In today’s episode, we talked with Andrew Backs, Pilot44 at Pilot44, about how first-time founders can focus their innovation efforts and take products to the enterprise space.
In today’s episode, we talked with Andrew Backs, Pilot44 at Pilot44, about how first-time founders can focus their innovation efforts and take products to the enterprise space.
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Hatchet Ventures website: https://www.hatchetventures.com
Hatchet Ventures LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hatchet-ventures/
Chet Lovegren’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chetlovegren/
Connect with Andrew Backs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewbacks/
Check out Pilot44’s Website: https://www.pilot44.com/
Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/36ub3fpy
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1, 2, 3, 4. Are you a founder, co-founder, aspiring entrepreneur, or just someone who loves to hear about how companies are built? Then join us as we talk with founders and CEOs who have been there and done that. Welcome to the Founders Formula Podcast. Sponsored by Hatchet Ventures and now your host, Chet Lovegren.
[00:00:32] Chet: Hello and welcome one welcome all to the Founders Formula Podcast, the show that is designed to bring you the latest and greatest insights from founders and CEOs worldwide, sponsored by yours only, the one and only Hatchet Ventures. I'm your host. The Sales Doctor Chet Lovegren and I am here with a very special guest today.
He is a tenured first time founder. We had a good chuckle at that at the beginning, um, nine years in as a first time founder. He is also a, a strategic advisor and an investor himself. Please welcome to the show, the founder of Pilot 44 Labs, Andrew Backs Andrew.
[00:01:06] Andrew: What's going on? Hey Chet thanks for having me. It's great to be here.
[00:01:09] Chet: Yeah, I'm really thrilled to jump in. Um, hey man, you know how we start the show. So we wanna learn about Andrew and your experience prior to being a founder. What were some of the things that you experienced along the way? Tell us the story of Andrew and I always give guests two options.
You can either give me the 30,000 foot view, or you can either give me the full memoir that should be turned into a Christopher Nolan film. So, uh, I'll let you, uh, , I'll let, I'll let you take it from there, man. Fill us in. Tell us a little bit about the story of Andrew
[00:01:35] Andrew: well, I was born June 2nd, 1982.
We'll, we'll fast forward a little bit. Um, well, it's great to be here, Chet. Um, yeah, my, my, um, Background really started in, uh, in Indiana, um, when we moved there with my family, um, kinda in, in, uh, junior high school age. And I grew up in a pretty entrepreneurial environment. My dad was a, uh, an entrepreneur, kind of left the corporate world, started a couple companies.
So during that time I saw, you know, kind of. The life of a, the ups and downs, the life of an entrepreneur. And, you know, being from Indiana and kind of the Midwest, I also had this sort of mix of, um, influence around me. A lot of hardworking sort of, um, you know, blue collar type, uh, type environments. And I think a lot of that shaped you.
Just my upbringing and kind of my view on work ethic. Um, and so, you know, just in my early days I knew I was willing to work hard. I, I, um, started a few like side hustles when I was in high school, like lawn mowing business and, you know, started doing some. Uh, like website creation in the early days for people just on the side, and I wouldn't call them, uh, startups, but they were definitely early entrepreneurial ventures.
Um, that sorted to seed, seed seed in my d n. With that said, I went to, I went to school, went up to Purdue University. Um, in, in, uh, Northern Indiana. So I didn't move too far from home, uh, for that, but got an MEA there. Um, had a choice at that time to either, uh, start to pursue the entrepreneurial side of things or go, go the corporate route.
And I chose the latter, um, for a variety of reasons. I saw pretty big opportunity to cut my teeth in a, in a business environment and, um, you know, just learn how companies are built, how they ran. I was really interested in that. And, uh, decided to go to Procter and Gamble. It's a big corporation. Uh, for me, it was in the big city of Cincinnati
I had, uh, I hadn't lived anywhere, uh, like Cincinnati, so that was like the, the metropolitan place for me. And, uh, spent a number of years in Cincinnati with Procter Procter Gamble. Actually five years there. Learned a ton. Um, it was awesome to see how. You know, hundred plus year old companies are, are run and how brands are built and how um, how, you know, sort of the financial workings of a company like that can, can drive success and the rigor and so forth.
