A Founder’s Story: Who Is Tyrese J. Love and What Is Launchpad?
Tyrese J. Love
Founder & CEO of Launchpad! | Helping Students Navigate Their Post-Graduation Journey | Education Consultant | Wealth-Building Strategist
Let’s Dive Into It:
I began building my startup 6 months ago, but this journey was over 9 years in the making.
Since starting this journey it has been filled with successes, failures, and lessons I will carry with me for a lifetime. I look forward to sharing some with you all today.
This isn’t EVERYTHING I’ve been through, but I picked some of the most critical moments on my entrepreneurial journey and how it led me to where I am today.
Chapter 1: Big Dreams, Big Realities
It’s been over 10 years since I discovered the world of business and its impact on the world.
Over that time I worked in various industries that would prepare me for my own entrepreneurial journey. Everything from Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Consulting, Logistics, and Inventory.
When I first got started, while going down the rabbit hole of figuring out how to start a business, I stumbled across the world of holding companies.
Ideas flowed daily—a new problem to solve, a new product to build. So, the idea that I could take these ideas and build companies under one roof was very appealing to me at the time (I was ambitious yet naive).
In response, I started my own holding company (TJL Global Enterprises) and spent years trying to work on multiple businesses (figuring that would raise the odds of success) at once, failing again and again with nothing but logos, pitch decks, and business plans to show for it.
On average, it takes 10 years for a business to reach its true potential (a fact I learned much later). So, I decided it was time to get focused on dedicating 10 years of my life to something I was truly passionate about, not just another great “business idea.”
Chapter 2: A Life-Changing Memory
One year after graduating from my former high school, New Britain High School, I was asked to join the Academy Board of Directors to serve on behalf of NAF students.
I didn’t know what role I’d play, but I was excited that at 18 years old, a group of authority was looking for me to help them develop solutions (the reason I started consulting).
At our first meeting, it was brought to my attention that I was the first student alumni board member in its history, and that meant something to me (and still does).
I was tasked with coming up with solutions to provide value-driven initiatives and policy recommendations for both former and existing alumni of the Academy of Finance.
It was at that moment I knew I wanted to serve and advocate for students to have a shot at a strong financial future because that’s all I wanted for myself as a student and recent graduate.
Over time, the euphoria and adrenaline rush I got from that moment of knowing the impact I wanted to have began to fade into other “get rich quick” businesses (I was young and naive), and I lost that sense of purpose along the way.
Chapter 3: Finding My Purpose
After exploring the question, “What is the problem you would dedicate the next 10 years of your life to solving?” I ended up having that memory that we just discussed.
After reflecting back on that moment and feeling of burning passion, it all came running back to me.
I realized a few things were as true as the sky was blue:
Chapter 4: Going Back to the Beginning
After realizing what my purpose was, I began shutting down the numerous projects I was working on and zeroed in on a single focus.
What was a solution that would fundamentally change students' lives?
My first thought was to revisit my first-ever project since leaving the board with the objective of providing value-driven initiatives to former and existing students.
It was called the "Launchpad! Financial Reality Tool." The goal of this product was to digitize the original experience of the Financial Reality Fair, an event held in my home state of Connecticut. A few days out of the year, a select few public high school students were gathered to experience a real-life simulation of what their life would look like after graduating and the critical decisions they would have to make along the way that would shape their future.
It was the first product I ever worked on and invested my own money into. I was trying to prove to myself that I belonged in the startup world, so it represented the underdog in me. This drive really pushed me to continue soaking up all the information I could to go from idea to a working product.
After spending countless hours on YouTube over the years, it took about 6 months to finish the product. After spending a good amount of time learning how to turn my PoC (proof of concept) into a working prototype along with learning how to design (even tried coding) I began working with a developer I found on Fiverr, I was finally able to engage with the product I’d set out to build and test it with a group of students (they loved it) . It was a huge day for me as a non-technical founder because it proved that I could solve a problem and also build a working product.
I knew that whatever solution I came up with would be built with the same mission in mind as The Financial Reality Fair and the "Financial Reality Tool" that I built to expand that experience to more students.
The Mission?
To prepare students for what their life would look like after graduating and the critical decisions they would have to make along the way that will shape their futures.
This mission empowered me to think deeper than I ever have about the solution students needed to drive transformational change in their lives. After going down many rabbit holes and getting nowhere, I stopped looking elsewhere for the solution and began to look within and think about my own journey since graduating and what I wish I had while I was still in school (both high school and college). What I found set me on the path to where I am today.
