Wondering how to get people to buy-in to your ideas (business or otherwise)?

I sat down with Joel Brown, Co-Founder of DocuVital and covered how he went from not knowing powerpoint to winning three pitch competitions in a row.  We covered how he got the idea for his startup after being stuck with mounds of paperwork when his dad passed away.  We also covered using strategic partners to get initial traction and validation for your startup, even before you have investors.

Joel is a great example of why you don’t need a tech background to launch a startup and we can all learn a lot from his hustle. 

Highlights  

Entrepreneur story

2:30 - How he inherited entrepreneurship from his dad

3:15 - How he got the idea for DocuVital following the pain of his father’s loss

4:15 - How they decided to launch DocuVital after missing out on a $350K life insurance policy

5:00 - Why launching a startup isn’t about just building something and expecting customers to show up

7:00 - Advice he’d give to someone thinking of doing their own thing

 

The Business

7:45 - How DocuVital generates revenue

11:45 - Why they have two payment options for customers

13:45 - How he chooses to focus his time

15:30 - His most important metric

18:00 - How they think about the competition

20:15 - Why top VCs might not invest

 

Pitching

21:45 - What’s behind their success at pitch competitions

22:30 - Why story is the most important part of the pitch

24:00 - How VentureHive has helped in the process

 

Closing questions

26:00 - Pros and cons of launching a startup in Miami

27:00 - Best advice he’s received

27:45 - What he’d do with $500 if he were new to Miami and had to launch a business

28:15 - Final advice - hustle!!

 

Mentioned in this episode

DocuVital

VentureHive