Being an entrepreneur is no easy task. There are myriad challenges every step of the way and nothing is guaranteed. Success doesn’t come easy, but in the eyes of
Keith B. Nowak, Founder and CEO at
Ten Thousand it’s really quite simple: work hard, know your why, and keep going.
That is exactly how he was able to build a brand equipped to compete with the big boys of men’s sports apparel. Tune in and find out how Ten Thousand has incorporated fitness training keystones of efficiency, simplicity, and dogged determination to build an amazing product. This is the story of a brand.
In the first part of the Feature Keith gives a rundown of his personal journey that led him to co-found Ten Thousand. He reveals how he was able to find a co-founder that perfectly complimented his strengths. He goes into detail about the steep learning curve he encountered in the early days, and why spending two years creating the perfect prototype paid off big time. All this and more...
In part one of this feature, Keith talks about: His early days working as a VC and learning the ins-and-outs of direct to consumer businesses and brands; How he merged his professional experience with his personal passion for competitive sports; playing soccer professionally in Italy; The problem he encountered as an athlete that needed solving; sub-par buying experience and poor quality of training shorts; Why he is choosing to seek out the “owned retail” channel over wholesale as the next step in expansion; Why he faced a steep learning curve in the early days of building the brand; finding his co-founder and how they complement each other; Why he feels it is important for entrepreneurs to hit the ground running- benefits of learning as you go; What he feels is the differentiation of his brand; simplicity, quality, versatility, personalization, brand community, and more.
Join us while
Ramon Vela interviews Keith in Part 1 of this episode and listen to him share the inside story of a brand.
