As soon as I left my last company, I networked with a bunch of food entrepreneurs in Boston. That’s how I met Nico, a young star who started the awesome brand, Farmer Willie’s. His company was in the elite Chobani Incubator, a program that provides mentorship from Chobani’s executive team and a $25,000 grant to emerging food and beverage companies. Last Spring, Farmer Willie’s was one of 6 companies selected from across the country.
According to Nico, it’s an incredible program. So, I signed up for the Incubator’s newsletter. It was August and after that, I never really thought about it again until last weekend. That’s when I received an email from Chobani announcing their program’s application deadline on January 30th – only 4 days away.
I knew the applicant pool would have hundreds, maybe even thousands, of companies that we more mature than One Mighty Mill. But, I thought we might have an outside shot based on the power of our concept and vision for impact. I figured we had nothing to lose except the time it would take to complete the application. And even then, I felt like there was value in going through the application process regardless of the outcome.
So, yesterday, this 42-year-old crammed like a 22-year-old college student and submitted the online application literally 2 minutes before the 11:59pm deadline.
I know it’s a total long shot that we’ll be selected. (We haven’t actually launched our company!) But, as expected, the exercise turned out to be very worthwhile. The essays were rigorous and forced me to refine our point of view and strategy. And more importantly, the application required a 90 second identity video where I had to stand in front of my iPhone and answer 2 questions: 1) What was the inspiration to launch your company and 2) What makes your company special.
When presenting One Mighty Mill to somebody new, I find myself needing at least 5 minutes (sometimes, I can preach even longer if I’m feeling especially fired up). So, forcing me to articulate our story in 90 seconds was really valuable. But, it was not valuable for my wife, Mel. She was the innocent victim who had to record my pitch. After 10 shoots in our living room, I begged her to record a few more attempts, followed her to her office, and hijacked a conference room. It got worse. After a few more shoots, Mel refused to do any more. So, I asked one of her colleagues whom I’d never met to take a couple more.
After what must have been 25 attempts, I made this video that I submitted to Chobani. I’m hoping it captures the spirit of One Mighty Mill in 90 seconds.
I got next! 