It’s far too easy to fall into the trap of only bouncing your ideas off of people you know will either agree with you or be supportive no matter what. This is great for short-term confidence but potentially detrimental to achieving long-term success by building a sustainable business. The more feedback you get from all types of people, the better you can hone in on the true value proposition of your product, and thus understand who your customer will eventually be. Rob implores you to get as much feedback as possible in the IDEA stage before you spend a dime, micro-failing over and over until your idea is undeniable. And then never stop getting feedback through every subsequent stage. This doesn’t mean that you need to please everyone, but commonalities will emerge that will give you crucial insight into how to evolve next. On this episode, we once again welcome two fantastic entrepreneurs from the UCLA Anderson Venture Accelerator program
John Dalsey started working in a brewery in New Jersey, earning his keep from the bottom on up through hard work and dedication. Through that process, he learned the alcohol business. It was later that he and his best friend became bored with the limited flavor selection in the hard seltzer craze and decided to create the first Asian-inspired flavors in the category. Thus, Nectar was born, with a focus on not only taste, but content creation.
Emily Smith put TASTE over everything for her pea-based protein powder, nuFYX. Launched during the pandemic, nuFYX became the #1 selling plant-based protein at Erewhon market in Los Angeles (which if you don’t live there, is a VERY fancy health-focused grocery store with six locations around the city). Besides tasting great, it incorporates aminogen, an enzyme to help break down protein, making it easily digestible.
You think you know how to pitch the end-user value of a product before you even create it. Then you build a company and go through rigorous testing to zero in on the right messaging to entice customers to try your product. Then you put that message out into the market. That’s when the real work begins. The consumer reaction may not be exactly what you had hoped. But rather than be married to your original messaging, it’s then time to continue to evolve that value prop until it resonates with a larger audience. The goal is to continue refining until it is simple, clear, and unique. Rob uses the evolution of Mindright’s value prop over the last year since launch as a prime example. To follow the Mindright story from launch day to now, go back and check out episode 4 and episode 13 with Mindright CEO, Chris “Bernie” Bernard.
Also in this episode, Rob is joined by Amanda Greenberg, CEO of Balloon. She has built a product to make meetings more effective, which Rob has partnered with prior. Rob has some insights about how she could make Balloon’s value proposition clearer and more valuable.
Machine Method Phase: DISCOVERY
Another group of hungry, relentless entrepreneurs proved their merit by submitting detailed pitch videos with their experience and ideas for the chance to Build With Rob. While they may not be exact fits for the Dyrdek Machine’s hyper-specific criteria (see: EP01 Welcome to the Machine) for creating a company, Rob still believes all of these founders have what it takes to be successful and wants to lend his unique point-of-view to help them keep pushing forward to achieve their dreams.
Machine Method Phase: DISCOVERY
These hungry, relentless entrepreneurs proved their merit by submitting detailed pitch videos, highlighting their experience and ideas, to apply for the chance to Build With Rob. While they may not be exact fits for the Dyrdek Machine’s hyper-specific criteria (see: EP01 Welcome to the Machine) for creating a company, Rob still believes all of these founders have what it takes to be successful and wants to lend his unique point-of-view to help them keep pushing forward to achieve their dreams.