Mar 21, 2017
Jonathon Perrelli is the inventor of LifeFuels, and the co-creator of the document and the following entrepreneur courses, Startupland. He advises and has invested in dozens of startups, and often speaks about startups, entrepreneurships, and financing. We delve into what it takes to launch a disruptive invention, how you sometimes have to kill your own ideas, and how to balance work and life.
Key Takeaways:
[3:48] What inspired Jonathan to create the LifeFuels Smart Nutrition Bottle?
[6:03] Jonathon and Tamara discuss the importance of timing, and that it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel. Jonathan shares some suggestions to validate timing to see if your innovation is viable.
[10:54] Find out what makes LifeFuels different than other premium water bottles.
[13:18] LifeFuels bottles help to solve two problems: the ability to take pills, and promotes changing our behavior to fuel our body with what it needs.
[16:44] Find out some obstacles Jonathon and team overcame in their pursuit of developing Lifefuels. How did “killing” the first prototype end up being better in the end?
[21:19] Jonathon shares why innovators need the help of others, and why it really isn’t a good thing to try to innovate by yourself. He believes that the experience of others is priceless.
[24:22] What is the best way to go about educating your market?
[26:38] Why was the Startupland Documentary created? Find out how you can have the Startupland experience, by enrolling in the Virginia Tech iScholars program.
Startupland-educational-series.thinkific.com/courses/iScholars.
[31:56] Jonathon and team tackled many learning opportunities as they embarked on Startupland, such as creating their own soundtrack, digital animations, and capitalization tables.
[33:16] Jonathon shares two valuable pieces of advice: First, his belief that success is measured by the amount of freedom that exists in his business; Second, the importance of having a peer group that you can collaborate with, and escape that feeling of being alone.
[38:07] Find out who Jonathon turns to, for words of wisdom and inspiration.
[42:18] Tamara and Jonathon discuss why the “it takes a village” approach is superior to the “lone inventor in the garage” approach.
Mentioned in This Episode: