7. Starting With The End In Mind

If you have an idea of where you are going, then it is possible to figure out how to get there. The key is to have a destination (goal) to guide your actions. Many successful people are able to achieve greatness because they are clear on where they want to end up, even if they aren’t sure how they’ll get there. This episode shares how Tristan Walker, who watched his mother work three jobs, initially set out to be rich. This goal guided his decisions. Listen to hear how his goal ultimately evolved into creating wealth and building a legacy through Walker & Co Brands which was acquired by P&G. Get inspiration to focus on your goal and ultimately your strong finish.

[ EPISODE 7 TRANSCRIPT IS NOW AVAILABLE ON MY WEBSITE ]

Click here: https://diamondbrands.media/brandgems/
Episode 7 Transcript: https://diamondbrands.media/brand-gems-episode-7-transcript/ 

Transcript

[0:00 - 0:34]

Hello, I'm Andrea Wade, the host of Brand Gems, the podcast where I highlight a person, brand or organization and discuss the key elements that contributed to their success. I'm a marketing strategist, brand architect and an MBA who likes a little fast company and Forbes mixed in with her Netflix Binges. I'm also a consultant who enjoys discovering those rare nuggets that make a business unique. Listen to Brand Gems for ideas to leverage in your personal and professional endeavors. Now let's begin the treasure hunt.

[0:35 - 1:18]

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Brand Gems. Ever have a bad day? Maybe you didn't have coffee? You missed your train? You were late getting out of the house? Just running late in general. Today's episode highlights just how where you start or how you start does not have to dictate how you finish, and this applies to so many different things. If your situation feels uncomfortable, limiting, uninspiring, and something inside of you knows there could be an alternative, you may not know what it looks like yet, and this is why it's important to put yourself in different environments and to expose yourself to different things.

[1:19 - 1:48]

If you have a desire for something different, then do different things. Tristan Walker, founder of Walker and Co. Brands is the subject of today's episode. Tristan Walker may be a name that is relatively new to you, although he's been on the entrepreneurial scene for a while and certainly has had big news that I'll share with you later into the episode. He first came on my radar probably about eight or so years ago, shortly after he launched his first brand.

[1:49 - 2:19]

I was just amazed that this young black man was able to make such an impact and launch with such an innovative product. And so now, years later, I think he's a perfect case study for Brand Gems. Walker was raised in the projects of Queens, New York. His father was killed when he was three years old, leaving his mom with himself and two siblings. She worked three jobs, and she was determined to provide options for her children.

[2:20 - 3:22]

As a young boy, Walker demonstrated many of the traits that would serve him well later in life. He was resourceful, focused, and hardworking. He immersed himself in school and got good grades. He even describes himself as a nerd. He was genuinely curious about everything. In junior high school, Walker got what might be described as a big break. He was participating in an after school program at the Boys club. When he learned about a scholarship program at a prestigious prep school, Walker took the entrance exam and was admitted to the Hotchkiss School, a boarding school in Connecticut. To give a bit of context, current tuition at the Hotchkiss School is $65,000. So as much as, if not more than many colleges, this is a school that is known for its alumni. People like the Ford's? Yes. A Ford Motor Company actress Allison Janney and Morgan Stanley founder Harold Stanley, as well as numerous other powerhouses across a multitude of industries.

[3:23 - 3:51]

This opportunity got Walker out of the neighborhood, out of Queens, and exposed him to another world in real wealth. He got to see what success looked like. The light was now shining brightly on another path. It was at Hotchkiss that his worldview changed and he shifted his focus to wealth creation. As Walker recalls, he figured there were three ways to become rich. He could be an actor and athlete, work on Wall Street or pursue entrepreneurship.

[3:52 - 4:21]

After Hodgkiss, Walker went on to college at SUNY Stony Brook. He graduated in three years and was class valedictorian. Now it was time for him to put his plan in place. Walker decided to go to business school and so he applied to Stanford and that was it. He was accepted and so he moved out to the West Coast. He got there, he was 24 years old and he saw other 24 year olds who were not only making millions, but they were changing the world.