So it was really awesome. But I'd say about halfway through my 10 year career at p and g I was really starting to get that sort of entrepreneurial itch. , um, I was able to scratch it quite a bit at Proctor. Um, I moved into their innovation, innovation organization, um, in a variety of roles, helping them, you know, chase, um, more disruptive innovation.
Did some m and a. Um, and then a pretty pivotal moment happened where, um, I had an opportunity to move to Silicon Valley. With, uh, with the Procter and Gamble badge, right? So they were, they were like, you know what, Andrew? Um, you see an opportunity for you to, um, help us, uh, you know, create and expand our open innovation program in, in Silicon Valley.
Um, you know, help us connect to the startup ecosystem. Help us work with VCs and innovators. The builders to try to push this big company of Procter and Gamble forward. And so that was a really exciting, sort of once in a lifetime opportunity I felt like. And so it actually kept me with p and g for another five years.
Um, and so, you know, moved to Silicon Valley, um, it was, it was an exciting time to be. , um, you know, building an open innovation program, it felt like every corporate was like showing up in Silicon Valley trying to get a taste of the magic. Back then, this was like 13 years ago, there was no playbook on how corporates could engage with startups and entrepreneurs.
So there was a lot of like mistakes being made and inefficiencies, and I would call it innovation theater, you know? Corporate's kind of hand waving and saying, oh, we're here. You know, let's, let's give me the magic. And nothing would come of it. You know, at best it would be inspir inspirational. Um, and, you know, around then I was, uh, I was growing a bit frustrated with that, honestly, like, uh, cause being here on the ground, I saw the opportunity.
I saw the, the, the, the incredible energy and intelligence coming outta the, the startup ecosystem. Um, but I felt like the corporate world just didn't quite know. Capture it, right? They didn't know how to actually activate with these partners, and it represented a huge opportunity. So, you know, there was this, this kind of decision I had to make on, if I keep it, keep going with Procter Gamble and try to fix it on the inside for that one company or, or, um, or head off and try to solve it for the market, um, and, and uh, create a business around it.
And so that was, uh, kind of the journey that led me to, to pilot 44. Um, you know, like I said, that sort of corporate background meets innovation and ultimately deciding to, uh, create a company was, um, was a, was a journey that I loved. I, I look back on it as a, as a critical sort of part of my story. And, um, yeah, I loved every minute of it and definitely led to where I'm
today.
I mean, I'm, as someone who's in, in a position now where like, you know, I'm doing as much self-education as I can on, you know, raising some seed capital for, for a venture I've been working on and, you know, working to get a technical co-founder and I've already built a prototype for myself. Like I'm incredibly envious because you saw, I mean, if you see all that stuff for Proctor and Gamble, you know, mergers and acquisitions and building in a space that isn't, like you said, there's no playbook for this.
And we were making a lot of mistakes and we were learning. It's almost like, Hey, if I can do it there, I can, I can do it in a startup. I mean, I did it at the biggest, I, I did it at the show. Right. That's like playing in the MLB and then going and playing T-ball on the weekends. Like I got it in the bag.
It's not, yeah, yeah. You know, maybe not in the bag, but like that, that level of education that you get. Um, you know, in your employment is so valuable and so you spent, yeah. You said you spent 15 total years there at b and g,
actually 10 total. Yeah, I think 10 total. Five and five. Five, yeah. 10 total. Um, so, yeah.
Uh, just over a decade. And, you know, something I'd mentioned when I think about myself and then I often talk to, to, um, kind of people that are, that are on their own journey, you know, uh, that have this sort of desire to be entrepreneurs but may not be in that environment quite yet. Um, You can create a pretty entrepreneurial environment in, in no matter what you're doing.
I mean, like you said, t-ball team, corporate environment, you know, I was drawn to that and I kind of created, uh, a pretty entrepreneurial environment. Um, obviously I wasn't yet an entrepreneur, you know, I hadn't started a company and kind of taken the leap, but you can absolutely start to scratch the itch, cut your teeth, you know, learn the ropes.
Um, and then, you know, in some cases like mine, it helped me identify. , um, you know, a problem to solve and a business that could go after it, right? And so, you know, without that sort of open-mindedness, even when I was in the corporate, I just don't think I would've started this company. So, like, it's a, they, they, they can, it's not a binary thing, right?
It, it's a nice sort of, um, overlap that can happen.
