Triangulation

Cross-checking helps to determine distance, maneuver around obstacles, and identify rogue objects. Alongside the math, a triangulated team increases dependability.

Diversity of thought, talent, and real skills add synergy to accelerate progress and increase a team’s confidence when a problem is attacked from multiple angles. This nimbleness is leveraged as co-founders create a culture that makes each person feel significant.

Extra Shot

Building alone is easy.

Team up to make it fun.

On the prowl for co-founders? Consider triangulating a hipster (customer experience), hacker (technology), and hustler (business development). When these complimenting archetypes also blend hints of founder-market-fit, a timely curation gives any team exponential capacity.

To find missing links, connectors become connected. So show up and be quick to make interesting introductions. When the first degree of contact lacks obvious opportunity, remember it’s the second and third degree of connectivity that delivers precision. Over time, generosity in an entrepreneurial ecosystem expands and tightens engaged networks. Instead of forcefully recruiting co-founders, the open-ended activity of a serendipitist will have us colliding with friends we simply haven’t met yet.As teamwork begins, bonds that have formed naturally will support lasting collaboration with people you respect. That said, established trust is not an excuse to get complacent.

To nurture the power of triangulation be honest and transparent from start to finish. Every story ends, so don’t avoid difficult discussions. When structuring a business, agree on the terms, leave space for change over time, and maintain an operating agreement to ensure clarity with less tension. A commitment to abundant communication helps each team member remain attentive to details.

Professionals will take it further—inviting responsibility, then keeping the promise. For any idea maze, we take the blame, willingly give credit, and celebrate in style.

Lone wolves move fast but the expanded capacity of a team helps an odyssey go far. When a fun, long-term cast plays long-term games together, the chemical reaction can be an affinity toward work that feels like play. Cheers!

Brewed From Within
#12 📖 Entrepreneurship

By Ben McDougal, ago

Manufacturability

Ethan Davidson molds ideas into reality! He is the President of Beratek Industries, a Co-Founder in FliteBrite, and just launched Conduit Direct Group. If you’ve ever wanted to manufacture a new product, you’ll want to sip on this delicious discussion.

Ethan talks through product design, materials, prototyping, and manufacturability. We also discuss the lasting value of transparency, role clarity, execution in sales, and remaining friends at all cost. Cheers!

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By Ben McDougal, ago

First in Line

There’s something special about being first in line.

Being up front means you’re committed. You’ve made a sacrifice to ensure you experience something you care about in style. Conquering the unknowns to secure this coveted spot has required effort, but a sense of pride materializes when everything goes to plan.

When we think about being first through the lens of innovation, first in line is not such a desired position.

Being first gives entrepreneurs a chance to take an early lead, but early leaders don’t always win in the end. The headwind is strongest when you’re in front.

When you’re creating something new, enthusiasm from early adopters is often met with pernicious friction. One common source of friction is the time spent educating a prevailing market. This protracted process wears on even the most resilient and exhausts resources every step of the way. Along with frictions that come with being first, with fewer clues from the past it’s harder to avoid potential pitfalls as well.

There’s value in a head start, but the early market leader often falls behind the innovation curve. Never hesitate to forge into the unknown, but remember that when you lead, others will always be chasing you.

If you’re building in front, stay ahead with humility, a challenge network that invites you to be wrong by avoiding groupthink, a genuine desire to accelerate others, and interactive leadership that allows intrapreneurs to stay wild.

If you’re the one chasing, which is far more common, you’ll need to flex a bit of founder-market fit to find product-market fit, but it’s nice knowing there’s an existing path with potentially more opportunities to champion change in a known industry.

Alright, now think bigger. How might we avoid the wait? The front of any line may be a traditional way of getting ahead, but this requires time with no guarantees. You’re still relying on someone else to let you in as well. If this activity is something you really enjoy, be conscious of how business can sometimes kill your passion but know there’s usually a way to be less of a spectator by getting more involved.

One way to do this is by combining your creative skills and an entrepreneurial spirit to wedge yourself into the experience itself. This requires initiative, but volunteering, building into a side hustle, or using content creation skills can quickly become your ticket to skip the line all together.

Extra Shot

A love for friends, craft beer, and technology is what led to FliteBrite. Along with a patented electronic serving system, our beer festival app is a tasty example of how we now skip past lines like this. Cheers!

Brewed From Within
#4 📖 Entrepreneurship

By Ben McDougal, ago