[4:22 - 4:56]

It was an exciting time in Silicon Valley with the launch of many of the tech startups that we all know today. And Tristan was wondering why he was just now learning about it. He felt a little bit behind in certain instances and this would be something he would do something about a little bit later. But now he was just anxious to get started. So between his first and second year, he was an intern at Twitter. This was in the early years shortly after it started. Walker starts his second year of business school, but he's also at the same time focused on where he's going to work next.

[4:57 - 5:38]

He was fascinated by a startup called For Square that was using location data as a platform for a range of services. Walker sends an email to the company's founders asking for an interview. He didn't get a reply, so he sent another and another. He kept doing this until Co-founder Dennis Crowley finally bit and invited Walker to meet with him. During the interview, Crowley challenged Walker to come back in a week with 30 potential partnerships. Walker returned with 300. Soon after, he was named Director of Business Development. He was still in business school, but he did both. He just started working, signing up deals while also finishing up his second year at Stanford.

[5:39 - 6:19]

Walker finishes up at Stanford Business School and he continues on at Four Square. He was in a role that afforded him the opportunity to make numerous connections and this was something that Walker proved to be really adept at. Actually, one of the things that a lot of people talk about is just how charismatic he is and how great he is at forming relationships and just communicating with a variety of people. So after almost three years at Foursquare, Walker is ready to move on and he's considering joining a VC as an investor in residence to develop his idea.

[6:20 - 7:02]

He joins Andreessen Horowitz, and he's pursuing different ideas, things like related to trucking or childhood obesity. But then Ben Horowitz, a partner at Andreessen, challenges him to do something that only he is uniquely qualified to do. At this point, Walker has been in Silicon Valley for a few years, his time at Stanford, then a few years after working at foursquare, and he's experienced first hand the lack of diversity. He also remembers what his experience when he first got to Stanford in Silicon Valley, just realizing how much opportunity was there, he decided that he wanted to do something about it. So he launches his nonprofit in 2012 called code 2040.

[7:03 - 7:56]

Code 2040 is a nonprofit fellowship program that matches high performing yet disadvantaged college students with companies in Silicon Valley. It's named for the year that people of color will become the majority in the US. And its goal is to make sure that people of color are poised to take advantage of the different opportunities in technology. But Walker is an investor in residence, which means he needs to come up with an idea that he can launch. So he really gives a lot of thought to what Ben Horowitz challenged him to do, thinking about something that only he can authentically solve. And he thinks about his experience with shaving, something he's just not able to do. Like many men with curly hair, shaving can prove extremely painful because of the types of razors that are readily available.

[7:57 - 8:41]

So he visits a shave store and someone recommends a single blade double edge safety razor, which, much to surprise, does not cause the discomfort or result in the razor bumps the next morning. After 15 years, it's the only thing that has ever worked for him. This leads him to his idea, a single blade razor shaving system called Bevel. Walker's vision is bigger than this one product, and he actually names his company Walker and Co Brands. This takes him back to his Hotchkiss days when he recognized the value and the power of names, of the family names many of the legacies, the other alumni of the school he went to.

[8:42 - 9:44]

And so he started his venture with that ultimate vision in mind, using his name in the name Walker and Co in order to build a brand that he hopes will live on for the next 100, 200 years. But the legacy of Walker and Co is dependent on the successful launch of this first product, and Walker has to raise money. He's in Silicon Valley, which was and still is very white. So the would be investors don't quite understand the market opportunity and don't really try to. There are actually a couple of opportunities here for the Bevel brand to address. One is to actually provide a solution to the need, which is to make shaving a possibility for men, usually men of color, men with curly hair who aren't able to use the multitude of products that currently exist and two to address and improve the shopping experience.

[9:45 - 10:32]

Until the launch of bevel, if you wanted to find shaving products for a black man, you had to go to the beauty aisle, usually the ethnic beauty aisle, if there was one. Then you had to find the lone dusty shelf with the dated looking products on them. And if you were lucky, there might be one or two boxes still left. So what you might find, even 2000, was that you'd find a box with an old basketball player's picture on it, someone like Walt Frazier, even though he had retired 20 years prior. This is the equivalent of someone trying to sell a 25 year old, a product with your grandfather's picture on it, except that there's a picture of your grandfather in his late 30s with the corresponding fashion and hairstyle, but it's 20 years later.

