I recently went one on one with Andrew Forman, founder and CEO of Givz.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth? 

Andrew: As a first-time CEO and entrepreneur, I was bound to make many mistakes, and I did. One of the toughest moments was realizing and admitting that we needed to pivot the company—and getting my entire organization (colleagues, investors, etc.) on board with the shift. It was hard to “give up” on something where so many folks had put in so much effort. One of my biggest takeaways was to not be afraid of making a big change—to dare to move swiftly and quickly (even if that meant feeling like a lot of work got 'thrown away'). In reality, that work did not get ‘thrown away’, in fact, it made you who you are today. Make the decision to change paths, and have faith in a new idea. Next time I will make that decision even faster because it was the best decision I've made to date!

Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas? 

Andrew: We created Givz to make charitable giving a part of everyday life. By disrupting the discount industry (and replacing discounts with donations), we have made it financially imperative for companies to do good with Givz. That’s how we are creating a new type of marketing—Purpose Driven Performance—and building the world’s largest charitable giving engine in the process. As for advice, if you think you have a great idea, try to execute an absolute minimal version of it as a side hustle. Once you have enough demand that you must quit what currently takes your time to handle the demand, you know you have something great.

Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea? 

Andrew: Two things made it abundantly clear. First, we ran A/B tests with a few brands to see if donation incentives could perform as well as discounts. We ran on A/B test on Facebook, and another via email (two separate brands). Both tests came back with donation incentives outperforming discounts by nearly 20%. Second, we interviewed a customer of one of our initial test clients. She said that she had received multiple discount offers from this brand (never bought but liked the product), but when she saw she’d get $40 to give to a charity of her choice when she bought this time around - she purchased immediately. This was the exact consumer psychology we were looking for, and we knew we were on to something big. 

Advice? Test and measure results whenever possible. I was nervous to test initially because I felt what if the results didn’t come out in our favor? I wish I tested earlier - not only because the results were positive, but now I know that getting negative results from a test is also extremely valuable - it tells you where to not spend your time and money. 

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level? 

Andrew: Number one piece of advice on taking your business to the next level is hiring great people. I would go as far as to say that this is the only thing that matters in the early stages of a startup. You must have amazing people around you if you are going to achieve anything at all. 

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Andrew: Understand your customer and what they want. Your product likely has a few different reasons as to why it is great - make sure you surface the reason that will solve your customer’s biggest problem (which could be different customer by customer). 

For example, Givz is the first B2B marketing technology platform that drives full price purchasing behavior by rewarding consumers with the ability to choose their favorite charities after making qualifying purchases. No other marketing solution simultaneously drives short-term sales and strengthens the core brand by doing good. In most of my conversations with brands I almost solely talk about the short-term lift in sales and/or Average Order Value as opposed to the long-term positive impact this will have on revenue and on the world – simply because short term sales is what my customer is focused on right now.

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level? 

Andrew: 

1. Listening and reacting — Not being afraid of making and admitting mistakes and quickly course correcting. 

2. Trust in your team and conviction in your vision. 

3. Being authentic and creating genuine connections with the people I’m working with. Don’t be afraid to let people see the real you. The more authentic and genuine you can be the more folks will follow you to the end of the earth. 

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams? 

Andrew: To me, leadership means motivating a team to be the very best it can be. It means being straight with them. Listening. Following up on issues. Mentoring newer members so they can contribute and grow, adding voices and ideas to our company. And sticking to your word. Everyone must be held accountable - make it known you are fair and live to the same standard, and through all of this, gain confidence in the team.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Andrew:

1. Move quickly – Done is much better than perfect, you’ll have time to react if you move quickly enough

2. Surround yourself with great people

3. Have fun

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received? 

Andrew: Attitude is everything - it’s 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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