OFFICE ADDRESS
111 Liberty St, Suite 102 Columbus, OH 43215
YEAR FOUNDED 2017
Q
Who is one entrepreneur (or person) you’d love to have coffee with?
www.awarehq.com Q
VENTURE CAPITAL RAISED TO DATE
$ 12M
TOTAL EMPLOYEES TO DATE
35 9 RECENT SERIES SERIES A
EMPLOYEE GROWTH FORECAST - 2019
100%
Jeff: I love how this question is phrased as it implies entrepreneurs are not people, so we must be robots, which is entirely debatable. But if given the opportunity to sit down with anyone (living or dead), I’d love to pick the brain of one of America’s greatest inventors and founders, Benjamin Franklin.
What has been the biggest hurdle you’ve dealt with that you didn’t anticipate when starting Aware?
Jeff: I really underestimated just how much personal resilience was necessary when fundraising to get Aware off the ground. You always read all of these stories as a founder about just how difficult it is to successfully fundraise, and how the deck of cards is clearly stacked against you. However it never felt real for me until we were cash flow positive, generating $100K a month in revenue and were still told “no” dozens of times in our early days. It would have been very easy for anyone to give up then, but resilience
Q
helped us begin to treat each of these “no’s” or hurdles, as learning opportunities with which we fueled our fire.
What have you as the founder and/or CEO learned about yourself since you began this journey?
Jeff: It’s taken a little longer than I would have liked to admit but I’ve since learned that the best investment in your business is choosing to prioritize making an investment in yourself and the relationships around you. The journey of starting a business is a long and arduous one, filled with some of the most amazing ups and incredible downs. It was during these downs that I learned it can become quite lonely as a founder and/or CEO, and oſtentimes feels like there’s no real turnaround in sight. By choosing to invest in yourself, your personal health, and relationships, you’re choosing to also invest in your business. A healthier version of you with a strong and stable support system of co-founders, friends and family, will help carry you through any strong headwinds that will inevitably be in your way.
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