[00:09:09] Chet: That's awesome. I love hearing that. So let's, yeah, let's dig into that. Let's talk about Pilot 44 Labs. How did you come about this idea? Um, what do, what do you all do? What do you solve for, for your customers? Let's gimme the, gimme the details. Gimme the scoop and the highlight.
[00:09:25] Andrew: Yeah. I'll, I'll talk a little bit of our, about our journey because as you mentioned, it's, we're nine years in, um, when we first started. So kind of building off where I left off on my story was you, When we first started, I saw a big opportunity to help corporations, large corporations like Procter and Gamble and, you know, big companies like Nestle, um, adopt, you know, um, you know, emerging technologies to solve business challenges.
That was the original thesis. And like the, the part that really excited my co-founder and I, which I'll get to that here in a minute, the co-founder piece, um, is, you know, there was. We felt like there was a palpable opportunity for startups and large corporations to, to collaborate in a really symbiotic way, in a way that would allow both parties to thrive, right?
For the corporate that get access to, you know, they essentially are going to the source of innovation, um, you know, the inventors, the investors and so forth. And then on the other side of the coin, the, the startups are obviously, um, looking to create product market fit and. Corporations, you know, if the fit is, I mean, if there's a strong fit, they could be a great early customer, but, um, if you've ever worked at a startup that's tried to work with corporates early in their history, it's, it, it can be painful.
And so we just saw a massive problem, like on both sides of that marketplace. Right. Um, you know, I I, I, I'll take a quick step back. I, I mentioned co-founder, um, you know, right as I was kind of deciding to lead p and g. Um, I was introduced, uh, to, to my, uh, who would be then my co-founder, um, through our, through our network.
I was talking about, um, you know, the problem to, to solve and kind of what I was observing in the market, um, to a close advisor of mine. And he's like, you, you know what? Like I've at this party and there's this guy that, um, that I've talked to and he was talking about the same exact problem. And you guys should, um, you should talk.
I feel like you're on the same wavelength. We did. And, and, um, my co-founder and I are, are very different in background. Um, he's a serial startup entrepreneur. He's like on a six startup, you know, 35 years in the valley building companies. I'm more on the corporate side of things, but we hit it off because we kind of united around this big opportunity.
Right. And, uh, you know, that was a lot of validation for me as I was trying to make the leap from the corporate world. You know, it, it helped you. Kind of validate that I wasn't just the only one thinking about this problem, but it also gave me a, a feeling like, oh, you know what? I don't have to go out this alone.
Like, I can, I can pair up with them and go after it. Um, so that, yeah, that was a quick step back in the, in the story, but like I said, early days it was, it was really about, um, you know, uh, helping corporates and startups work together, specifically helping. Them build, um, solutions. Uh, you know, pilot is in the Pilot 44 name.
So we help them launch pilots and experiment, um, with one another. And, uh, because we were so oriented around real business challenges and business needs, The acti activations that were happening between the startups and the corporates were really effective, right? They were on strategy and they were driving to results.
And therefore, like we saw a lot of early success in these collaborations that the market just hadn't seen before. And so we were getting companies like Procter and Gamble, Nestle, uh, Hershey and others to sign up as clients very early in our life cycle cuz we were showing. Um, so that was really fun to find kind of product market fit early.
Um, you know, with that said, the, the, the sort of world of corporate innovation, innovation ecosystem has evolved quite a bit over the years. And our company has, has, um, has grown with that and has made changes ands along the way. I mean, we still have this sort of open innovation mindset, um, but we are now not just helping, um, you know, corporates and startups work together.
We're helping corporates. Startups, we're helping them behave like startups. We're helping them launch entirely new ventures and invest differently and so forth. And so, um, our sort. Remit in the world of corporate innovation has expanded.
[00:13:30] Chet: So what I find interesting is, is I don't think we normally get someone who's a two-time founder, I'm sorry, a first time founder that has, uh, you know, banded their company this long.
So I find it really interesting that you're almost approaching a decade here. When we get two or three time, four time founders, it's like, oh yeah, I was there for like four years. We got acquired, or I was there for three years. This happened. Mm-hmm. . Um, so I would love to. Kind of a little bit in that journey of what you've been building for almost a decade now and what you've been doing, what are some of the big challenges that you would say, Hey, if you're a first time founder, or even you're standing up another venture, like, here's a reminder of, of what not to do because this is how we approach this situation.
