware. It appeared and it appeared because I made contacts and maintained them." – Sam Bond

Sam Bond is a General Manager at Lyft - a company most listeners have probably used for their app which makes it simple for you to find a ride whenever you need one. Although only four years old, Lyft has raised $2B in funding, and has nearly 6k employees listed on LinkedIn. Sam started out at Princeton University and then served as an officer in the Marine Corps for 4 years. After his service, he attended the University of Virginia - Darden Graduate School of Business. He worked in consulting at Bain & Company as a Consultant and then Case Team Leader. He also worked at the Coca-Cola Company - first as a Director Supply Chain Strategy and then as a Group Director of Strategy and Portfolio Management.

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

• An overview of the General Manager position at Lyft
• Indications that a veteran may enjoy the role of General Manager, and indications that it might not be a good fit for them
• What it's like to work at an explosively growing startup (and the pros and cons of joining a company on an exponential growth path)
• An overview of entry level positions at Coca-Cola for a newly transitioned veteran
• How Sam looks back on his journey to a role of General Manager
• And much, much more…

• • Listen to it on iTunes.
  • Stream by clicking here.
  • Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Links

• The ride sharing service, Lyft

Show Notes

• 2:23 - Sam's background
• 3:27 - An overview of the General Manager position at Lyft
• 7:27 - Sam's day-to-day life at Lyft
• 11:58 - Indications that a veteran may enjoy the role of General Manager, and indications that it might not be a good fit for them
• 15:00 - What it's like to work at an explosively growing startup (and the pros and cons of joining a company on an exponential growth path)
• 19:20 - Sam's decision to leave the Marine Corps
• 22:05 - Sam's view on an MBA and how essential it is to a veteran aspiring to a General Manager role
• 24:04 - How Sam decided to enter Management Consulting at Bain & Company
• 26:25 - Some of the skills that Sam learned at Bain that have helped him in his role as General Manager
• 29:45 - How Sam's lifestyle changed between a Consultant to a Case Team Leader
• 31:50 - After three years, how Sam transitioned from Bain & Company to Coca-Cola
• 34:50 - An overview of Sam's roles at Coca-Cola
• 38:20 - An overview of entry level positions at Coca-Cola for a newly transitioned veteran
• 41:10 - How Sam transitioned from Coca-Cola to Lyft
• 47:32 - How Sam looks back on his journey to a role of General Manager
• 50:00 - How leadership outside of the military differs from leadership within the military
• 52:20 - Final words of wisdom from Sam

BTU #43 - Todd Pringle: General Manager at Stitcher, and a history of Product Management

“Many Product Managers - most of them, actually - don't have anyone directly working for them. They work with everybody and yet are the owner - and that's a really interesting role. One of the things that I found useful in the military that I translated was: I found - personally - that getting things done, even in the military where it is more hierarchical, that treating people as peers and as experts in their area; that motivating them to get things done without using your direct authority over them was the best way to get things done. And that skill set really translates well to Product Management. " – Todd Pringle

Todd Pringle General Manager and Vice President of Product at Stitcher - the podcasting app that many of you are use to listen to this podcast, and was acquired by Midroll. Todd started out at UCLA, after which he served in the Navy for 4 years as part of the Supply Corps. After his transition out of the military, Todd attended the Stanford Graduate School of Business. After this he held a variety of Product Management roles - at Netscape and AOL in the early 2000s, and then eBay, AirPlay and then a company called Yoono. Todd also holds two US Patents

In this conversation, we cover a lot of topics, including:

• An overview of the role of General Manager & VP of Product
• How the role of Product Manager has changed over the last 15 years
• How Todd would approach the Product Manager role if he were starting over again today
• Indications that you may enjoy Product Management, and signs you might dislike it
• An overview of Todd's career in Product Management since business school
• Advice on the decision between joining a startup vs. a more established company
• Things you can do right now to start building a skill set to be a Product Manager
• And much, much more…

• • Listen to it on iTunes.
  • Stream by clicking here.
  • Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How can I make these episodes more valuable to active duty military personnel considering transitioning to the civilian world? Please let me know in the comments.

Scroll below for links and show notes…

Links

• Todd's Company - Stitcher - is my favorite app for listening to podcasts

Show Notes

• 2:24 - Todd's background
• 3:26 - An overview of the role of General Manager & VP of Product
• 5:39 - The General Manger role on a day-to-day basis
• 7:12 - What drew Todd to the Product Manager role after business school
• 11:00 - How the role of Product Manager has changed over the last 15 years
• 12:45 - How Todd would approach the Product Manager role if he were starting over again today
• 15:12 - Indications that you may enjoy Product Management, and signs you might dislike it
• 17:40 - How leadership has differed outside of the military vs. inside the military
• 19:15 - An overview of Todd's career in Product Management since business school
• 24:18 - Advice on the decision between joining a startup vs. a more established company
• 27:52 - Things you can do right now to start building a skill set to be a Product Manager
• 29:55 - Habits that have helped - and hurt - veterans in the civilian world
• 33:29 - How to know when to move on from one company - or role - to the next
• 36:36 - How Todd approached the Reserves
• 39:09 - An overview of Todd's company, Stitcher
• 43:11 - Some of Todd's favorite podcasts
• 44:53 - Final words of wisdom from Todd