[10:33 - 11:19]

So although granddad might look age appropriate, it's still completely clear that the packaging is dated and therefore so are the contents of the package. So Walker knew that not only did he have a better product, he knew that by providing a better way for people to acquire the product, providing education as to how the system was better, that he really would be filling a gap that most people, most companies would just overlook. Now remember, Walker had spent several years in Silicon Valley. He was an insider, basically. He knew a lot of the players, they knew him, people really liked him. But it was still really hard for him to raise money of struggle.

[11:20 - 12:07]

And there were many investors, many VCs who would say, okay, we'll give you $100,000, which basically is a slap in the face. It's basically saying, we'll give you this money because we like you. We don't believe in the idea, but we'll at least be a little bit connected just in case this actually is something. So he made the decision rather than collect a bunch of those no faith deals, he would just keep knocking on doors and come up with some solid investors that really believed in what Bevel represented. So there was one investor, Mark's sister, who really had a deep relationship with Walker and believed in him.

[12:08 - 12:43]

And actually when Walker couldn't raise the minimum amount that he needed, it was sister who bridged the minimum. And then Andreessen leaned in, which gave Walker his needed credibility. He was able to launch in 2013. Walker brand's first investors include Magic Johnson, John legend, Ron Johnson, who is the former CEO of JCPenney, along with rap star Nas. Three years after the Bevel launch in 2016, Unilever buys dollar shave club for $1 billion.

[12:44 - 12:13] 

Everyone is realizing that shaving is a profitable business. Walker is able to have a few more conversations with people. It helps him to raise some additional funds and eventually he's able to raise about $33 million. He's also thinking about what's next? How is he going to guarantee the future of Walker Brands and ultimately Bevel and other future products.

[12:14 - 13:53]

In 2018, five years after the launch, Walker Brands is acquired by P&G. Although the exact terms of the deal or the exact value of the deal aren't communicated, it's estimated that the deal is worth between $20 and $40 million. Walker is still involved as CEO, he has equity, but now he also has a partner with capital and distribution. Walker Brands operates independently and Walker Tristan himself becomes the first black CEO of a P&G company in its 180 year history.

[13:54 - 14:45]

When the deal was first announced, there were many who questioned if this was a good idea. But remember, Walker was always thinking with the long term in mind and the most important thing to him was legacy. And so by being acquired by P&G, he has amplified the potential for the reach of his current products as well as for any future products. He also doesn't have to worry about capital that he needs for expansion or for any other issues that can come up. And remember, it was key for him as the expert, as the one who had this lived experience, to stay involved. And he is still involved and is able to operate independently, which I'm sure was a key negotiating point for the deal.

[14:46 - 15:11]

So there are several Brand Gems in this episode. Number one, put yourself in different environments. Walker was a kid from Queens who ended up at a private school in Connecticut, at Hotchkiss and then in Silicon Valley. And both of those experiences just really changed what he even knew was possible, opened his eyes and just opened different paths of opportunity.

[15:12 - 15:21]

Brand Gem number two, think in the long term, think what is most important to you as you plan and take all of these steps accordingly.

[15:22 - 16:02]

Brand Gem number three, embrace what is uniquely you. Walker could have gone down another path and launched another business related to an area that he could have researched, but he chose something that he had direct experience with, that he knew first hand was an opportunity, and that is what made him uniquely qualified to do it. And because he was so personally invested, it likely has helped him in those times when it just wasn't easy, when it was just hard to convince other people that there was indeed a market for it.

[16:03 - 16:04]

That's it for this week's episode.


[16:05 - 16:06]

Thank you for tuning in.
 

[16:07 - 16:08]

Until next time.


[16:09 - 16:17]

You just listened to another episode of Brand Gems. Be sure to follow so you don't miss future episodes. And please share with anyone you think will find the information useful.
 

[16:18 - 16:19]

Until next time.