Matt Erickson is the founder and Chief Consultant of Erickson Strategy where he is passionate about enhancing inspired leaders to create cultures of constructive accountability and empowerment. Prior to starting Erickson Strategy, Matt was elbow deep in the startup world with a company called IvySport.com.

This episode of Garage to Goliath offers advice and encouragement to listeners who are in startup companies.

You will also enjoy Matt’s “aha” moment about how businesses create value for society.

One day he was eating lunch with the founder and creator of Cobra Systems, Inc., and it dawned on Matt, isn’t this amazing that Doug, the owner of Cobra Systems, created this company from scratch and this company creates so much value in people’s lives that those people are willing to pay money for their services. In turn, people inside the company get paychecks and those paychecks allow individuals to buy homes to shelter their families, buy food to sustain their families, and create margin in their lives so those people can go into their community and be good to those in need.

Wow! That is exactly the right way to think about business – creating exponential value for others around you.

Two other pieces of food for thought from Matt are:

  1. Leading by asking good questions – Never stop asking good questions, of yourself and of others, and to always ask questions from a place of really caring about the other person.

  2. Leading by empowering others to lead and you fade into the background.

Lead well,

p.s. – Thanks for listening! Please rate, review, and subscribe to my leadership podcast on iTunesSpotify, and/or SoundCloud.

 

 

Show Related Links:
Erickson Strategy: Website | LinkedIn
TWIT: This Week In Tech

Show Timestamps:
• Matt talks about his time at startup business IvySport.com and why he was the first employee [1:21]
• Matt shares why he was passionate about the startup and its biggest challenges [3:31]
• Advice from Matt to others in the startup world [5:29]
• Matt’s journey at Cobra Systems [6:54]
• Matt tells about his company Erickson Strategy [9:37]
• Matt talks about how he creates value with his business [10:27]
• Matt’s advice on how to set realistic goals and still dream big [11:40]
• A piece of advice to create meaningful rewards [13:58]
• Matt talks about setting realistic goals in your personal life [15:26]
• Matt shares how to make a strategic plan usable instead of just a document that sits on a shelf [16:55]
• Matt discusses traps companies fall into when created key performance indicators [19:03]
• What does Matt do to help companies find and articulate their why [22:26]
• Matt shares what he sees as some causes of dispassionate employees [24:05]
• Matt talks about how to infuse passion into employees [26:11]
• Matt shares his big why [28:40]
• Matt shares why it’s important to be part of a strong community and to engage in lifelong learning [30:42]
• Matt spends his time thinking about what? [33:14]
• Matt shares what leadership means to him personally [34:29]
• What is the one trait Matt thinks is important for and of good leaders [35:35]
• Matt talks about what would make him feel more fulfilled today [37:20]
• Things Matt is passionate about [39:09]
• Matt talks about some impactful mentors [40:58]
• Matt talks about who he mentors [42:30]
• How does Matt want his children to describe him to his grandchildren [43:40]