Chapter 5: Deep Reflection Led to Profound Clarity
Through reflecting on my journey and experiences, I learned that what I wanted then is the same thing I want now: to build a strong financial future for myself and be able to provide a better life for my family, friends, and community.
After analyzing this, I thought, isn't that the reason any parent sends their kid to school? Sure, it’s to be educated and prepared for college and careers traditionally. But after talking with about ten parents of various backgrounds, I found that while some parents wanted their kids to go to college and others wanted their kids to start their careers after graduation, despite the disparity, they all shared a common theme subconsciously when posed the question:
“Despite wanting your child to pursue a college or career once they graduate, wouldn’t you want your child to be able to build a strong financial future for themselves and provide a better life for their family, friends, and community?”
The answers were unanimous. Every parent answered yes to this question, telling me that the solution I was looking for needed to fulfill this universal desire shared by all parents and students.
Chapter 6: Becoming Who I Need to Be, To Do What I Have to Do
After starting my advocacy campaign for financial literacy in all U.S. public schools over five years ago, it was as clear then as it is now that in a capitalist society, it should be a crime not to teach the fundamental element on which a capitalist country thrives: money.
After years of dedicating myself to the movement, I later understood that financial literacy wasn’t the end-all solution for reinventing our education system and its promise to future generations. I found that it would take more than personal finance to put us on a path to transformational change.
One day, I stumbled across a post on Instagram about wealth-building. It wasn’t the post that stuck with me, but the term itself: "Wealth-Building." I had never seen or heard that term before, and in that moment, my entire life came flashing before me in a way that made me realize that everything I’ve experienced since birth can be analyzed through that term. The world and history itself can be analyzed through that term.
Once I added the word “Journey” to the end of “Wealth-Building,” it felt like my brightest lightbulb moment yet. From there, I realized that my life, dreams, passions, pain, mistakes, decisions, and desires were not all singular in nature but rather orbiting one cohesive solar system with my “Wealth-Building Journey” at its core, shining a light on all things critical to the future I wanted for myself.
As a result of this discovery I became a first-row seat student to wealth-building as I dove headfirst into the concepts of wealth, wealth-building, and wealth creation. I started by following and engaging with all the content, creators, and businesses around those terms to rebalance my algorithm across social media platforms. Then I went to Google to search what wealth-building was, and I didn’t find anything concrete on what it actually was or meant. From there, I went to YouTube, where I would not only find the answer I was looking for but also be led to three critical subject matter experts on wealth who also happened to have written books and built businesses on the subject.
I discovered the teachings of John Hope Bryant, Scott Galloway, and Morgan Housel all in the same day (thanks to the YouTube algorithm), and I literally spent the entire day exploring their stories and content. I was learning so much that put my wealth-building journey into perspective like never before. The next day, I preordered all three of their books.
The lessons I learned from these absolute geniuses and their books not only changed my life but also equipped me with the knowledge I needed to refine my perspective around the type of solutions people needed—most importantly, students. I was able to turn that knowledge into my own perspective on what wealth was and what it meant to people and society as a whole. From there, I implemented the strategies I needed to transform my own wealth-building journey.
Once I finished those books, I began to analyze all of my voice recordings and notes of everything I was learning throughout that time. I found some common themes that, once discovered, could almost be considered close to cracking the Da Vinci Code of wealth-building.
It all stemmed from asking myself a critical question: “What are the most critical elements of wealth-building in a capitalist country?”
From everything I’d learned up until that point, it would have been easy for me to say earning, saving, and investing were the elements that made up wealth, and it would have made sense, right? But the truth is, those things are merely particles in the larger world in which wealth inhabits. So I asked myself a more direct question: “What are the natural resources of wealth? What do I need to thrive in the world of wealth-building?”
I referred to those common themes I’d found throughout my case study, and as I was going through them, it hit me. I realized that the answer was right in front of me. I was staring down at the holy grail of answers I needed to find that transformational change I was looking to provide to students and, quite frankly, myself.
The Common Themes of Wealth-Building I Found Throughout My Research:
After taking a moment to try to make sense of these themes, I came to realize that they weren’t themes at all but rather elements of a much larger organism: Wealth-Building.
I’ll go into how all these elements of wealth-building come together into one cohesive solar system in a separate post.
Chapter 7: My Entire Perspective On Life Had Changed
When I finally discovered the eight core elements that comprised wealth-building, my mind exploded with ideas to transform Launchpad! from a clunky budgeting tool into a platform offering an ecosystem of education, resources, and solutions for students throughout their unique wealth-building journey.
