Karmic Boomerangs: Interview with Elliot Begoun, Founder of TIG
I recently went one on one with Elliot Begoun, founder of TIG. TIG has launched a number of companies in the natural product products space, focusing on building brands nimble, capital-efficient, resilient brands.
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?
Elliot: I spent the first 25 years of my career following what I thought was the safe and expected route after college. I went to work for a corporation, climbed the ladder and eventually became part of the c-suite. However, with each successive rung, I found myself less and less fulfilled. I felt like a pariah. I wanted to change things and make things better. The status quo was boring. One day I was heading into the office, and my wife simply said, “You’re miserable, and if you think you can hide it or fake it, you’re wrong. It’s time to do something different.”
I resigned a few weeks later with only a rough idea of what I wanted to do next and no real understanding of how to make that into a business. On paper, it was crazy, we had two kids in college and one in high school, and I chose this moment to sow my entrepreneurial oats?
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?
Elliot: I knew I wanted to work with entrepreneurs. Having been in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry for so many years, I felt I had a lot to teach early-stage founders. My wife always claimed that I was a misplaced college professor. It turns out that my professorial thinking was a bit arrogant. I find myself, 7+ years later, playing the role of the student as often as I am the teacher, which, by the way, is pretty cool. I love that I am learning every day. I believe that is the fundamental lesson of entrepreneurship: to be curious. To commit oneself self to lifelong learning.
Adam: How do you know if a business idea is worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?
Elliot: Ultimately the market decides if a business is worth pursuing—the savvy founder figures out a way to test his or her hypothesis before leaning in too far. For example, my aha moment came when I was at a retreat at Stanford's d-School (design thinking). I recognized that most of the accelerator models in the Natural Products industry are modeled after Tech. The two industries could not be more different. I started to ask myself, what if I created an accelerator that didn’t follow the tech model? One that was not cohort-based, time-limited, required founders to step away from the business and had an equity mandate. Yet, before I ran headlong into building that program, I pulled together five founders who were representative of the type of brands and entrepreneurs I wanted to serve. They became my focus group in return for some advisory work. With their input, I developed a model that met the needs of those I hoped to serve. A model I was now confident would be well-received. Put simply: I believe the best approach to testing is to build a growth hypothesis and then develop a method to validate the hypothesis’s basic assumptions.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business and the businesses you work with? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Elliot: I am a reluctant self-promoter. Plus, I believe it is all but impossible to sell “need.” That is something that each person has to recognize for themselves. My philosophy is built on two key constructs: karmic boomerangs and top-of-mind awareness.
By karmic boomerangs, I am referring to the act of giving with no expectation of reciprocity. I’ve found that if I can walk into a situation, either physically or virtually, with the mindset of giving, I arrive at my best. In the long run, much of my success has been because of those boomerangs coming back.
As mentioned before, I don’t think, as a service provider, you can sell need. So rather than attempting that, I focus on top-of-mind awareness. That requires you maintain visibility through thought leadership pieces, nurture emails, and more to stay in the consciousness of those you can serve. That way, when the need percolates to the surface, it is you who they think of and reach out to for help.
Adam: What are your best tips on sales, marketing, and branding?
Elliot: I have two cardinal principles.
Empathy - I believe this is a superpower. The best sales and marketing efforts emanate from looking through the eyes of those you are trying to reach. Brands or businesses who deeply understand those they serve can speak to them in a voice that resonates with authenticity.
Polarizing - the best marketing is polarizing. If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll be ineffective. The best in sales and marketing know that you must put a stake in the ground. You want to be respectful and aware, but you can’t shy away from what you believe is most important to your core consumers. Branding is a verb. It is the act of aligning your consumer’s beliefs with what you want them to believe. That often requires you meet somewhere in the middle and adjust your message, as you learn more about your consumer.
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?
Elliot: In my experience, there is a fundamental truth. We all want to be heard, cared for, valued, and respected. Leadership starts with understanding this truth and using it to guide your actions. If done correctly, a leader that is servant based is someone who takes into consideration the whole person, not just the output. It is someone who makes those around them feel heard, cared for, valued, and respected. If a leader does this, they will not have to use their power to compel action. Instead, their team will just act because that is what needs to be done.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Elliot: One common theme I see working with emerging leaders and brands is they wait too long to establish their culture. Often that means they find that the horse is already out of the barn when they feel the business is mature enough to address the issue. So, start shaping the culture early and leverage that culture to build a team and support your leadership approach.
Another piece of advice is to focus on listening. Too often, as leaders, we just act. Being present and receptive is vital to good leadership. Listening is a critical component of presence.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Elliot: My top three tips:
Be the change you want to see in the world. Don’t wait for others to step up and fill the void.
Make people feel heard, cared for, valued, and respected.
Find a good contrarian. You need to have someone who looks at things differently and will actively challenge your thinking.
The best piece of advice, now that is a tough question to answer. Maybe the best I can recall is that true freedom comes from learning how to fish for your food.
Sure, I believe that commerce is the greatest change agent. Yes, it can be corrupted, but nothing else can drive progress like an economic engine when harnessed for good.
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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