Or, what's a piece of advice you would give someone that you would kind of would say, Hey, if my number one takeaway was this for my nine years of doing this, what would that piece of advice be?
[00:14:19] Andrew: Yeah, I, I, I think the big one. Um, at least the first one that comes to mind is related to what I was just talking about around product market fit.
Um, you know, we found some early traction, um, and, and I would describe it as product market fit really, really early in our life cycle if we would've stayed static. Um, and kind of just. Only focused on that sort of early set of dated points. Cause it was really early in our life cycle. Um, I could say with hindsight, we would've flatlined or declined or died as a company, right?
But one thing that we did when that happened is we kept a very sort of open model to adapt and change and ensure that we were we the market side of that equation. , um, continuously, even though we were successful. Right? And so keeping a lens towards how the market is evolving, where it's heading in two to three years, versus what you're feeling right now.
Um, cause revenue is addictive, like revenue and profit is, is, is, is awesome. It's like amazing validation when you get a new client or get a new deal. But sit, you know, sitting static when that happens is a massive, is a massive risk. It's, it's not always a mistake. Some companies can benefit from extreme focus like that, but in our case, we found a lot of success by looking forward in ensuring that we were weeding the market changes.
And this was critical for us because corporations. You know, have continued throughout our entire history to invest in innovation. They've gotten better at it. They've brought more people in-house to do the work. They've done more work. Like they've, they have more sort of, um, revs on the model and therefore the bar keeps going up.
Like the, the sort of level of sophistication keeps rising. And luckily we spotted that and like, In a position to, you know, project where the market was going to head. I mean, obviously we weren't perfect, but we at least tried. So the big, to your question, the big piece of advice is just keep, keep watching the market cuz it's gonna change.
[00:16:21] Chet: That's great. I'm, let me bring the conversation back a little bit to something interesting you said. Sure. That I actually, I wrote down on my notes here. I was, I thought it was really interesting cause you, you made a good point and I've worked for two startups myself, um, as 1, 1, 1 time as a, as a leader in sales, one time as an individual contributor.
And you said something interesting that a lot of startups fail when they tried to chase big enterprises. . Mm-hmm. and I, I've seen that personally too. I've seen it both. Oh yeah. Hey, we're gonna create a product specifically for big enterprises, but they don't really ever stand it up. Well, and then you're an individual contributor suffering because of that.
And then I've also seen it from a perspective where, hey, we, you're, I'm in sales leadership, we stand something up, we do really well, and then all of a sudden it's like the big thing is, oh, we just got money. We want to go enterprise now. , let's go chase the, you know, let's go chase the WeWorks and the Bloombergs of the world.
And that was like, uh, but you don't really have an enterprise offering just yet. And that's a really big market, and it takes a long time to build pipeline and it takes a long time to train your reps to break into those programs and things of that nature. What I find interesting is, as you said, it's in the name pilot.
Your ideal customer were these enterprise companies to start. And so I'd love to hear from you over the last near decade, what do you think you did differently that helped you pursue large enterprises, especially in the startup phase, that other companies don't do well when they try to pursue large enterprises?
[00:17:44] Andrew: Yeah, and I, I'll answer this in two ways cuz we've experienced it as a company. And, you know, have found a way to grow, um, with enterprises and especially during those other phases. It was critical for us. But then also we've done so many pilots, like we've done thousands with corporates and startups that are facing this exact same challenge, uh, you know, to various degrees.
Some of 'em are very early stage startups, um, that represent a really amazing paradigm shift that the corporates are interested in and others may be maturing, startup, that they're trying to figure out how to crack the enterprise. So just to kind of hit on both of those, I mean for us, um, you know, I was really focused on solving strategic business challenges for the corporates.
So the idea of coming in and kind of showing them shiny objects and almost entertaining them with innovation, um, actually was easier to sell at that time. Um, and to some degrees it still is today. Like you show up, you're like, oh, we'll do an event. You know, you come to this demo day and like, You know, we'll, we'll show you the landscape of startups and like, you know, it feels good, but it doesn't add a lot of tangible value.
So, early days for us, and this is asking an analog for the startups as well. And so I was super focused or we were super focused as a company on creating value, right? And we, we, if we sensed that something wasn't going to create value or it was just gonna be a shiny object, we just didn't do it. Like we pushed against it, we sold against it.
