"Get feedback as often and as frequently as possible. That way you are building a business that meets their actual needs and not what we perceive their needs to be."
Vince Warnock is an award-winning Business and Marketing Strategist, coach, author, and host of the Chasing the Insights podcast. An ex-radio announcer with over 20 years in marketing. Vince has been recognized by his peers with numerous awards including being named a Fearless50, a program designed by Adobe to recognize the top 50 marketers in the world who drive bold, fearless marketing and digital transformation.
Previously the CMO at Cigna, Vince has founded multiple companies including the Chasing the Insights Academy where he empowers entrepreneurs and business owners to make sense of marketing and grow the business they have always dreamed of.
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Thank you for joining us today. Please introduce yourself to our readers. They want to know you, some of the background story to bring some context to your interview.
Vince Warnock: I am Vince Warnock, founder of the Chasing the Insights Academy and previously CMO of Cigna Insurance and CEO Of Common Ledger. Based in Wellington New Zealand, I have been in and out of both entrepreneurship and corporate for most of my career. I have created a number of businesses over the years. In the early days, I would create then fail my startups until I started to learn a thing or two. I then ended building my largest Startup which I had for around four years until we exited for eight figures back in 2015.
I have always had ambitious goals which have led me to not only create a number of different businesses but also to become a published author and founder/host of the Chasing the Insights podcast. Now I am on a mission to help as many entrepreneurs as possible to build impacting, profitable businesses that fit their lifestyles.
You are a successful entrepreneur, so we’d like your view point, do you believe entrepreneurs are born or made? Explain.
Vince Warnock: This is the eternal question. In my opinion, I believe that entrepreneurs are born. However, they are not born entrepreneurs in the biological sense of the word. They are born through circumstance. I have interviewed over 200 entrepreneurs for my podcast and virtual summits and every time I ask their origin story, it always involves an epiphany moment. A moment where they realized that serving someone else’s vision was not for them.
The other thing I have noticed is once you get the entrepreneurial bug, there is no use trying to run or hide from it. Accept your fate and embrace the chaos.
If you were asked to describe yourself as an entrepreneur in a few words, what would you say?
Vince Warnock: Ever optimistic, insanely curious and distracted by every shiny object.
Tell us about what your company does and how did it change over the years?
Vince Warnock: My journey over the past ten years has been a bit eclectic. From founding and being the CEO of a high-growth tech startup called Common Ledger to then selling the business and becoming the Chief Marketing Officer at Cigna Insurance. All of this changed when the entrepreneurial bug hit me again back in November 2019. I left Cigna to focus on writing my next book. However, once you have the call to be an entrepreneur again, you just have to give in. That is when I launched my podcast and started the Chasing the Insights Academy. It is where I get to support business owners and solopreneurs to build profitable businesses.
Thank you for all that. Now for the main focus of this interview. With close to 11.000 new businesses registered daily in the US, what must an entrepreneur assume when starting a business?
Vince Warnock: I think the first assumption you need to make is that you will not get it right straight out of the box. Working out what resonates with your audience takes trial, error, and a lot of face-to-face time with potential clients. In fact, one of the best pieces of advice you will ever get is to launch long before you have everything perfected. Often as entrepreneurs, we feel that we have the perfect solution to meet people’s needs. What we need to do is to get our solution in front of people as quickly as possible and long before we feel like the solution is perfect.
Get feedback as often and as frequently as possible. That way you are building a business that meets their actual needs and not what we perceive their needs to be.
Did you make any wrong assumptions before starting a business that you ended up paying dearly for?
Vince Warnock: Many many times. In the early days of entrepreneurship, I would make the same mistake that most made “I know what they need”. One of my first companies was a mobile game called “Mobile Kombat” In my mind I had designed the perfect player vs player game that pitted iPhone users against Android users. Surely everyone would want that. I even did consumer research to see if people would play the game and of course, they all came back with “yes, of course”. What I should have done was to spend more time upfront talking to consumers. Finding out what they liked about mobile games. Finding out that they would be a little freaked out that other game users would know when they are near so they could engage with them in battle. All it would have taken was some face-to-face time for me to build a very different game.
