609: Tom Austin | Lessons from the Rise and Fall of And1

If you’re not getting knocked down, then you’re not trying hard enough. Tom Austin is a seasoned entrepreneur and currently partner in several technology start-ups. He is the CEO of Confidently, a personal, pocket-sized, confidence coach developed by a team of PhDs with decades of experience coaching elite performers.

Part of Tom’s track record was becoming Co-Founder of AND 1, a well-known, global basketball apparel brand. He was instrumental in evolving the AND 1 business strategy and brand for nearly a decade and built AND 1's footwear department from basically zero sales to just north of $200,000,000 annually! These days he is currently writing screenplays, advising start-ups, and consulting.

Let’s dive right in and learn Tom’s top lessons from the rise and fall of And1.

Things you will learn in this episode: 

[00:01 - 08:54] Opening Segment 

I introduce today’s guest, Tom Austin 

Bio 

Be sure to check out guestio.com and start booking

Tom gives some background on his story 

Growing up in New England 

Parents 

Growing up with a love for sports 

A push towards education

Always wanted to play in the NBA 

College experience 

[08:55 - 33:19] Lessons from the Rise and Fall of And1

Tom talks about what he learned in his time in And1

Teamwork - The importance of team alignment

Competition - You will experience setbacks - learn from them 

The value of practice and breaking things down

How Tom defines success

Am I and my family healthy and happy?

What am I doing that is a net positive? 

The And1 timeline and experience 

Tom talks about his transition into finance and entrepreneurship

Networking within sports and athletics 

Going into a business partnership 

Pivoting into the And1 business model 

The beginning stages of And1

Expectation vs. reality 

Transitioning into basketball niche apparel 

Starting with t-shirts and pitching them to retailers

Landing a meaning with Footlocker 

Always willing to learn

When And1 started to catch on 

Going all in 

Getting a $600,000 order 

The start of the Street Ball line - playing to endorsements

Finding your flavor 

The fall of And1 and its lessons

Getting worn down on work 

The issues in HR, systems, and market changes 

Maintaining your infrastructure 

 A word from our sponsor

[33:20 - 40:09] Access to Your Own Person Performance Coach

Tom talks about his next steps after And1 ended 

Getting back into a centered state 

Going back to grad school

Getting into filmmaking

Tom shares about his newest business - Confidently 

Coaching from sports psychologists 

Giving people their own personal performance coach 

Lessons people can learn from accessing the app 

Getting excited about the team and the domain area

Seeing everything come together

[40:10 - 50:34] Closing Segment

Where to learn more about Tom’s 

Links below 

Why people don’t build relationships

Depends on where you’re at 

Strong and weak ties 

The difficulties of finding a deeply trusted person

Questions to ask yourself 

Who you know or what you know?

It depends on where you’re at and what you do 

RaNDoM RoUnD

How to engage with Tom

Links below

Final words 

Tweetable Quotes: 
“Having a team and being able to work and win together and having a common purpose, in what’s called alignment in the teamwork literature… All the teamwork related stuff is definitely number one.” - Tom Austin 

“You’re gonna get knocked on your butt, things aren’t always gonna go your way. So you got to learn from each thing - look at each set back as a learning opportunity.” - Tom Austin

“If I’m not getting knocked down, then I’m not trying hard enough.” - Tom Austin

Connect with Tom on LinkedIn. Go check out https://getconfidently.com/ and get your own pocket coach. 

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