It’s in the Doing: Interview with Mike Chaffin, Co-Founder of Three Commas
I recently went one on one with Mike Chaffin. Mike is the co-founder and president of Three Commas, an apparel brand he launched with Mark Cuban. Mike has also served as the longtime Business Manager for the multi-platinum hip-hop artist Nelly, having managing Nelly’s apparel line, as well as the business side for numerous Nelly tours, six albums, TV partnerships, and several businesses including cannabis, radio, sanitization technology, and blockchain applications.
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?
Mike: Tons of failures or learning experiences as I prefer to call them. I invest time daily in nurturing my network. When you talk to a lot of people, learning to say no is a huge challenge. People always have something they need help with and you have to be strategic. With that said, some of my best opportunities have risen from helping random connections.
Adam: How did you cultivate relationships with Nelly and with Mark Cuban? What are your best tips on relationship building?
Mike: With Mark, I knew he had met Nelly in Las Vegas so I had emailed him Nelly’s tour calendar every month for a year or better offering tickets to shows to him or anyone in his network. I was not looking for anything from Mark, I just had a huge amount of respect and was kind of a fan boy of his hustle. I met Nelly when I stopped by a friend’s office and he was on the phone with someone 2 degrees from Nelly. He needed help with his apparel line Apple Bottoms and I was invited come along. The next day I was in LA restructuring the company. Advice I give to everyone is to build a networking process and work it hard every day. Be judicious in your selection on the network you nurture. Bigger is usually not better.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea and know it was worth pursuing? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with and test business ideas?
Mike: Most business ideas I’ve had usually come from something being done manually or complex and finding ways to simplify. I would love to say I did a ton of due diligence but usually if I had a good feeling I would start building while evaluating. Mind you, this is not always the brightest fiscal or time route! I recommend to everyone that it needs to be a passion first and foremost and something you are willing to dive in 110%. I love one of Mark’s “Keys to success” mottos which is don’t start a company unless it is an obsession and if you have an exit strategy it is not an obsession. So many people, myself included, have taken on things that seem to have a lot of upside but wasn’t a passion. That never ended well!
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?
Mike: Read, read, read and in the words of Mark, “It’s not in the dreaming it’s in the doing”. Many entrepreneurs waste a lot of time on unimportant things such as choosing email providers or CRM systems. Focus on making money first!
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Mike: From a sales perspective, have a process. Everyone that struggles in sales, I encourage to spend 3 months making 80 targeted calls a day. After that, no matter how busy you get, take the time to make at least 20 connections a day. You will always have a full funnel. From a marketing perspective, have your brand message down, the persona of your customer dialed in and know how to reach them. Take the same approach as sales and find 80 contact points, influencers, etc. to hit each day. Have a 90-day calendar always in front of you filled in with a plan.
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?
Mike: Leadership styles may differ by industry or employees. Leaders to me have confidence, vision, empathy, consistency, and some communications skills. Effective leaders have boundaries as well. Time is the one thing they cannot get back.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?
Mike: The latest generation is bringing new challenges to leadership. I have seen small companies lose 30 to 40 employees in a day when they did not feel their boss cared. The new generation treats personal life equally if not more important than professional life. Leaders have to adjust and build that passion in them to get the most during the hours they work. Having a strong vision is a great first step to building that passion. And for God’s sake fight to keep politics and drama out of the office!
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?
Mike: Make sure you have the time, energy, passion and resources before you take on anything.
Dive in all the way or not at all.
I always recommend the book Traction to create that common terminology and process throughout the company. I think it is a quick & effective tool to help communicate throughout the company vision and keep everything aligned towards that vision.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Mike: My best advice was from Jeff Hoffman. When starting a company, focus on one thing. People will figure out the rest over time. Pinterest started out as a recipe-sharing app. eBay was founded by a Pez dispenser collector. Don’t try to be everything to everybody day one.
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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