What start-up entrepreneurs can expect to learn by listening to the CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast
Listen in to our newest podcast where entrepreneurs and small businesses will learn the secrets to success, including how to build a minimal viable product, pivot a company’s target clientele, and scale-up to a global level.
CIBC Innovation Banking is a trusted financial partner to entrepreneurs and investors. Get in touch with our team at cibc.com/innovationbanking.
Michael: Hello. I'm Michael Hainsworth, host of the CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast. Each episode we learn from successful entrepreneurs in the innovation economy about how they built their ideas from the ground up and position their business for exponential growth. Like how Bridgit co-founder, Lauren Lake, dragged the construction industry into the 21st century.
Lauren: The feedback that we consistently got outside of the construction industry was, "Wow, that's a great idea in theory, but it will never actually work." In those first couple site visits, the main thing we wanted to prove was, is that actually true?
Michael: You walk into a room acting like you know better than everyone else, that room does kind of shut down on you.
Lauren: Yeah, exactly. We knew that we had to get a better understanding of what the challenges were before we just went out there and built something. And so the first six months we didn't do anything other than show up on job sites and ask questions like, "What's the biggest challenge that you have day to day?"
Michael: We discover how CEO David Barrett's growth stage juggernaut, Expensify, just keeps rolling out the profits. His expense management company wouldn't be one of the biggest in the world today if he listened to Silicon Valley.
David: Expensify is actually profitable. We put cash in the bank every month. And so as a result, we're not really beholden to the Silicon Valley sort of norms. So you always used to have to be raising money and spending money and so forth. We just control our own destiny.
Michael: And we found out from 7Shifts founder, Jordan Boesch, what he was thinking when he chose to turn away two out of three of his customers.
Jordan: We took a bet early on that the restaurant industry would be something that would explode.
Michael: For insight into how you can apply the personal and professional lessons of successful entrepreneurs to your start-up company, subscribe to the CIBC Innovation Banking Podcast today on iTunes, Spotify, or Google Play.