All startups agree on one thing: They need more money. Over the past decade, we’ve worked with many startups. Even though we offer three decades of hard knocks business experience and a ton of contacts, what do you think is the first thing they want from us? You guessed it, money!
They typically ask for an NDA right off the bat, then present us with over 1,000 words of copy, and a 30+ slide deck. They try to anticipate as many questions as they can in advance and they go into extensive detail on how and why their solution is what the world needs.
Although we appreciate the time involved preparing all this documentation, we are almost discouraged by the sheer time commitment we have to make before we have determined if we’re interested. It forces us to drag our heads through a lot of information that we may not even be looking for. The sheer size of the presentation also discourages us from sending it around to folks in our network.
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Who We Are
Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.
Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.
They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.
Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.
To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.
