Brennan McEachran, CEO
brennan@soapboxhq.com
@i_am_brennan
@SoapBoxHQ
5 things Skateboarding taught me
about Startups
Have you ever seen someone fail?
like, flat out, face-first?
Well, let me introduce you to
Skateboarding
Ouch.
Brennan
McEachran @i_am_brennan
•  Skateboard to work (in the summer)
•  Self taught developer
+ Business School Grad.
•  First-time CEO & Co-founder
@SoapBoxHQ
Hi
Lewis Platt
Former Hewlett-Packard Chairman & CEO!
If only HP knew what
HP knows, we would
be three times more
productive.”
“
The front lines have great ideas, but no way of bringing them to HQ’s attention
80% of an organization’s
potential for improvement
lies in front-line ideas.
— The Idea-Driven Organization
Save/Generate !
$2M from top
down projects!
T H E 8 0 / 2 0 R U L E O F I N N O VAT I O N
Save/Generate !
$8M from
bottom up
projects!
Organizations need a way to manage
the vast potential from
the front lines.
N E E D
Suggestion Box
No Accountability!
No Feedback Loop!
No Prioritization!
No Filtering or Managing!
No Analytics + Insight!
No ROI!
No Two-way Conversation!
No Aggregating Ideas!
SoapBox
No Accountability!
No Feedback Loop!
No Prioritization!
No Filtering or Managing!
No Analytics + Insight!
No ROI!
No Two-way Conversation!
No Aggregating Ideas!
Move ideas from your front lines,
to the bottom line.
W E C R E AT E D S O A P B O X T O H E L P O R G A N I Z AT I O N S
I N D U S T R Y L E A D I N G C L I E N T S
I N D U S T R Y B E AT I N G T E A M
W O R L D C L A S S C U LT U R E
Follow, @i_am_brennan for this… open sourcing soon…
I N D U S T R Y B E AT I N G , W O R L D - C L A S S R E S U LT S
Remember this guy?
Nyjah Huston
Arguably the best Skateboarder in the world.
5. The best are actually Nuts.
15 ft.
Got Up.
Did it again.
Most people would never
attempt it.
Most people would have got
their senses knocked into
them during the first fall.
He kept going.
80%of businesses fail within first 5 years
No. 1 reason for failure?
“Going into business for the wrong reasons”
4. You better %@&#!* believe it.
Take the Leap of
Faith.
(“Don’t believe your own
B.S.”)
Go in with full
intent to stick the
landing.
“Leap of Faith”
Jaime Thomas landed
without injury, but his
board snapped upon
impact with the ground.
3. Success isn’t judged by the logo
on your shoes. (hint: It’s how you stick the landing)
“To me skateboarding is
just a lifestyle. It wouldn’t
matter if I was pro or not,
I’d still be skating
everyday.”
- Ryan Sheckler
Raising a round of financing
isn’t the finish line. It’s not
even the starting line. It puts
more money on what’s
already working.
2. Innovation never happens in
Isolation.
Rodney Mullen is known for the most
innovative tricks.
However he’s also the first to say that
a trick is never invented in isolation.
Tricks, like ideas and businesses, all
build off of earlier concepts and ideas.
Find a team of people who can
push you and expose your work as
early as you can so they can push
you harder.
1. The Idea is the Easy part.
Scaling Your Startup - Entrepreneurship 101
Scaling Your Startup - Entrepreneurship 101
Scaling Your Startup - Entrepreneurship 101
Scaling Your Startup - Entrepreneurship 101
Scaling Your Startup - Entrepreneurship 101
Brennan McEachran, CEO
brennan@soapboxhq.com
@i_am_brennan
@SoapBoxHQ
Thank You
Brennan McEachran, CEO
brennan@soapboxhq.com
@i_am_brennan
@SoapBoxHQ
Q&A

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