What was your first job?
My first job besides busing tables at the Outback Steakhouse was with Ford Motor Company as an intern in the power steering application engineering division. I was on a team that won an automotive design competition my senior year in high school and Ford offered us all summer internships after graduation as a result. I was the only one on the team who took the job and right away I knew that mechanical engineering and the automotive industry was where I belonged!
What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given as an entrepreneur?
For years I have struggled with the conflict between a strong risk aversion and my budding entrepreneurial spirit. One night while eating dinner with a mentor of mine and discussing this conflict he told me “don’t worry so much, if you try something and it doesn’t work out you aren’t going to die…you’ll be okay”. That bit of advice put so much perspective around my inborn risk aversion that it truly freed me to go and pursue things that I never would have had to guts to do before that conversation.
Where do you come up with the inspiration for your ideas?
It is usually when I least expect it and often times happens when I’m socializing with others and discussing their experiences or the projects they are working on. It is then that I realize that there could be a connection between that thing and something I’ve experienced or worked on in the past. That little spark is usually the seed of inspiration that grows into a new idea for me.
Do you have a routine before your pitch to investors?
Yes. I pray. My faith plays a very strong roll in my life and with every pitch that I’ve made and in all the considerations that go into actually making a deal what I am after is not the “best deal” but the “blessed deal”.
What is the biggest mistake that you have ever made as an entrepreneur?
Allowing the wrong people to stay on the bus for too long. In hind sight this is easy to see, but while in the moment it is very difficult, as purging people from your organization can be hard, especially if you don’t feel like they can be replaced right away. However, I’ve learned a few hard lessons in this regard and am now working hard to make that determination much more quickly.
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