English Major to Serial Tech Entrepreneur… to Toasters?

Are you looking for a Third Growth Option ℠ ?

Tom Klaff shares his story of growth and learning, allowing us to learn from lessons he picked up building and exiting several businesses, and now building a new rocket ship, a relevant brand on the kitchen counter. 

4:01 – “…I was struck by the level of introspection… when did you start articulating your personal building blocks?” – “… it’s like a debrief after the mission, you want to look at things you did right, things you did wrong… after every one of my ventures.”

5:01 – “I paid a lot of dumb-tax… part of it due to experimentation, all of it is value-add. It definitely helps you grow.”

11:45 – “…waiting in line for 40 minutes for people to toast their bagels… how come we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t toast bread faster than 4 minutes?”

13:15 – “I look at large industries with little or no innovation, where I can look for technology and solve a problem.”

16:15 – “…think thru a business that’s disruptive and aspirational, like Keurig was, like Dyson was… that was the most important thing: finding people who had already paid the dumb-tax.”

18:26 – From first customer meeting with barely a prototype to in-store date within some three months “Williams-Sonoma was wonderful… they have a great brand and they put us on the map, you couldn’t have asked for a better launch partner.”

21:54 – Biggest surprise about B2C, selling to retailers and ecom: “I have a new appreciation for B2C companies selling durable goods: you've got to be great in every facet of business – sales, marketing, engineering, manufacturing, operations, logistics, finance. Everything has to be spot on... in software, you’re not dealing with all those moving parts.”

25:31 – About the next 12-24 months: “We’ve got big plans, huge vision. We see ourselves as a relevant brand on the kitchen counter… We’re a platform technology company around heat transfer… we have a big agenda.”

27:16 – About being an English Major: “The singular most important skill you can have in any career, especially in business, is the ability to communicate… communication is the lifeblood of a functioning business… there is a hand-in-glove fit with STEM and liberal arts.”

Always growing.

Benno Duenkelsbuehler

CEO & Chief Sherpa of (re)ALIGN

reALIGNforResults.com

[email protected]