Gratitude, Dark Horses, and Building in Reverse
A LETTER FROM THE FOUNDERS
Being an entrepreneur is a learning experience in company development.
As we reflect on 2022, we’ve been considering how far we’ve come.
When we began Arcbound in 2018 (as BW Missions), our focus was building the brand first. We believed that with a strong brand, you could launch any product.
Operating this way enabled us to create a vision that stood out, hire talent around it, and cement our brand so the vision could come to life.
The more we learned, the more we understood that we were coming at things from a different direction than most startups.
Most businesses start with the product. They spend their first years focused on what they are selling and how they are going to automate and deliver it. We often see our clients and supporters—especially those within VC portfolio companies—launching companies this way.
While we still believe you can introduce any product with a robust brand, we’ve also learned a great deal from those who operate by building their product first. We now understand more about how the product, client experience, and service delivery connect to make our vision come to life in a whole new way.
We’ve never spent so much time in Miro, thinking through scaling our structure without stripping the personalization. It’s mentally taxing, but it’s the right next step. We’re strengthening the platform we are building and providing frameworks for each service we’ve created.
Entrepreneurship, like life, is a learning experience. There’s no right way to build something—some people start with software and then create a service, and some do the opposite. Some are so focused on the product that they forget to spend time on their brand, and others build a gorgeous brand while hitting snag after snag with their product.
The small few try to do it all, really well, over the long haul. That’s what we believe is going to be required for Arcbound to become a global brand that impacts millions of lives.
It is, if you’ll forgive us, as if we’re building our arc. And we’re excited to see where it takes us next.
THE ONE AWAY SHOW
Trista Engel: One Leap of Faith Away From Commercial Innovation
Trista Engel is the CEO of Paragon Legal, a legal services firm focused on empowering the world’s most forward-thinking companies with flexible in-house legal solutions. As Paragon’s CEO, Trista focuses on client and attorney development and strategic growth initiatives. Her role fits perfectly with her love of problem-solving, building great teams, and helping people achieve success in their careers, and she thrives in the positive, supportive culture that is the key to Paragon’s longtime success. Trista joined Paragon from Calyx Capital Partners, the entrepreneurial investment firm she co-founded with Paragon’s Jessica Markowitz.
In this episode of The One Away Show, Trista joins Bryan to discuss understanding the day-to-day operations of your business, creating a positive company culture, and why taking the leap and starting before you are ready might be the exact right thing.
ON THE BLOG
5 Ways to Practice Gratitude
Practicing gratitude makes you a better boss, a better leader, and a better member of your community.?We believe you should practice it year-round, but we know how difficult that can be. The holiday season is the perfect time to build a new gratitude practice that you can take with you into the new year.
ARCBOUND HAPPENINGS
领英推荐
The Leader's Playground by Colin Hunter
Colin Hunter is an Author, Mentor, Coach, and the Founder and CEO of PotentialSquared, an international business that specializes in Leadership Development, creating playgrounds of innovation, and disrupting the way people are led. His newsletter,?The Leader's Playground, focuses on rising above ego, being wrong in the pursuit of learning, and orchestrating "playgrounds" so that your people can fail safely.
Recent issues have included everything from gratitude and bravery to stoicism and winning. Colin challenges readers to be more curious and embrace everything from fear to imposter syndrome in order to become better leaders (and be okay with experiencing failure as you grow).
Mojo for the Modern Man with Ken Mossman
A podcast for people of every stripe - all about the state of men, manhood and masculinity in our ever-changing world. With humility, depth, humor, and more than a little irreverence, Mojo for the Modern Man invites listeners into stories and deep conversations about what happens at the crossroads of leadership, creativity, curiosity, vulnerability and responsibility. Mojo for the Modern Man entertains, teaches, invites reflection and engagement - and points toward more sustainable, healthy, and generative expressions of manhood.
ARCBOUND RECOMMENDS
Dark Horse: Achieving Success Through the Pursuit of Fulfillment?by Todd Rose & Ogi Ogas
Recommended by Arcbound Account Strategist Janine Lyman
For generations, we've been stuck with a cookie-cutter mold for success that requires us to be the same as everyone else, only better. This "standard formula" works for some people but leaves most of us feeling disengaged and frustrated. As much as we might dislike the standard formula, it seems like there's no other practical path to financial security and a fulfilling life. But what if there is?
In?Dark Horse, Rose and Ogas show how the four elements of the dark horse mindset empower you to consistently make the right choices that fit your unique interests, abilities, and circumstances and will guide you to a life of passion, purpose, and achievement.
From Janine:?I enjoyed this book because Todd Rose describes the age of standardization that shaped so much of what we do and how we do it. He also spotlights the fact that we are in an age of personalization, and so it no longer works for everyone to set standardized goals or expect to take standardized routes to our goals. The book takes you on a journey of really defining what is success and fulfillment to you as an individual rather than society's idea of what success should be.
Unreserved with Rosanna Deerchild
Recommended by Arcbound Content Writer & Developer Melissa Boles
Unreserved is the radio space for Indigenous voices – our cousins, our aunties, our elders, our heroes. Rosanna Deerchild guides us on the path to better understand our shared story. Together, we learn and unlearn, laugh, and become gentler in all our relations.
From Melissa:?How we tell stories—and which stories we tell—changes and guides our culture. It's incredibly important to listen to stories from people whose backgrounds differ from yours, which is why I love Unreserved. The more we know about other cultures and communities, the better we can connect with people, whether we're leaders, neighbors, or friends.
PS — It's Native American Heritage Month, and Apple Podcasts?put together an incredible list ?of podcasts by and about Native Americans.
Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.
Paulo Coelho