The task given to me by the Academy Board Of Directors was clear. Find a way to provide value-driven initiatives and policy recommendations for former and existing students. My mission was also clear. Help students build a strong financial future for themselves and enable them to provide a better life for their family, friends, and community. I felt like both of these objectives served each other well. It led me to supercharge my focus into providing the most value possible to solving a core problem facing all students (all people quite frankly) not just the ones that I served.
I saw an opportunity here to address a core need that not many businesses were hell-bent on solving. The transition from graduation to the real world for any student is swift and unrelenting. The preparation needed to face this reality is not being provided by schools or being taught in most households.
The Shift in the American Dream
The Old American Dream: Start a family, Own a home.
The New American Dream: Build a strong financial future for yourself and provide a better life for your family, friends, and community.
In a capitalist country like the United States, two things are true for everyone:
From the top 1% down to the homeless community in this country we are all wealth-builders who either have figured it out, are trying to figure it out, or are done trying to figure it out. Most Americans are in the middle, balancing between two worlds of life-changing possibilities. One world is where they’ve figured it out which means they’ve built true wealth and can provide a better life for their family, friends, and community. And the other world is where they’ve given up on trying to figure it out which means they’re either stuck living paycheck to paycheck for the rest of their lives or opt out of the wealth-building game entirely and likely end up living homeless. Even the likelihood of breaking the law and being sent to jail goes through the roof.
There’s so much to win and everything to lose in the world of wealth-building.
The Role of Parents
The most pivotal moments of your wealth-building journey are often not your own. From the time you're born up until the age of at least 16 most of the critical decisions that have been made in your early life have been dictated by someone else, someone you have to trust has your best interest in heart at all times. Your parents.
It’s up to our parents for the early part of our lives to make decisions as to:
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But as we all know parents are human, they’re not perfect and will almost surely make mistakes along the way. Nonetheless, the decisions our parents make for us will dramatically impact who we become when it’s time to enter the merciless world of wealth-building on our own.
The Reality Of Post-Graduation
Once you made it off the assembly line of an education system we have in this country it’s like you’ve been spun around 100 times and told to run in a straight line. Impossible. Yet each year millions of American students face this reality and the cascade of life-changing decisions they will have to make afterwards. Such as...
By the time students are free from the grips of the American public school system they are thrust into the world and told “You can be anything you want to be” yet we know that’s not true. Most of these students don’t really know who they are or what they should do. But you know who does? Their peers and social media. They’re the ones to usually dictate those answers for our young generation, leaving many young people without a sense of self and purpose.
The Forces Working Against Students
There are so many forces working against them:
These challenges lead to a vulnerable wealth-building journey, resulting in higher chances of credit card debt, impulsive education and career decisions, lower credit scores, living paycheck to paycheck, poor health conditions, lack of savings and investments, poor relationships, body and self-insecurity, substance abuse, poor eating habits, and the list goes on.
Wealth-building is much like the board game monopoly. Depending on where you land can determine the future you will have throughout the game. Depending on what house and neighborhood you live in, the school you went to, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, the decisions you make, mistakes you make, and the risks you take can all be the things that determine the outcome of your wealth-building journey.
Like Monopoly, in the wealth-building game every decision must be precise or else you risk rolling the dice. Win or lose the odds are always in the banker's favor.
Launchpad Reborn
I was at the point where I knew I had found a problem that I would not only dedicate 10 years to solving but a problem I could dedicate the rest of my life to solving. Over five YEARS later, I was now equipped to take Launchpad from a clunky budgeting tool and turn it into the world's most holistic wealth-building platform.
Why did I choose the name Launchpad?
When visualizing what wealth-building means to me, I saw this common theme of building something to go from one place to another. A Launchpad represents the foundation needed for any rocket to take off into the skies and into an endless galaxy of possibilities. It’s not easy or quick to build a Launchpad—it takes countless hours of hard work, consistency, and commitment to excellence. People also needed these three principles to build a strong wealth-building foundation for their future.
It was clear to me that I wanted to build a company to help people build the foundation from which they can take off to the skies and into a galaxy of endless possibilities.
Where Is Launchpad Now?
After years of dedicating myself to learning what I needed to learn, becoming who I needed to become, and doing what I needed to do, I felt ready to focus all of my energy on building the new version of the product. I learned so much since I first started over nine years ago. I learned:
As I continue my learning journey, I will continue to build on what I have learned and apply all of my lessons into the product I’m building today. There is no better time than now.
