This week How success is createdI spoke with Stephen Lease, CEO and co-founder of sunglasses brand Goodr. He’s had an incredible profession, and I used to be curious about what inspired him to develop into an entrepreneur, how selling industrial water treatment systems to golf courses taught him to discover what his core customer base really cares about, and how he applied the lessons he learned from his time in corporate America to founding Goodr.
You can hearken to our entire conversation above, and below I’ve picked out three of my most vital takeaways.
Don’t let sunk costs keep you stuck in something that does not work
When you begin a business and you’re sure it’s a great idea, your family members will root for you irrespective of what. Lease began five firms before he found success with Goodr, and despite his early confidence in all of them, it will definitely became clear that hope isn’t a solid strategy when the business just isn’t working. Early on in his entrepreneurial journey, it was painful to come back to terms with the closure of a company he’d invested his energy in, but he eventually became good at starting firms cheaply and quickly determining whether or not they would succeed.
Time stamp – 8:50-10:30
When you alter your mindset and start celebrating the work, not the results, the ups and downs of the each day grind will develop into a gift
Lease began Goodr as a side hustle, which meant he worked around the clock for a few years before he began running the company full-time. He’s often asked where he got the motivation to place in so much time, and the only answer he can come up with is that he found joy in his day-to-day life. As a leader, he desires to encourage his team to take on big challenges, and sometimes which means putting in a ton of effort to fail. But he assures them that failure is okay, so long as you rejoice the results you’ve worked for.
Time stamp — 19:40-20:50
You cannot be a jack of all trades – discover your north star as your brand and do it twice
When Lease and his co-founders launched Goodr, they weren’t sure if it might be a lifestyle brand or an eyewear brand, but after a few years, they took an honest look at the business and realized that eyewear was what they did best. That opened up a world of possibilities, but in addition they needed to discover what their differentiators were as a brand—those differentiators being functionality, fun, fashion, and “affordability.” Focusing on that gave the brand a clear decision matrix because it expands its product offering, and Lease is confident that with those differentiators in mind, Goodr will proceed to create products that its customers love.
Sign of the times — 21:28-23:35