The Entrepreneurial Grind With Co-Founders Of Ground

Forbes Leadership Leadership Strategy The Entrepreneurial Grind With Co-Founders Of Ground Karl Moore Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Following Click to save this article. You’ll be asked to sign into your Forbes account.

Nov 26, 2023, 05:38pm EST Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Ground co-founders Antonio Andrade, Kat Garcia, Shahriar Kabir Courtesy of Ground Gabriele Hartshorne-Mehl, a McGill Finance graduate, contributed to this story. Ground co-founders Kat Garcia and Shahriar Kabir see entrepreneurship not just as a business pursuit, but more as a sport. “If you want to play in the NBA, you must put in the hours.

There is simply no other way. How else do you get drafted for those 30 teams in the major leagues? The answer is hard work and talent,” says Shariar Kabir, co-founder of Ground. A prosperous startup requires the dedication, grit, and spark of all-star players in major league sports.

The similarity between the sport and entrepreneurship is glaring. Success in both industries, defined as making it to the Big Leagues, is only achieved by a small subset of individuals. In my interviews, I often refer to the entrepreneur as contrarian to the traditional corporate affiliate.

They are a unique archetype capable of thinking outside the box, risk-taking for the delivery of better results, and devoting hours far beyond the 9-to-5 that ensure a startup’s smooth operations. Garcia and Kabir, two of three Co-Founders at Ground, serve as exemplars of such entrepreneurial athleticism—a key to success in their industry. Ground is an AI-powered platform helping consumer companies grow.

It scans and detects revenue-generating opportunities in the background. In Ground’s product, artificial intelligence is utilized to predict and identify customers who are most likely to purchase or subscribe. It’s able to target and personalize incentives with the highest likelihood of turning customers into loyal repeat customers while identifying brand-new ones.

Most recently, Ground’s AI uncovered $391,000 of untapped annual revenue for one of their brands in a span of minutes. To date, Ground’s customers include Sephora’s Crown Affair, Eadem, Jolie, and more. MORE FOR YOU Gmail And Photos Content Purge Starts In 5 Days: Protect Your Data Now About That Mysterious AI Breakthrough Known As Q By OpenAI That Allegedly Attains True AI Or Is On The Path Toward Artificial General Intelligence AGI The 59 Best Cyber Monday Deals So Far The company is focused on helping consumer companies accelerate profitability, regardless of their size.

“From startups to enterprise, the power of artificial intelligence is it levels the playing field,” says Garcia. Garcia’s path into tech entrepreneurship celebrates diversity and limitless potential. Initially an actress in Montreal with Cannes Film Festival credits, she also thrived as an independent recording artist, where she opened up for Young Money (the original label for Drake and Nicki Minaj).

Leveraging YouTube to expand her reach as early as 2006, her passion for creativity and analysis gave her a defined perspective on taking products to market from people and consumer packaged goods to software. After graduating from Desautels School of Management, she went on to invent, build, and scale startups for the world’s most influential companies at BCG Digital Ventures, the incubation arm of BCG. She has been on the founding teams and interim Head of Growth for products under AMEX, M&T Bank’s Nota, and ‘Spin’ app, dubbed the Venmo of Latin America.

While she enjoyed her work spearheading growth, she felt something was missing. “I was comfortable. I had achieved my dream life.

However, there are rare times when you are called to grow–to use your gifts for something greater” says Garcia. “No matter how afraid I was, I knew I needed to listen to that call, or I’d regret it. ” Sharing the startup bug Born in Bangladesh and raised in Montreal by immigrant parents, Kabir’s first exposure to entrepreneurship occurred during his study abroad in Switzerland, where he took the chance to take classes outside his engineering domain.

After returning to Waterloo, this passion culminated in his first startup in his third year of university, Pulse Industrial, a company providing hardware devices to detect oil leaks in pipelines. Kabir has been instrumental in both establishing and supporting various companies over the past decade, especially during his time as a venture capitalist whilst at TI Platform. He played a crucial role in securing Talkdesk’s funding, propelling the company to a $10 billion valuation.

One of his standout achievements includes setting up venture studios alongside serial entrepreneurs. After more than 16 successful deals, he caught the startup bug. The duo established a concept for a company but required a third partner’s skill set.

Kabir phoned his close friend from his time in Switzerland, then a software engineer working at Zendesk in Singapore. Within a week’s time, Antonio Andrade booked a one-way ticket to North America. The trio came together under the Techstars accelerator in Los Angeles to form their venture.

They shared a two-bedroom apartment and took turns sleeping on the mattress in their living room while building and fundraising. The company has made vast strides since this roommate experience. “It is very different,” says Garcia.

“Every week it looks different, but in a positive upwards trajectory where there is greater clarity on product-market fit. ” Ground is based in New York, operating a hybrid team across New York, Germany, Brazil, and Montreal, and raised venture capital funds. Kabir says that the company aims to expand collaborations with additional brands in the consumer space, while continuously enhancing its AI model to bolster its robustness.

The team has been experiencing a spur of momentum, debuting on a prominent Times Square billboard in Manhattan throughout the holiday week. Garcia and Kabir, seasoned founders well-versed in the dynamics of startups, are poised to make their mark in the Big Leagues. Below, discover key pieces of advice they generously share with budding entrepreneurs embarking on their first journey.

It is about more than putting in the hours Hard work is a necessary factor for startup success, although, not a sufficient one on its own. According to Garcia, in some ways, “it does not matter how hard you work, the future is never guaranteed. ” She recommends constant analysis and innovation to combat potential uncertainties.

The company has interviewed hundreds of different businesses to consistently adapt their product to changing needs. “You need to think about problem-solving in a way where you are constantly iterating,” she says. Gia.

Especially as an entrepreneur in tech, it is important to set out opinions and scenarios of what you believe the future to be—it is how you transform abstract ideas into plausible ones and see everything come to life. Remember your network The Ground’s co-founders appreciate the power of network. It provides vital support to propel the startup forward.

They recommend affording oneself the opportunity to expand one’s network and prioritizing it. It is necessary to remain prepared in order to take advantage of all opportunities the moment they surface. You never know who you might meet.

Start as early as possible The founders each have vast experience related to their field and are both under the age of 30. “I wish I had started even earlier, if I’m being absolutely honest with you,” says Kabir. Entrepreneurship is risky, and risk-taking is much easier when one has fewer obligations and responsibilities.

Garcia also believes the earlier you take risks, the higher the chance of success. “You will never be ready to do something or take a risk,” she says. “You have just got to jump in and do it.

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