“Haha, that has to be spam” I said in all seriousness six weeks ago to an email that had caught our team’s attention.
Before Bivo, Carina and I spent our time working with startups in the footwear space for nearly 10 years. It was like a crash course in everything to do right (and sometimes wrong) while launching your idea to the world. If there is one theme we never let go of it was ensuring we didn’t overlook one piece of the business and fall flat on our naive faces. Too often it felt like incredible product gurus missed sorting out sales or great salespeople missed what the broad word marketing involved.
I’m not saying we are good at all the other pieces, but marketing was our clear and present danger. If there ever was a “fake it till you make it” tactic, we embodied it, and we still do. Why this backstory? I want you all to understand why I found myself googling the best marketing podcasts three years ago in hopes of lessening my anxiety or better yet learning a thing or two about marketing.
Akimbo by Seth Godin happened to be the one I landed on, subscribed to, and for better or worse tried to listen to while going to bed. Lesson learned, my brain turns on and doesn’t sleep when Seth starts throwing his all too relevant nuggets at you. While I knew who Seth was prior, this was my first real introduction to what he had to say. His approach resonated with me. I still listen to Akimbo to this day.
I’ll cut to the chase now. Yes, the email I mentioned above was from Seth Godin. I ate my words of spam and a few days later Carina and I had the pleasure of meeting Seth face to face virtually. It turns out Seth has a love of Nordic skiing, something I’m guessing by now you know all too well that Carina and I love.
Our conversation was short and enlightening, exactly what I have come to appreciate from Seth’s work over the years. We asked Seth why he was doing this for us and there is no better way to sum up Seth’s passion and approach to life than his response:
“simply do good things and make a ruckus” – Seth Godin
Long backstory short, I am excited to share with you our latest collaboration bottle with Seth Godin named Man in a Hurry.
Thank you all for being here and reading these words. You are what keeps Bivo alive!
Seth, thank you for your inspiration and surprise. We will keep causing a ruckus.
Cheers,
Robby
P.S. - Ok, I can't help but share a couple of snippets from Seth that have resonated with me.
If you are looking for a weekly dose of wisdom check out Seth's podcast Akimbo.
If you want a crash course in startup strategy look no further than Seth Godin's Startup School podcast. A word of advice, don't try to fall asleep to it. Lesson learned ... the hard way.
Seth's daily blog is a no-brainer. Here is my favorite of late:
Wrestling, fighting or dancing?
We can wrestle with a challenge or a problem and find energy and possibility while doing it.
And we can dance with someone else as we seek a mutual way forward.
Fighting tends to be more brutal, final and hurtful than is often productive. You don’t want to spend your days fighting.
The words matter.
Mary Hamel
December 13, 2023
Inspiring!
Love the bottle!