Successful Start Up Tips from Brad Luttrell of GoWild | Zach Miller
See the full episode notes HERE
Brad Luttrell’s passion as founder of GoWild permeates through the entire podcast. The hunting, fishing, and outdoors app was created with the mission of “unlocking the gates of the outdoors”. The evolution of his company is the result of Brad’s passion as a hunter and angler. He saw for himself the need for a better way to socialize and share recommendations for all things hunting and fishing related that his “grandfather taught his dad, his dad taught him, and now, he's teaching his children.” Brad notes that he often says to his children, "Whatever you do, ask the question: was that worth investing a piece of my life in?” This is a great reminder from Brad about having purpose and intention in what you dedicate your life to.
Brad found inspiration in one of the greatest startup stories of all time: “And this whole story unfolded of the story of Alexander Hamilton. And I'm like, that's a startup story. The whole thing, I'm like, ‘This is amazing.’ You get this immigrant orphan literally fighting for his life and pouring his life's work into something that's going to outlive him. And it wasn't about, Iike how much of that, he talks about his legacy, and wanting to build something that was bigger than him. I'm like, ‘Oh, my God, dude, that's every startup founder I know.’”
In business, you must be flexible and adapt to the market. GoWild has reoriented toward gear sourcing and recommendations from experienced hunters and anglers while also offering authentic advice for new hunters. One of the hardest things about learning to hunt or fish is knowing what you need to be successful. There is a steep learning curve and unless you know a lot of experienced people to give you advice, you have to learn the hard way. It is unfortunate the other social media platforms are openly hostile to hunters. As Brad tells it: “And one thing we realized, short of being censored, bullied, and all that stuff, which happens - people may not know, but if you post a hunting adventure, and a lot of your all's clients see this because they have such a following - but you can get trolled. You can get death threats. You can get censored. You can get blocked. It's crazy. It's really crazy for doing something that I believe is fundamental.” This is a very real problem for people that hunt and shows the ignorance of people that don’t understand game management and conservation.
When starting up a company, choosing partners strategically matters to the success of the business. Searching for co-founders with strengths that complement one another and address technical gaps that are missing at the company is key. “And I do think it's more than anything, you got to find people you can work with. That's the first thing is if you've brushed with somebody, and not gotten along too well with them in the past, they're not a co-founder. You need people who will disagree with you respectfully, though. All of my co-founders, we can have heated debates, and it's like a guy fight. Guys at bars, they get in a fight, and it's like they slap each other on the back, and buy each other a beer. It's that relationship that you need with your founders, the ability to duke it out, and then say all is well.” As Brad puts it, the relationship with the other founders is core to the evolution of the company.
“And I've just always had this concept of a successful business that I could start would not require my hours, it would require my execution.” This is quintessential to how a founder creates value for not just their business but for the world.
Brad’s Books Referenced
Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
Creativity Inc - Ed Catmull (Brad’s favorite business book of all time)