Um, and that did a few things. It showed to the corporate that we were, you know, focused on, you know, creating value for them, but it helped us, you know, kind of hone in on what our core value proposition would be into the future. Right. And so that, that, um, helped accelerate the conversations. And I think my background in working on the other side of the table helped.
Cause I was just like, oh, here's how they assess opportunities. You know, here's how they, you know, When the opportunities have scaled in the past, this is kind of what they've looked like. They've all like really been clear value, profit solve business challenges on strategy. So that was a big focus for us.
It actually translates into the, the world of startups that are trying to work with corporates. We always guide them to ensure that the, the people on the other side of the table, the corporate team, it might be a brand, it might be an innovation team, make sure they have a point of view on the problems they're looking to solve.
And that it isn't just a pet project. Like it's actually, you know, it matters. It matters to executives. Executives are watching it. They care about the outcomes. Um, and ask those questions, you know, like, who's sponsoring this? Who is, who's got their eyes on it? Who's on the hook? You know? Um, obviously we wanna make you a hero, the other person on the side of the table, but like, who's gonna view you as the hero, right?
Like, ask these questions because it'll start to surface a few things. One, is are you really talking to the right people, like and solving the right problem? And ultimately what comes after this first experiment or this first deal? Like where does it go right from here? And, uh, if you have those conversations up front, you're, you're setting us yourself up for a, a lot more success.
It's very tempting just to, to listen to the one person on the other side of the table and kind of create the custom widget for them and get that. , um, or, you know, and get the bonus or get the sort of logo for your board review. Um, but I, I push, we pushed ourselves and we push all of our partners that we work with in this sort of startup to corporate collaborations to be much more strategic in how they view what they're building.
[00:21:14] Chet: No, and that's, that's great advice and I'd be curious to hear in this process where you're advising these companies, what is the most common misstep you see companies make when they're trying to pursue one of these pilot program?
Hmm. On the, on the, uh, corporate side or the startup side?
Let's, let's talk about the startup side.
I'd be curious to hear your thoughts there.
[00:21:33] Andrew: Yeah. Um, I think, you know, one, one misstep is underestimating timing. , you know, it may, you might be getting a lot of attention. You know, the corporates might be calling you, which is a pretty good feeling. You may have, you may have c may be coming off of some PR or.
um, that doesn't mean it's the time to engage, right? Um, just because they're knocking doesn't mean it's time to start signing scopes of work. Um, so, you know, in that case, um, where you're, you're benefiting from some positive momentum, you know, ensure that the, the goals, this is back to my previous point.
Uh, you know, I Sure the goals of the, the corporate are, um, not only strategic for the corporate, but strategic for. , right? And you're actually in a great position in this case, um, to, you know, ensure that what you're shaping from a product standpoint is, is uh, kind of built to last. The other in the equation where you're chasing corporates.
Um, you know, I could probably talk to you for hours on this, but like some of it is just making sure you're talking to the right people. It's basics. You know, it's tempting to just pull on the first thread or, or, or, you know, go after the first, you know, lead that, that happens to pick up the phone, right?
but it's okay to do some navigation work. These, these companies are very complex. Um, they have a, a, you know, a lot of sort of different business units, different corporate innovation teams that could be stakeholders. . And so, you know, take the time to, to understand the organization, um, before you go all in with one, one person in the, in the company.
One thing that can help and is a little self-serving for us, is finding these sort of an unbiased , right? Mm-hmm. . Um, we don't charge to startups. We don't take equity for some startups, so we tend to, you know, help them because it helps our corporate clients get outcomes. But like, you know, you know, fi find a Sherpa, you know, it might.
an advisor that's come from the industry that, that, that, um, that, that corporate is in, or maybe even somebody on the inside of the company that can just be, you know, al almost a, a navigator for you, um, as you try to, as, as you try to approach the company. So, yeah, I, I, I think those are, those are probably the two big, big things I would focus on early days on strategy and get some.
[00:23:53] Chet: And that's so true is being in sales for a decade. I've seen so many times where somebody's like, oh, it's a big company, and I'm talking to someone at a management level. It's like, okay, what about someone above them? What about someone cross collaboratively from their department? Like mm-hmm. , how do you get all those people together?
And to that point, that's why I was saying like working in startups before where I've seen them all of a sudden go, oh, we wanna start going after enterprise deals. It's like, okay, well one, you have to beef up your offering a little bit cuz enterprise companies aren't really, aren't really doing this, you know?
