Mark and Jenna discuss pioneering the coconut water industry with ZICO and how to compete in the food world.
Learning Points
- How to raise your first round of funding and how much capital you need; It’s a momentum game. Focus on your first commitment.
- How to break down your vision into realistic goals; Mark kept a small notebook with his large vision, five year goals, annual initiatives, quarterly goals, and top 4-5 daily tasks that he read every morning
- Mark’s early morning rides with beverage distributors delivering ZICO; “It wasn’t going to happen unless I took personal responsibility.”
- Why there are rarely breakthrough moments in startup life and how to play the long game; Luck favors the prepared mind.
- Advice for food entrepreneurs on navigating retail competition; You need to be performing in the top 10% before you expand. Choose your biggest competitor and be on par with them.
- The foundation of ZICO’s culture and what gives a company soul; Caring and giving is a business strategy.
- The life-changing advice Mark received in ZICO’s early years on perspective: “You can’t control everything that happens to you. You can control how you react.”
- How to take charge of your startup’s opportunity moment; “Inflection points are opportunities to redefine your direction in life.”