If you could go back in time to when you first started your business, what advice would you give yourself and why? Explain
Vince Warnock: Don’t do it alone. We do not talk anywhere near enough about how difficult it can be to start a business. We start out with all the best intentions and somehow feel that we need to do everything ourselves. Outsource as quickly as possible and whatever you do, get a coach or mentor (or even multiple of them) in your corner to help you with the areas that you are not the strongest in.
What is the worst advice you received regarding running a business and what lesson would you like others to learn from your experience?
Vince Warnock: The worst advice I ever got was to never show vulnerability. I was told that customers are unforgiving and that showing weakness will make them lose respect for you. The reality has been anything but. Consumers want you to be relatable and showing your vulnerable side makes them feel that you understand them. Also, vulnerability is the ultimate sign of strength, not weakness. The fact that you are confident to admit you do not know everything will make you look like you know what you are doing. When you fake it, people see through that very quickly.
In your opinion, how has COVID-19 changed what entrepreneurs should assume before starting a business? What hasn’t changed?
Vince Warnock: I think COVID-19 has made people reassess what is important to them. It has also made it more acceptable to be flawed and human. I have lost count of how many times I am on a zoom call with someone while their kids are screaming in the background or while they are trying to juggle multiple things. This new reality has meant that people are more accepting of imperfection. They almost expect things to be rough and ready which is super handy when starting a business. Do not assume that everything should be perfect. Done trumps perfection every single time.
What is a common myth about entrepreneurship that aspiring entrepreneurs and would-be business owners believe in? What advice would you give them?
Vince Warnock: The most common myth is that you are starting a business for freedom. I often hear that you can start a business to control the hours you work and to be in control of your own destiny. The reality is very very different. Starting your own business will mean you are working more hours and making less money than you ever would in the corporate world. However, the rewards are a hundred times better. The ability to be agile and move to follow opportunities makes it much more fun and the sense of accomplishment when you are seeing the success far outweigh the downsides.
What traits, qualities, and assumptions do you believe are most important to have before starting a business?
Vince Warnock: You need to be a positive and optimistic person. This will get you through the tougher times when everyone around you is saying it is not possible. Hang on to your optimism, look for the opportunities and keep moving forward.
You also need a strong sense of curiosity. The best entrepreneurs do not look at failure as final. They get really curious about what didn’t work and learn from it.
How can aspiring leaders prepare themselves for the future challenges of entrepreneurship? Are there any books, websites, or even movies to learn from?
Vince Warnock: Get obsessed with podcasts, there are many out there and you can multitask while earning. Additionally, nothing beats talking to real-life human beings. Find people that have done what you want to achieve and pick their brains like a zombie that hasn’t eaten in weeks. Get inside their head and extract out every insight you can. Find out the good, the bad, and the ugly.
You have shared quite a bit of your wisdom and our readers thank you for your generosity but would also love to know: If you could choose any job other than being an entrepreneur, what would it be?
Vince Warnock: I would be either a singer in a cheesy rock band (channeling my inner Karaoke) or to be a professional tap dancer. I really suck at tap dancing but have been fascinated by it since I was a little kid watching singing in the rain.
Thank you so much for your time, I believe I speak for all of our readers when I say that this has been incredibly insightful. We do have one more question: If you could add anyone to Mount Rushmore, but not a politician, who would it be; why?
Vince Warnock: I don’t think it would be one individual, but instead, it would be a representation of front-line workers. Particularly nurses and/or firefighters. Having had to need both in my life in the past, I never want to take them for granted. They are the real-life superheroes that we should carve into the side of mountains.
Mike Weiss, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Vince Warnock for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Vince Warnock or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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