Especially in capacities with some of the stuff I've been training before. It's, it's, or I've been working in before. It's like. this side of the world, when you're talking about a company of 5,000, 10,000 people or more. Mm-hmm. , they already have a department that pretty much handles this entire service that you're offering , you know what I mean?
Like, they're not like the, you know, 120 person, 200 people, companies that don't have the funds to have an entire department to handle this kind of stuff. So you have first, but like you said, your goals, you know what are not only the goals for them, but the goals for you, and how do those align? Making sure it's not just a pet project or something to keep us busy, or a logo to win for the board or something of that nature.
Um, yeah, in our next, in our execute, uh, quarterly wrap up.
[00:24:58] Andrew: Yeah. I mean, the one, um, just building off of that, and this, this again will sound pretty obvious, but it just happens time and time again is, you know, don't, don't bet the farm, you know, Indiana reference here, uh, don't bet the farm on, uh, on one company, on one corporate, one client.
Um, you know, having a lead client is great. We de we had that in our history. Um, it was excellent to have a a, a really, you know, stable lead client as we were growing, but it was super important to get other signals, um, from the market and not, um, try to, you know, become a custom solution for one corporate because, you know, things change.
Absolutely. Like the, the market evolves. Your sponsor may move you know, uh, they may have a tough year. Um, so make sure you, you, um, get a, get a more diverse read on the market than just one of the players. Even, even if it is a big account, right? .
[00:25:55] Chet: Yeah. Let's talk about growth a little bit as we wind down the podcast, um, specifically as it pertains to investing.
So I know, um, we got to chat a little bit before the show. Um, originally in, in your, in your story, you had, um, a little bit of seed capital that came in, but they've mostly been bootstrapped over the last nine years. And you just, uh, officially, um, uh, took on some capital last year. Mm-hmm. , let's, let's talk about that process and like, when, how do you know when the right time to take on more capital is as a founder?
Like if you're bootstrapping especially and you've been doing well, like, when is it, when is that time come where it's like, maybe I should start looking into capital? And then I'd also love to hear a little bit, as much as you can share, um, the story of raising that capital, how you kind of went about it and Yep.
What you learned about, uh, maybe even about yourself or the company in those investor pitch. Yep. That changed over time.
[00:26:43] Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um, yeah, I mean the ear, you, you nailed it in the early days. You know, we took on a small amount of, um, seed capital, um, from a, from an amazing investor. Um, he was actually, actually the, uh, individual that introduced my founder, my co-founder and I, um, and, uh, uh, we were part of this, this network of boutique agencies called 19 York.
And that capital, like that capital raise actually taught us a lot because, um, first off, it was really valuable to have an investor that is, um, strategic and in this case it was an individual. Um, but he, he, um, was very strategic and then built a, this, this group called 19 York that was um, you know, pretty beneficial to us as a company to have around, just as from an influence standpoint, comparing notes.
We were all sort, sort of like peer companies and so forth. So that was, that was great. Um, it, uh, absolutely helped us in the early days. And then as we got, uh, as we started to mature, um, as far as the, the, the latest, uh, raise, we, um, we weren't explicitly like, you know, drawing a line in the sand saying, Hey, we need to go out and raise capital.
Um, if you rewind to, to about a year and a half ago, um, you know, this was, I guess it was 2021, late 2021. Um, there, the market was really frothy. And so like, there's a lot of, a lot of investors out there looking to put money to work. And so we're getting called quite a bit. Almost from an inbound standpoint, um, cuz the space we represent is really hot right now.
And, um, Just, you know, even a couple of those inbounds really forced us to think about it Right. Strategically and assess, oh wait, do we, do we, should we do this? Do we need to do this? Um, and, you know, kicked off a bit of, uh, an introspective from my co-founder, not on like, okay, for this next phase of our company, um, you know, how, what should we look like, you know, and what do we as founders want to, um, kind.
You know, do, what are we, what are we on an? So that, that inbound really catalyzed, um, an openness, um, to, to, um, raise some capital. And, um, you know, we, we did a pretty thoughtful process on, uh, in recognizing that not all investors were created equal, right? There's. Strategic, more financially driven. There's, um, you know, folks that are, you know, looking for a quick quicker exit versus a longer term exit.
So that analysis was really helpful in under, you know, helping us set our goals into the next few years. Um, and it helped us kind of navigate the, sort of, at the time, a massive ecosystem of investors. Um, for us, you know, we decided to go down the strategic. So a company called Net Guru, um, invested in Pilot 44, um, almost a year ago.
And the part of the reason we took on that investment is because we really, um, you know, uh, we really were attracted to not just them as a company and the people there, but the. But also this strategic sort of interlock with our business. And so, um, you know, they're a, they're a fast growing Europe based design and development shop.
We were doing a lot of digital experiences for corporate clients. Frankly, we were like constantly outsourcing a lot of work, um, which had its own pain points. And so this strategic partner came into the equation and you. Helped us round out our value proposition. Um, and then there was a nice symbiotic relationship on their side.
And so for us, that's when it started to become no-brainer type status. It's like, oh my gosh, we can raise capital and find an amazing partner and kind of get on a path together, um, versus, um, alone. And, um, that's when we decided to take the leap. Obviously, they, uh, at Guru took the leap as well. Um, We've been, uh, we've been collaborating very well, and it's, it's proven to be a great relationship.
[00:30:48] Chet: That's really cool. I love that. Yeah, that's, that's, that's really insightful on like, understanding like, you know, what are some of the things you need to think about, you know, when you're looking to raise that capital and, and yeah. At what point do you start seeking it? Um, Andrew, as we close out the episode, um, anything that we didn't talk about that you think we should have relevant to the conversation today?
Anything you wanna share with the listeners.
[00:31:10] Andrew: Yeah, I mean, well first off, thanks for having me. Love the conversation. Um, you know, whether you're a startup founder or, um, a soon to be one or a corporate that's looking to, uh, a corporate employee that's looking to be more entrepreneurial, it's, you know, uh, you don't have to wait for some magic moment, right?
You can become, you can become that entre. In any environment. I loved how we kind of started off at that point. It's definitely been a part of my journey and I think it'll be a part of my journey into the future. And, you know, uh, um, I think there's a misconception that you have to like, Leave everything and be the founder to be a, an, an entrepreneur.
And I think that's a, I think that's a bit of a myth that that's worth debunking. So you know what, regardless of what stage you're at, um, you know, embrace, embrace, you know, embrace that sort of entrepreneurial energy and go after it and. You know, once it happens, um, if you're coming in with momentum and you kind of become the founder, so to speak, um, you know, you'll, you'll be coming in, um, with way more experience than you realized.
And, uh, you know, for me personally, that's been a huge part of my journey. And, um, you know, something I talk to people a lot about. So, you know, good luck and enjoy the ride is, is really the main thing.
[00:32:26] Chet: I love it. Very positive, very uplifting. Andrew, if people want to connect with you or Pilot 44, what's the best way to get in?
[00:32:33] Andrew: Yeah. Um, it's andrew@pilot44.com. I always love to connect with folks. Um, like I said, we work, we work with corporates, we work with startups. We are, um, helping corporates and startups build entirely new ventures. And if you ever wanna riff on that, um, call, call any time and, um, or email and, and we'll connect.
Love again, love to love, to love to engage the network. Our, our company's. The foundation of our business is open innovation, so, um, we just, we just truly enjoy connecting with the community, so don't hesitate to reach out.
[00:33:07] Chet: Right on. And we will have, uh, links to, um, Andrew's, LinkedIn and his company's website in the show notes and episode description below, as well as links to the Founders Formula Podcast and Hatchet Ventures.
If you're interested in engaging with us further to all of our listeners, first-time listeners, repeat listeners, we thank you so much for your time. Andrew, we really appreciate your time, uh, sharing this insight and information as a tenured, first-time founder, as we wanna say it, and, uh,
[00:33:32] Andrew: I promise I didn't force Chet to say that
[00:33:34] Chet: That was, yeah, he didn't. That was mine. I loved it. I thought that was a little, that was a little fun to that, right? Um, we appreciate everybody engaging with today's episode. Um, we publish episodes every week on Tuesday, so come back next week. The next one, you can get 'em on all your favorite podcast.
Spotify, Apple, Google Podcast more as well as you can see the full video versions on YouTube and our website at hatchetventures.com thank you so much, Andrew. Thank you to all listeners, and we'll see you on the next one.