Author Archive for Tate Ostrowski

Edward Stack: Making the Tough Decisions for Dick’s Sporting Goods

Posted by Tate Ostrowski 
· Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019 
· 5 Comments

Edward Stack, CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods, has been running the Sporting Goods store after receiving control from his father. He has had to make many tough decisions throughout the course of his career as CEO. However, one of the most prominent decisions he has had to make was following the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. Stack learned that the shooter who killed 17 people at the high school had bought a shotgun from his store, he realized that he wanted to make a change to the way his business was run. It did not matter to him that the shooter had not used the gun in his attack.

Stack went to his financial adviser and said that there needed to changes made to the company. Among many changes, Stack made sure not to sell anymore semi-automatic assault style rifles or sell any weapon to people under the age of 21. The financial officer was very hesitant at this proposal because it seemed as though the company would take a large financial hit from this change. However, Stack was adamant about his decision.

As a CEO, Stack did not draw much attention to himself until this change was made. After the amendment to what his company sold concerning weapons was made, he received many calls to appear on talk shows. His stance on weapons did not change throughout this ordeal. He repeated that “we needed to take a stand”. After all of this happened, revenue did drop for Dick’s Sporting Goods. In addition, there was a good amount of push back and criticism for the decision that Stack and his people made, but it did not phase him.

I think that we can learn a lot from Stack’s decision. As an entrepreneur, you need to stick to what you believe in no matter what the adversity. Stack realized that he did not want his company to be the cause of any violence and he believed that firmly. He made the changes that he saw necessary and refused to look back. I think that we should take this entrepreneurial story as we begin to envision and create, so that we can stay true to our core values.

 

 

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/10/business/dicks-sporting-goods-ceo-edward-stack-profile/index.html

5 Comments
Categories : Dick's Sporting Goods

John Collison – cofounder of Stripe

Posted by Tate Ostrowski 
· Monday, November 18th, 2019 
· No Comments

The youngest self-made billionaire at age 27. John Collison has many other achievements that are attributed to his name. When he founder Stripe with his brother to change the way that payments were being made on the internet, he was just 19 years old. Their mission statement is stated very clearly. “Stripe aims to give developers the tools they need to create the most secure and novel buying experiences.” 

 

One of the most important things to note about this entrepreneurial story is the fact that a large part of Stripe’s growth was through word of mouth. The CEO of the company commented on the power of word of mouth when he says, “Initially it very much spread through a word of mouth process. That was surprising to us because it’s a payment system not a social network so it’s not something you’d think would have any virality whatsoever. But it became clear that everything else was so bad and so painful to work with that people actually were selling this to their friends.” It is important to see that the growth of the this company came largely through word of mouth. This goes to show that growth can come from many different platforms.

 

The website was initially named /Dev/Payments. The team quickly worked to change the name to Stripe.com, which received with some hesitation. This is an extreme example of how as an entrepreneur must make sure that their company has a good name. If you do not have a company name that is appropriate for the product or service you are selling, then it will not be successful

 

I think that Collison knows the value of an invested leader. He enjoys hiking with the members from his company to create friendships that foster a positive environment. Collison understands that even when you have become successful, you still need to innovate in the workplace. I believe that we can learn a lot from Collison as an entrepreneur and his innovations as cofounder.

 

https://www.startupgrind.com/blog/the-collison-brothers-and-story-behind-the-founding-of-stripe/

https://www.inc.com/business-insider/john-collison-co-founder-president-stripe-youngest-billionaire-world.html

 

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Categories : Uncategorized

Cameron Johnson – The 9 Year Old Entrepreneur

Posted by Tate Ostrowski 
· Monday, November 4th, 2019 
· 4 Comments

Cameron Johnson is a prime example of a unique and driven entrepreneur. If you begin to look at his business history, he starts innovating in 1994 with Cheers and Tears Printing Co, and end in 2004 with TrueLoot. However, what is shocking is that he has had 13 other businesses during that time. Johnson is an example of an entrepreneur who loves to innovate and create. He has not been satisfied with his initial company that he created when he was 9 years old that brought in over $50,000. Johnson loves the idea of innovating and does not want to be held to just one company.

I think that this story is inspiring because when thinking about an entrepreneur, you often think they have one chance to be successful or else they will plummet and fail. Even though Johnson’s first effort was successful, he decided to continue creating. I think that this is a valuable lesson for young entrepreneurs who think that they have only one chance to be a success.

I think that we can also learn from the mindset that Johnson has as an entrepreneur. He says, ““True prosperity isn’t something you take from the world: it’s something you share with the world.” I think that this quote is especially helpful because when I first thought of an entrepreneur I assumed that they were only trying to create an idea so that they can benefit themselves. Johnson is a classic example of an entrepreneur offering his product and idea as a service to the people instead of just trying to make a product. This idea is consistent throughout his 15 business ventures. He is constantly trying to help others, and I believe that is what has lead to his success. Cameron Johnson may not fit the stereotype of a success entrepreneur who made it big with his billion dollar idea. He started as a 9 year old selling welcome cards and has shifted from business to business leaving his positive impact where he has gone. He now works as a consultant to help other entrepreneurs succeed.

Home

Cameron Johnson – The 9 Year Old Entrepreneur Who Became A Teenage Millionaire

 

4 Comments
Categories : Business

Alex Blumberg – Startup Podcast

Posted by Tate Ostrowski 
· Monday, October 14th, 2019 
· 3 Comments

Alex Blumberg began his entrepreneurial journey as a broadcast journalist. From there he was a producer for This American Life, and he co founded Planet Money. However, he left these professions behind to create Gimlet media and produce Startup Podcast. Startup Podcast is a “candid documentation of his journey from journalist to entrepreneur.”

