Pura's Founders Share 5 Things They Wish They Would Have Known
What We Wish we'd Known
Pura’s Founders Bruno Lima and Richie Stapler have had their fair share of learning experiences as they trail blazed their way through a cluttered world of scent and out on the other side of it all to create a brand new, much-needed category. Today, Pura sits as the foremost innovator of scent-tech, the king of clever partnerships, and a surprising data-collecting tool that boosts sales and promotes at-home wellbeing.
But, it wasn’t always that way for these ambitious founders. Mistakes were made and lessons were learned as these Pura’s CEO Bruno, and their CCO Richie, worked tirelessly to build what is now one of the most recognizable names in scent.
Bruno and Richie sat down with Medium, recently to discuss the five things they wish someone would have told them before they started this wild, wonderful-smelling journey. Here’s what they said:
1. Shoot for the moon in everything you do, and don’t just settle—early on in our business, we decided we wanted to build up a team of the best and most talented. We ended up getting one of the original advisors from Nest Thermostat on our team because we knew we couldn’t settle for any less if we wanted to build our company up to its highest potential. So, we shot for the moon and it 100% worked out.
2. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas — You’ll find people might be as passionate about your idea as you are, and if they are, those same people are willing to open doors that you normally wouldn’t have had access to.
3. Don’t do crowdfunding campaigns — Things are not the same as they were at the beginning of crowdfunding. Companies that are already venture-backed and have manufacturing ready to go will use crowdfunding for that last push. It has tainted the minds of customers and makes unrealistic timelines for those who are truly using crowdfunding to get everything set up.
4. Take Calculated Risks — In the early days of Pura, everything single thing we did felt like a big risk since we didn’t have much money. But, risks are unavoidable if want to make money. So, we began taking more calculated risks. We found that, if you just do enough research to help you believe in what you’re doing, you can feel okay with taking a chance on something when the time comes.
5. Ask for what you want — We’ve improved a lot of deals just because we weren’t afraid to ask for a better term or a sweeter offering. Again, you’ll be surprised with the things that people will agree to if you just ask them.
These 5 pieces of advise are incredibly wise, and come from years of failure, learning experiences, and ultimately, massive successes. It was this kind of insightfulness that drew us to Pura’s leaders in the first place.
Pura continues to grow in size (both internally and externally), maturity, and creativity as they expand their offering and powerful product line.