R&D
Over six months ago, I started laying the groundwork for a strong product roadmap. I analyzed all of my notes from students, teachers, random interviews with people of all backgrounds, and parents that I collected over the years. Every time something stood out to me, I visualized and immersed myself in what this product would look like from concept to Version 12 and how it would best serve my users. I created a library of recordings where I talked to myself about new discoveries, insights, and ideas that I came across in my research and added my thoughts to them.
PoC
I began working on the Proof Of Concept (PoC) for the product shortly after. There was a lot of trial and error in trying to figure out how to take all that I’ve learned and turn it into a cohesive first-of-its-kind wealth-building platform. It took me a while before I knew I had something solid.
Prototype
I then moved to the prototype stage of the product development process. This was by far the longest part of the process for a few reasons, the main one being I wanted a strong prototype that stakeholders could not only engage with but also receive instant value from. I wanted to ensure that value creation was at the forefront of everything this company does from day one.
As a result, I decided to allocate a good amount of time to begin the journey of curating the world’s largest library of resources related to wealth-building. I knew this was the move to prioritize early on because there wasn’t a specific place on the internet that created one place for high-quality diverse content across all eight elements of wealth-building. So that’s what I did.
I began taking all the resources I’d gathered along my own wealth-building journey and then dove headfirst into finding a way to build a bridge between every resource I could find on wealth-building and the user who would save months, even years, in time (much more than I had) educating themselves on the vast universe of wealth-building. I spent four months out of the six creating the foundation for what will make Launchpad the largest library of resources related to wealth-building. And that’s the kind of value I needed to lead with for the type of product I’ve set out to build (I spent $0 to accomplish this).
MVP
I’m now at the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) stage of my product development process. I wake up eager to take on the day every day, knowing I’m one step closer to fulfilling my mission and putting the product into the hands of the Academy Board and early users. The ability to analyze their thoughts and reactions to what’s been built so far is something I won’t take for granted.
I’m currently working with a professional designer to reimagine the experience I’ve created so far. I’m also vetting a few developers to begin working on the product by the end of the week.
Why Don’t You Have Any Co-Founders?
I’m an easy person to get to know and quite likable once anyone gets to know me, mainly because after years of working in the service industry, I’m used to putting other people first. But that hasn’t stopped me from hauling in top talent to join me on this journey.
When I first got started, finding a co-founder was all I spent my time on. I wanted to work on anything as long as it was as a team. I started with friends (bad idea), then I tried attending a few events (didn’t work), and then I turned to the internet to see if I could find someone (waste of time). The bottom line was, in every conversation I had so far on my search, I’ve never been able to find that person who shared the same burning passion for solving this problem as I did or was willing to take the same risks. And that was a major part for me that I had to come to terms with.
I was at a crossroads that almost every solo founder must face at some point in their journey. Do I continue to search for people willing to take this journey with me? Or do I begin getting started on a problem that can’t wait any longer?
Ultimately, I decided to chart a path forward even if I had to start this journey alone. I didn’t go to a four-year college, I wasn’t connected to the startup ecosystem, I had yet to prove myself in the arena, and I was just starting to build my professional network at the time. I was a complete outsider just looking for a way into the ecosystem.
With that being said, I do believe I will find the person who’s willing to put in as much blood, sweat, and tears for this company as much as me one day. But that day hasn’t come yet, and so the journey must continue.
How Has It Been Building The Company As A Solo Founder?
The best way I could describe the process is this: it’s like being dropped off on an island by yourself, only to be left there to die with nothing but the clothes on your back and a cargo that contains the solution to your people’s (users) survival.
Doesn’t matter how you got there, all that matters now is that you’re here and have either two choices: survive or die. One is easier than the other. When I’m not having the best day or doubt begins to creep in, I often think to myself it would be so easy to give up and die (no longer pursue my dreams). It would be painful, but at least it’s within your control. The thought of this entrepreneurial suicide is cast over you like a shadow and lingers around you even on your brightest days.
Every day you must wake up and find new ways to survive. Some days it’s learning to fish, the next is learning to build shelter, and other days it’s finding clean water. All of these things require different skills and demand a high level of commitment and consistency over time for you to succeed. Constantly being able to learn and execute the things you need to survive has to be mastered first.
