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Chuck: Well, good morning, Lauren. It's great to have you today. And thanks for joining me on innovators on tap.
Lauren: Good morning. Thank you for having me.
Chuck: So, you know, if I Look at your background, you didn't start out as a kid wanting to be in the food business. And I think what I read is correct. I think when you were about 16, if your grandmother was diagnosed with leukemia, and I understand your mom made some pretty radical challenges to kind of your family's lifestyle and your diet How did that impact you and shape your thinking on what you want to do with your career?
Lauren: I think at that time, that, you know, kind of big interruption to my life really set me on this path of curiosity and interest in food. I was trying to decide what college programs I wanted to apply to when I was in high school at the time. And so having this kind of new discovery of food as a way to support health, combat disease, and address nutrition shortcomings was of great interest to me and I always liked science in school as well. And so being able to kind of bring together this new interest in food as well as, you know, just sort of my kind of talent and interest in science as a discipline really set me out on an academic path for exploring nutrition. But I will also say that, you know, I think for so many of the entrepreneurs that we work with through brand Food and through branch venture group. It's so often the case that it is a very personal experience with food that puts them on this path of new business development and new product development. I feel like I'm one of many that was on this path due to particularly a health outcome with a close family member. And see that in other entrepreneurs that are out there working on new businesses today as well.
Chuck: I want to talk a little bit more about branch foods and branch ventures, can you kind of give us the 60 second elevator pitch of what these companies do? So
Lauren: I think that there were two things that had happened in my life that led to the development of branch shoot first and foremost, it was the experience that I had with my family. But then second, I actually interned for tech stars when I was in graduate school here in Boston. I was pursuing a Master's in food science and food policy, but really was intrigued by the startup world. I read the four hour workweek while listening to Tim Ferriss podcasts. You know, I was learning in school about all of the issues that our food industry has, you know, come to an include and involve, and really felt like there had to be a better way to address these things. And so I interned with tech stars here in Boston, it was the second year that the program was running. It was, you know, kind of fascinating look at how small startup teams individuals were influencing and disrupting different industries. Originally with brunch food, we started as a meetup group on meetup.com, which was the precursor to, you know, the company that now the two companies that I rented a branch with today, we are the largest community of food entrepreneurs and innovators in New England. We work to support that community by way of workspace in downtown Boston for food startups. We host events that highlight emerging startup activity and industry trends. And we also now have a capital network branch venture group that seeks to fund emerging food related startups.
Chuck: So part of this thinking came from your time at Tech stars. And I know that it has a great reputation not only in Boston but around the country. I'm curious. Is there one or two things that you took from your time at Tech stars that you then applied and said, these were kind of key to when I started my own company?
Lauren: Yes, I would say the most resounding outcome of my time at Tech stars that I still feel like sticks with me today was a focus on customers. We spent a lot of time talking with the companies that were going through the program about who is your customer? Who are the first people that are going to pay attention to how do you find those people? How do you get their feedback on your early iterations of the product that you're creating? How can you build community around those people as well such that when you finally do have a product to sell, you have a natural group of customers that will likely buy it and use it and and hopefully pay For it for us, we started crafting this community around the idea of food and innovation and entrepreneurship, and then started talking to that community about, well, what do you need to build those businesses and pursue the ideas that you have for change in the food industry. And so therefore, we started hosting meetups for people to be able to connect, we started hosting networking events, more dedicated educational panels with industry experts that can help provide perspective on where there are opportunities for innovation and food. We launched the CO working space, we launched an annual conference. People need funding, we went out to lunch and angel investment network. And so, you know, this has been five year you know, five years in development. But really over time, I would say that the thing that we focused on most was what do our customers need? And how do we continue to build for that and work with them to go deeper in our relationship as opposed to wider in terms of doing this work for all different types of things. companies and all different types of industries. No, we focused very much on food and went really deep in that area.
Chuck: One more question on TechStars. You know, I know that all accelerators have these methodologies and best practices, they teach people. I'm curious, are there any that you learned in the program that you purposely ignored when you started your company? Oh, gosh,
Lauren: I want to say fail fast, because I feel like the best parts of branch food and the things that have become our strongest programs and our strongest products have been created because we stuck with it, and we haven't abandoned them quickly. And so while I think that there's certainly truth to, you know, if you're going down the wrong road, don't keep going down that road if roadblocks occur if you know doors Doors are closing. That's definitely a sign and requires reevaluation but I think for us It's been more of an exercise in figuring out how to overcome some of those complications where I feel like some people may quit too soon.
Chuck: Yeah, actually, I totally agree. I think there is an idea that you don't want to stick with something when it's clear, it's not going to work. But there's something to be learned from failures that actually can inform the next thing you do. That could be a really powerful tool to building a business. So I think that's great advice. I'm interested, you were quoted a few years ago, you said the food industry has never experienced a more disruptive moment than now. And I think the statistic was since 2009, the top 25 US Food and Beverage brands had lost an equivalent of $18 billion in market share. As you look at the industry, what do you think has triggered this disruption?
