Originally published on Authority Magazine (Oct. 19, 2021) written by Charlie Katz.
As part of our interview series called '5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Became A Founder', I had the pleasure of interviewing Troy Swope.
Footprint Co-founder and CEO Troy Swope leads world-class engineers, scientists, environmentalists, and designers on a mission to create a healthier planet, with step one to provide sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! What are your “5 things I wish someone told me before I started leading my company” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
I’ll start with choosing an investment partner. My first lesson is don’t take any money, take the right money. Choose the right partner, someone who has a shared vision with you. When we first left Intel, we had a partner who didn’t share our vision, and it slowed us down. In the early days we found Kevin Easler, who has been just a great partner, who shared our vision for the transformation of the supermarket and who has been with us all along the way — with time, with great insights and support. I can’t say enough about the importance of finding a first investor who ideally can go the distance with you, helps you grow personally and as a company, is open to your ideas as a founding leader, and goes from cheerleader to voice of reason to partner at any given time.
Read the full article on medium.com
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