The way that Blumberg has achieved success is very interesting. He has created a podcast that tells his story that has become extremely popular. Therefore, you would think that he would constantly be giving advice on how to achieve success on his podcast because it is the story of his life as an entrepreneur. However, Blumberg does not like to give advice on how to be successful as an entrepreneur. In fact, he says he feels “ridiculous trying to give advice.” This was very striking to me because people still learn valuable information about being an entrepreneur from Blumberg’s podcasts, even tho he refuses to give any direct advice.

I think that Blumberg uses his podcasts in a very interesting and new way. For example, he has reinvented podcast advertising. Instead of airing an ad, he airs the conversation with a company and asks them why they wanted to advertise on a podcast. Blumberg believes that you need to try new things. When you have found an new idea that appeals to people and the masses, then you are onto something.

Blumberg is also very adamant when he says that “money isn’t his only priority.” He wants to focus first on the mission of the company and if it ends up making money for him, then that is a bonus. I think that we can learn a lot from this view point. The most successful companies are the ones that stay true to their mission and are not just in it for the money.

I think that you can learn a lot from Blumberg’s Startup podcast. He teaches that it is important to be different and to try new things, because those are the things that are going to succeed. In addition, he makes sure to let his audience know to stay true to the mission and the values of the company. These are very important to maintain because they are what holds the company together. Your driving motivation should not be money because that is not a sustainable motivation. You have to believe in your mission.

 

 

https://theearlyhour.com/2018/03/26/creator-of-startup-podcast-on-being-an-entrepreneur/

 

 

 

 

3 Comments
Categories : Podcast

VSCO – Joel Flory & Greg Lutze

Posted by Tate Ostrowski 
· Monday, September 30th, 2019 
· 6 Comments

Joel Flory was a wedding photographer and Greg Lutze had an eye for web design. These two men joined together at first to start building websites. Their simple idea lead to the release of their first website in November 2011 to desktops. After the website brought in more than a quarter million dollars in the first 48 hrs, they dropped the website making business and turned their attention to the app we know as VSCO.
The evolution of VSCO is very interesting for a number of reasons. VSCO was initially intended to be a website where you could access tools to edit photos. This idea emerged because of the skills Lutze had with web design and Flory’s photography job. I think that there is a very important lesson to learn about timing when we look at VSCO. If this app had been released earlier or later than it was then we could be without VSCO. VSCO was released at about the same time as Instagram and other social media platforms. These other platforms paired well with VSCO and contributed to its grow, but VSCO has separated itself from the rest. As an entrepreneur, one of the hardest things to account for is timing. In the case of Flory and Lutze, they managed to get lucky with the timing of their app. However, it is still an important factor to take into account.

The story of these co-founders is also encouraging to young entrepreneurs and college students. Flory went to Cal Poly university as an electrical engineer, but quickly switched to information technology. In addition he decided to take time off his sophomore year. Looking back at his journey, Flory gives this piece of advice, “The rules aren’t exactly clear, and each year you start to learn a little more about how to be successful. Don’t take failure as the closing of a door — rather, a new skill you need to learn.”

The creators of VSCO and their story should be taken as an encouragement to young entrepreneurs. You do not need to have everything figured out to be successful, you just have to be motivated. In addition, I think that this story teaches us to be open to iterations in ideas that might not have been expected.

VSCO founder’s unique perspective: How alum Joel Flory’s side hustle took off

6 Comments
Categories : Social Media, Uncategorized, VSCO

David Neeleman: How He Changed The Airline Industr

Posted by Tate Ostrowski 
· Monday, September 16th, 2019 
· 2 Comments

When you think about the most successful entrepreneurs and how high they have risen, it is hard to imagine yourself ever in that position. However, the inspiring story of David Neeleman’s makes success and reaching those heights tangible. Neeleman was born in Brazil, but moved to Salt Lake City. He did not do well in school because he suffered from A.D.D. When he was 19 years old he went on a missions trip to Brazil where he was born. When he got back from Brazil, he went to college and soon started his first entrepreneurial venture.

His first business idea was to rent out condos in Hawaii for people going on vacation. His business took off and he began to make a profit. At this point he began to develop his business. He decided that he would package the condos with plane tickets. He partnered with Pacific East Airlines, but later switched to Hawaiian Airlines. Unfortunately, Hawaiian Airlines ran out of money before Christmas and all the flight tickets Neeleman had bought were unrefundable. This put Neeleman out of business and all the money that he had earned was gone.

Nelleman’s road to success was littered with hardships. Although he lost everything he did not throw in the towel. He was determined to start an airline that would have discounted flights and would fly where nobody else did. When he finally founded JetBlue in 1998 there was still complications. He was required to wait 5 years to start the airline because of the Non-Compete Clause that was put into affect when he was fired from his previous job at Southwest Airlines. Furthermore, on Valentine’s day in 2008 there was a crisis, and JetBlue passengers where stuck on the runway in an ice storm for roughly 10 hours. After this incident Neeleman was asked to step down from the company he started from the ground.

Even after this crisis, Neeleman did not quit. He currently owns Azul Airlines in Brazil where he is extremely successful. Looking back on his road to success he offers some valuable information. He says that if you want a constant customer then your ambassadors must buy into the brand. Next, there must be flawless execution in procedures. Finally, if there are any issues you must make it right withe customer. These are high standards to live by, but it has lead to his success. At the end of the interview he leaves the listener with an important question: How many lives have you touched? Although he has gone through many hardships as well as successes, he always keeps the customer and his employees in mind. I believe that David Neeleman is an inspiring entrepreneur because he came from humble beginnings and fought through adversity to achieve his success with a servant-like attitude.

 

https://www.npr.org/2019/02/01/690686584/jetblue-airways-david-neeleman

2 Comments
Categories : Airlines, Uncategorized