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BiggerPockets Business Podcast

17: Using Fear as Fuel with Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora, Co-Founders of Back to the Roots

BiggerPockets Business Podcast

BiggerPockets

Business, Careers

4.8696 Ratings

🗓️ 20 August 2019

⏱️ 63 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s episode is proof that fear isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, it can be a powerful motivator. And more importantly, fear serves as a signal that you’re pushing yourself far beyond your comfort zone and blossoming as an entrepreneur. Overcoming doubt is one of several topics we discuss with Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora, co-founders of a startup that produces a growing line of home gardening and food products. You’ll love the story of how they met and hatched their idea in a college classroom, why they strive to practice “conscious capitalism,” and how they got PAID to collect the raw material they used to grow their first products (mushrooms grown out of used coffee grounds!). Alejandro and Nikhil also share their tips for raising capital and the story of how Back to the Roots struck deals with giant organizations like Whole Foods and the New York City Public School System. This is a motivational show featuring two entrepreneurs who are wise beyond their years, and it’s packed with practical tips for scaling any kind of business.  Download this one today, and share it with two people you know would get something out of it! Oh, and don’t forget to subscribe to the BiggerPockets Business Podcast on Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts so you won’t miss a beat. In This Episode We Cover: The concept of back to the roots How they started and what is their product The turning point where they realized the business potential How they create and manufacture their products Getting in front of retailers Their tips on raising capital Earning a million dollars in revenue Demoing every weekends The next evolution of the business Adding more and more products And SO much more! Links from the Show BiggerPockets BiggerPockets Podcast Whole Foods Indoor Gardening Kits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

So, you want to be a marketer. It's easy. You just have to score a ton of leads and figure out a way to turn them all into customers. Plus manage a dozen channels, write a million blogs and launch 100 campaigns all at once. When that's done, simply make your socials go viral and bring in record profits. No sweat. Okay, fine. It's a lot of sweat. But with HubSpot's AI-powered marketing tools,

0:23.2

launching benchmark-breaking campaigns is easier than ever. Get started at HubSpot.com slash marketers.

0:30.5

Hello, blue skies. Hello moving onwards and upwards. Hello, taking control of your money.

0:37.9

Say hello to tax-free investing.

0:40.7

Open a Stocks and shares, ICER,

0:42.8

and act by the 5th of April to get 100 to 3,000 pounds cash back.

0:47.8

Cargreaves lands down.

0:49.4

Hello Life.

0:51.6

Register and add or transfer £10,000 plus.

0:54.1

You may get back less than you invests and tax benefits vary.

0:56.7

For terms and conditions, see hl.com.uk.org slash ISA.

1:00.9

This episode is brought to you by Vanta. Stressing over cybersecurity, whether you're a startup, growing fast, or already established.

1:08.7

Vanta can help you get ISO-27,001 certified and more.

1:13.7

Plus, it allows your company to centralize security workflows, complete questionnaires up to five times faster, and proactively manage vendor risk to help your team stay compliant.

1:24.4

Head to vanta.com slash Spotify to learn more.

1:29.1

Welcome to the Bigger Pockets Business Podcast show number 17.

1:35.4

I think fear drives me a lot, whether healthy or not healthy, probably not very healthy,

1:40.1

but the fear of letting people down drives me a lot. And when we put ourselves out, we raise a $5,000 from our chancellor, we're like,

1:48.5

we cannot lose this.

1:49.5

When we partner up, I'm like, I cannot let him down.

1:53.2

Welcome to a real world MBA from the School of Hard Knocks, where entrepreneurs reveal what

1:58.3

it really takes to make it.

...

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