Hungryroot reposted this
This week I had the honor of serving as a judge for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. Three takeaways: (1) Entrepreneur is not a title, it’s a mindset. It’s more than being a founder. It’s a love of problem solving, creating, and making a difference. It’s optimism and grit, and it doesn’t have to be limited to business. (2) Every business needs a purpose. Even companies that are inherently more transactional (selling tires, for example) can positively impact the world. It’s the entrepreneur’s job to find and articulate that deeper meaning. (3) It’s okay to be proud. In fact, it’s part of your job. After we raised our Series C at Hungryroot, I felt a bit of imposter syndrome. But as we’ve progressed and with advice from my trusted advisor and friend Mindy Grossman, I’ve realized it’s my job to market myself and my company. If you believe in your company’s purpose, you have a responsibility to share it with your head held high. Congrats to all of this year’s finalists (award winners will be announced soon): April Koh Harry Ritter Brad Charron Tracy Ongena, CDP Brian Rudolph Scott Rudolph Tom Fogarty Frank Yu Phil B. Christine Chang Sarah Lee Saad Alam Alex Ross Jared Karson Jose Herrera Devin Daly Roman Pedan Ben Lewis Jason Guss Gal Krubiner Nathan Kondamuri Michael Kopko Pete Anevski Arnaud Plas Ben Checketts Nate Checketts Nicole Wegman Dilip Rao Chuck Canton Brian Bordainick Alex Eu Kevin Rikio Shiiba Michael Sutherland Brown Jared K. Bharanidharan Rajakumar Glen Moller Aaron Schumm
You should be proud given the incredible impact of what you have built at Hungry Root and the work of the team! Also great for E&Y to have you as a judge. Having had that experience for a number of years it was such valuable time spent seeing the work of visionary entrepreneurs like yourself! Congratulations to you and to all of the finalists! So proud to be on the Hungry Root board!!
Thank you for the time Ben McKean, it was a pleasure to meet you and we hope we did an adequate job answering your questions! All the best.
Thank you Ben McKean for being part of this great program! It was a pleasure to share our journey with Prose
Appreciate you Ben McKean! #1 was your question and you couldn't have said it better. It's a love for solving problems and making it a way of life.
Very Cool Ben! As a CEO Coach, the dirty secret that no CEO usually admits, is a bit of imposter syndrome. Thanks for bringing it in the open.
Awesome crew of folks! Congrats Nate Checketts and Kevin Rikio Shiiba - good to see your names here!
Great meeting you and the other judges I enjoyed our conversation Ben McKean as well as some of the other nominees. EY I applaud you and your team for a really well executed and enjoyable event!
Founder and CEO at Hungryroot
6moCongrats to the other finalists (I hit the LinkedIn maximum characters): Jon M. Williams Sam Sherman Achel Patel Russell Gong Michael Mager Ryan Serhant Bobby Buka, MD