Lauren: I think first and foremost, we don't consider media as powerful as it truly is. When it comes to this, the disruption of business, you may remember or folks listening to the podcast may know Michael Pollan and some of his work Omnivore's Dilemma, which was a book that came out that really challenged a lot of marketing claims around products in market food, Inc, which was a great documentary that revealed some of the things that are part of the supply chain that you know, you would never know assuming, you know, something says free range or something says grass fed. Well, what does that mean? And and these documentaries and these media pieces really explored that and I think that for for US consumers, that was somewhat of a first,
Chuck: You know, it's interesting, the, when we were pursuing LED lighting as this great energy saving alternative. People always ask me what was the trigger and the products came later, but there was this moment during the energy crisis, when all of a sudden we all start to realize, if we keep doing things the way we're doing There's not going to be enough electricity to like, keep the lights on or grow the economy or run countries. And it was that awareness that really became the initial catalyst to getting people even interested in LED lighting. Because prior to that, if we told someone we had lights that save them energy, they said, Why should I care? It doesn't really affect me all that much. And so it's kind of interesting, when you look back at you know, there are these triggers that you don't necessarily know at the time, but they become quite important to changing a trend. You know, I want to shift back to something you said a few minutes ago because I'm really interested in this concept of failure. And I want you to put on your VC hat as as an investor, in my experience, working with lots of different entrepreneurs and getting to many, many that tried and weren't successful. The ones that have really, you know, made a big impact seem to have kind of survived To overcome probably multiple failures in their career before they finally had that success, is that an accurate representation of what you see? Or do you see something different in your own venture world?
Lauren: Yeah, it's a good question. And failure is one of these topics that people want to talk about, with regards to entrepreneurship. For myself, it's been more of an exercise in embracing it, not necessarily identifying with it. You know, for branch food we've, we've unfolded over time, we've evolved over time. Have I done things that haven't been so successful? Absolutely. But I don't quite see those things as failure. I think it's kind of a slightly dramatic way to look at change. And I see them as more you know, trial and error iteration. And you know, the the desire to not necessarily dwell on what's gone bad, but you know what, what we can learn And what we can do moving forward. So trying to learn from setbacks has been, you know, something that I've tried to do, I think we also try to look at as a quality that the entrepreneurs that come to our branch venture group possess. And you know, hopefully all for the, for the better of the outcome of what you're ultimately trying to do, right? It is a while while there may be setbacks, ultimately, there's learning opportunity, and how do you keep moving forward to ultimately get to your goals?
Chuck: So if what you're looking for are entrepreneurs that learn how to deal with setbacks, and learn from them and overcome them. What about the idea that we focus the accelerator instead of helping startups succeed? We actually create barriers and setbacks for them and have them learn to overcome them. So it's a, it's not a success experience. It's a surviving failure experience and that literally, not everyone will be overcome. But the faster we get them through this process, we know that some people adapt pretty quickly and that then they're prepared to go on and take on the next thing as you've learned from your business. Right? Once you overcome a few setbacks, the next one's not as scary. But yet, when I work with accelerators here in North Carolina,I'm surprised that we're, it almost feels like we're trying to protect the companies instead of pushing them to where they have to overcome. What do you think about this? I'm not sure how to sell it to people come and fail with us. But what do you think?
Lauren: I love it, because I think that it takes this really uncertain kind of nebulous thing of failure that a lot of people interpret as negative. And it identifies it and helps you plan for it, because it will ultimately happen. The thing is, people just don't know what to do when it does it. And you really, you know, I think in those moments fall back on your coping mechanisms and and how you know, to deal with upsetness feeling. I mean, there's an emotional you know, experience there that people really first and foremost need to overcome to see clearly the path forward. I think that if you can give people the tools to learn how to have that experience, but ultimately come out of it on top feeling like they've learned something and feeling like they've processed the emotion of it. I think that would be very helpful for so many that just, you know, that are early on in their careers maybe haven't encountered something so upsetting and you know, could really benefit from having that tool set to deal with it when it when it occurs.
Chuck: if you're going to pursue innovation, what do you think is more important, the brutal truth or psychological safety?
Lauren: absolutely brutal truths. I think, you know, innovation is essentially a new way of doing something every brand person and product wants to be perceived as innovative, but what separates actual innovation from everything else is the idea of improved And I think in order to improve something, you you have to understand where improvements need to be made and how to make them. And I think that if you don't know the truth of it, it's very hard to get there. I don't really think that there's much psychological safety and entrepreneurship, you know, you have days where you feel on top of the world, and then you have days where you feel totally crushed. I will say, though, over time and you know, I've been doing this for five years now, which is not a lot of time in the you know, in the world, but certainly formative years in terms of my own professional development, you know, those peaks and valleys in the roller coaster of emotion and energy. They do even out you know, they don't look as much like a heart heart monitor spikes, they look more like sound waves and I think, you know, you you adapt to, to those influences.
