Brandon Keeber
Co-founder of Bloom Technologies, LLC
Makers of Novatropes
Kickstarter launches on Sept 1, 2019
The first time I came across the Startup Roadmap, I was already in the process of dissolving my previous venture, a drone-based advertising company called SkyAds. So much of what went wrong with that business was highlighted right there on the map. It felt like if I’d only had that information a few months earlier, the business may not have failed.
While the information came too late for SkyAds, there was a silver lining… I had a roadmap right from the start the next time I had an Aha Moment, which didn’t take long to come.
One of our biggest problems with SkyAds was a lack of company culture and cohesiveness. We did a good job on Step 1: Research, by analyzing the market and competitive landscape, but had pretty much entirely skipped Step 2: Strategy. We had no CULT, zero bandwidth, and our culture and principles were weak. This presented itself as a lack of accountability from our team members, missed milestones & opportunities, and a general lack of energy and optimism for the future.
To be completely honest, I had no idea why those things were happening until I saw the Roadmap for the first time. It was such a relief to have a clear understanding of where our problems were coming from. So naturally, this was one of the first things I addressed when I co-founded Bloom Technologies.
Having a diagnosis tool was only the first step in creating change, however. It still needed to be followed up with action, which is where The Reef™ came in. The Reef™ provided comprehensive, step-by-step directions to address each one of the steps for every stage of the map. While many of these steps are ongoing, it allowed us to condense months of the nitty-gritty tasks into less than a week of hard work.
Now that we have much of the early foundational stuff figured out, we’re currently on Step 5 and preparing for our Soft Launch on Kickstarter. Much of the work we are now focusing on is in setting up our CRM (Customer Relationship Management) System, Outbound Marketing, Public Outreach, and Branding. In order for our Kickstarter campaign to be successful, we need to reach a minimum threshold of exposure beforehand in order to ensure enough people know about it to ensure its success. Once the campaign is finished, we’ll set up an assembly facility and use what we’ve learned about culture and principles to help us hire full-time team members.
By far the greatest value from being in the program has been the On-The-Business strategy sessions. Sometimes it’s difficult to hold yourself accountable to complete online coursework, even though you’ve already paid for it and know it’s important to do. Getting the opportunity to speak with Aha To Exit advisors have kept us in line and kept us feeling accountable, meaning we’re much more likely to follow through on the high priority tasks. While we live in a world where the future isn’t always clear, and success is never guaranteed, it helps to have a roadmap and an infrastructure dedicated to guiding you forward and maximizing the chances of succeeding. For us, that is the peace of mind Aha To Exit provides. We cannot recommend enrolling in their program highly enough.
– Brandon Keeber