Once you’ve figured out how to survive, it’s only a matter of time before you drive yourself mad. I mean, you’re alive and that’s good, but the thought of being trapped by yourself and having a solution within your possession that could change people’s lives begins to eat away at your soul like a snake swallowing an elephant. Slowly. So your next thought becomes set on getting off the island, which is an entirely different beast.
To do this, you must build a boat (value proposition) that can withstand rough and often dangerous waters. You spend a good amount of time gathering supplies, trying, and failing to do something yet again you’ve never done before. Once you’ve built your boat, you have to be sure it can hold you and your cargo (solution), or else the choice of surviving or dying is no longer up to you, and you both go down with the ship.
So you must begin testing the boat against the harshest conditions (early user feedback), even if the risk of you sinking is high. You do it anyway because it’s the only way. It’s a risky step but a necessary one to ensure you get to your destination.
Now that you know you have a boat (value proposition) that can withstand the winds and water of the startup world, it’s time to set sail back to civilization and deliver the cargo (solution) to your people (users).
There’s no telling how long it will take—you just have to trust the wind to take you where you need to go and be ready when the time comes.
I could go on, but by now, you get the point, and this also happens to be the stage I’m currently at in my solo-founder journey. I’ve learned how to survive, I built my boat, and now I’m sailing back to civilization to deliver the cargo (solution) to my people (users). There’s no telling what I’ll find once I get there; I might even find someone willing to continue this journey with me.
Do You Think This Startup Has The Potential For VC Funding?
I do. 3.1 million U.S. high school students graduated last year, and 4 million college students will graduate this year without a platform designed to help them navigate their wealth-building journey holistically. There aren’t many solutions in the market to solve this problem.
There is a huge gap between what students deserve and what they’re currently getting. I believe there is an opportunity to become a dominant player in this space and deliver transformational change in the lives of our future generations.
I’ve begun compiling a list of angel investors and VCs that I believe align with the core mission of Launchpad. I’ve also looked into possible accelerators I could apply for and pitch competitions for early funding opportunities.
Launchpad is currently a bootstrapped company, with no external capital being put into the business at this time. We're currently focused on getting feedback from early users and stakeholders, shipping our MVP, Iterating on the product, developing critical relationships within our supply chain, and creating high-quality digital products to begin unlocking early revenue generating opportunities and increased brand exposure. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done to put us in the position for VC funding.
That’s not to say that we won’t one day find a VC partner or angel investor who believes in our mission, product, and market over the coming months and years as we continue to build a strong foundation for the product. But it is to say that we’re just not there yet. And that’s okay. I have to be comfortable with knowing regardless of what happens as it relates to fundraising, I’m in this alone until I’m not. And I actually take pride in that. I’ve burned the boats and there’s no turning back now.
Conclusion
My story and that of Launchpad is just getting started, and one day I hope to share EVERYTHING I’ve been through to get here. For now, I hope that anyone reading this story of my journey, especially if you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or early-stage founder, finds it somewhat helpful on your journey to finding a problem in this world and dedicating your life to fixing it no matter what.
There’s no telling how my story or your story will end. All we know for sure is that one day it will end, and all we’ll be left with are the things we should’ve done. For me, giving up and quitting is NOT AN OPTION. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I had the chance to change people’s lives and I didn’t take it.
If you’re a solo founder, my biggest advice is to not listen to those critics who try to minimize your vision or who you are as an entrepreneur. Just because there isn’t anyone with you right now helping you to solve that problem doesn’t make it any less important or urgent of a problem that needs to be fixed. So don’t let that stop you from getting started on building something you believe can change people’s lives. You don’t want to look back and think “I should’ve just done this,” trust me. Those same critics who told you that you would fail will be thinking the same thing as you in their last hours: “I should’ve just done this,” or they’ll be long gone along with the possibilities of what you can create if you stop now. No matter how long or hard the journey is, you must continue to learn to survive, build your boat (value proposition), and begin your journey back to civilization to deliver the cargo (solution) to your people (users).
Sharing my story with the world is a reminder that there’s no going back, only forward and up. I plan on keeping you updated on my progress and journey as it unfolds.
I’m Tyrese J. Love, Founder/CEO of Launchpad, The #1 Wealth-Building Platform In The World.
INVESTORS: For access to the Launchpad pitch deck just DM me the letters 'LP" and i'll send you over a copy. Any advice or feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Until next time. Thank you.
Lori Theriault - Career Strategist Helping Students and Adults Identify Their Ideal Career Path
8 个月Beautiful story and mission!! Congratulations to never giving up.