Chuck: So, Lauren, when you're confronted with a problem, are you more likely to think outside the box, build a better body or set the box on fire?
Lauren: It's a great question. Ultimately, I'm a pragmatic person. And you know, first and foremost, try to understand the box, you know, what's going on with this box? What can I learn from this box? Why did this box come into my life? I'll make every effort to work with it. But I think ultimately, I tried to build a better box. And really, you know, work with what I've learned, and then, you know, kind of go on to to build better. And I think, as I, you know, said, I've been thinking a lot about this for this time that we're in with COVID. And its impact on startup businesses. And, you know, I've found, I think entrepreneurs to be up to mindsets, you know, first, I'm right, and what the markets telling me is wrong, and I'm going to push through and things are going to get back to normal and we'll, you know, kind of continue on our way doing the things that we said we were going to in the way we said we were going to do them. And then secondly, you know, I think The market has changed and I need to adapt and try something new. And though it may be scary, and it's certainly, you know, could be considered, quote, a pivot. You know, these times, times of change must be met with change, you know, back to advice for for startups and entrepreneurs. We're certainly a fan of adapting and learning from what the market is telling you, and understanding how to move forward.
Chuck: So when you're evaluating talent, what do you believe is most important to someone's future success?
Lauren: I think humility and fearlessness of hard work are so supportive of success. You must have humility and be curious. You must be willing to ask questions be wrong, understand why learn and move on. And you mustn't be afraid to work at it. You know, everyone has talents that they that they, you know, were born with and things that come easy to them and, you know, hopefully what one ends up doing professionally allows you to express what those talents are, inevitably you will have other areas that you know need more focus and attention. And that's okay. But definitely a plan of the fan of playing to your strengths always and using that to contribute to the success that that you can have.
Chuck: So if you're sitting down with someone, and you have to make a choice of who you're going to add to your core team, and you have to pick based on either they have the mindset you'd like, or a skill set that you need, which would you pick and why?
Lauren: I think it's a mindset because I think that ultimately with entrepreneurship, especially at the early stage, you will gravitate towards things you know how to do naturally but you will inevitably have to learn how to do something. And if you have the right mindset of learning and willingness to To learn and be wrong and try and overcome, I think that that's much preferred. In in this at the stage with which, you know, you really need to cover a lot of bases and take on and you know, wear a lot of hats in launching an early stage company.
Chuck: So I'm curious, your personal decision bias is it to limit your downside or to maximize your upside?
Lauren: I think ultimately it's maximizing your upside. I think you've you have to know your strengths. You have to play to your strengths. You have to understand your differentiators. how you're going to market the value that you're bringing, limiting your downside is is worthwhile and understanding the risks and how you address those and and what your answers are when confronted with questions around it is important. But ultimately, you know, we we live in a world where people succeed when they focus on what they do well. And I think that that's actually As we talk about startups and and understanding your assets and what you can leverage to be successful, ultimately playing to your to your upside is, I think, going to get you further.
Chuck: Yeah, it's someone in a conversation we had earlier this week said that so many of us spend our time and energy, trying to improve our weaknesses, when we'd be better off building on our strengths. And as someone who built teams and worked for many years with people to try to help them overcome their weaknesses. It's a really interesting perspective and one where, you know, what I think it comes down to, and especially in a early stage company, is do you fit the job to the person or the person to the job and I think the most successful companies take talented people and they find a role that makes them successful and not the other way around. You know, as we've been talking, is there some aspect you wish we would have kind of gotten into that You want to bring up to close this off?
Lauren: Um, you know, I think with regards to this time that we're living in, in terms of it being one of great change and adaptation, interruptions in the regular world, like COVID has brought on, leave so much opportunity for change and innovation and new startup development and new ways of doing things. I think, during my lifetime, there's never been a better time to start a company or find an opportunity that you want to pursue. I think that the startup ecosystem is right there ready and willing to support so many entrepreneurs from so many different types of backgrounds with different expertise with unique perspectives. Entrepreneurship will help usher in the world that we all want to live in. And I think there's never been a better time to focus on the development of those companies and finish those initiatives.
Chuck: Yeah, you know, I spent most of my 27 years at Cree trying to convince people that they should embrace change. And it was the biggest problem that we faced was just this inherent resistance to change. And, you know, as we're faced with COVID, and, you know, in many people's lives, what they view as a crisis, it changes that dynamic in this really wonderful way. And that's not to diminish the struggles that many people have. But this is a moment of change where everyone's way more open minded to it than they ever were before. And I think the opportunities have never been better to take on some problems that we might have thought that no one was interested in just a year ago. So I totally agree with you. So, Lauren, I am so thankful for you being on the show with us today. It is been great. We really appreciate your insights. We wish you the best of luck with your companies and thanks for being here.
Lauren: Thank you so much for having me, Chuck. Really appreciate the time. And hopefully this has been a helpful session for all the folks out there that are trying to start companies and change the world for the better.