Until you can be a Unicorn, be a Cockroach! (w/Charles Merritt, CEO Buddy)

"So a a cinematographer walks into a startup..." It sounds like the start of a joke but Storytelling is a huge part of building an early-stage company. Charles Merritt Founder at Buddy Insurance worked at Kayak early on, and learned how he could help insurers understand how to make their brands more meaningful to their customers through great storytelling.  Then there's the cockroach thing... As Charles relates, most startups fail because they run out of money, fail to generate revenues.  You have to find ways to stay alive in the face of heavy adversity. The red thread of startups is having changed their business models, pivoted towards revenue and having strong cultures of being ready to go when new opportunities present themselves.  Company culture is the reason people get excited to come to work. Founders need to be mindful of how you act, what you celebrate and find important. Charles talks about how at the early days at Kayak getting out on the water was just as important as the office job to the founders, and how he brought that same life lessons about life balance and outdoor lifestyles over to Buddy.