Founder Journeys: Cam Richardson
Cam is busy with not one, but two startup ideas. He left his full time job last year to concentrate on developing Souper Natural, a mobile soup business and an e-commerce plugin called Squad. We catch up with Cam to find out about his businesses, the recent Hack the Crisis NZ challenge he was part of and how digging tree stumps helped him in lock down.
Tell us a little about your business or businesses and how they came about?
Squad was a desire to give gifts as a group more commonly and more effectively. Souper Natural came about because my wife is a dietitian, and it was an awesome way for us to do something together that helped people eat healthier in a more affordable way.
What have you been using these past few weeks to do?
Here in lockdown, I'm taking time to reflect, work on soup recipes (for Souper Natural) with my wife and develop an e-commerce plugin called 'Squad' with other developers in lockdown around the world. Whenever I hit a mental 'wall', I would go out and dig out this large stump in my backyard, using nothing but shovels and a wood splitting axe. The clarity and ideas that came from this were amazing! Now the stump is out, so I'll need to find some other monotonous task!
What do you see as opportunities during this time?
This time really feels like one of Bill Gates' famous 'think weeks'. As the boss of Microsoft, Bill Gates would take one week, two times a year, and escape by himself to a secret clapboard cabin somewhere in a cedar forest in the Pacific Northwest. In some ways, I feel like that's what we're doing (though not by choice!)
What are you looking forward to the most once lockdown is over?
Events and coffees out!
What do you think will be the biggest change in life post-COVID?
The restriction of travel, lack of events and impact on entire sectors of society (international tourism).
What do you think it takes to be a successful entrepreneur?
I'll let you know if I get there! From what I can tell: right idea, right time, a dash of luck, pools of creative intelligence and bombastically high levels of motivation.
At the moment how are you measuring success?
How faithful I am. To God, my wife, and dreams.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
Living innovatively, immersed in passion projects and awesome relationships.
You just took part in the Hack the Crisis. How did you find it? What was your biggest learning from it?
Hack the Crisis was great fun! It was legitimately inspiring to be surrounded by entrepreneurs, developers, designers and biz-heads. I was racking my brain on what idea I could run with during the weekend, then thought about a low-contact vending machine I had thought about. I grabbed a couple of friends and a couple of strangers, and made a team. Working virtually with a team of strangers from around the country was sometimes trying, but knowing I was helping to create a potential solution for a COVID-related problem made it really worth it. I'll be looking to progress the idea!
To watch Cam’s team’s pitch watch it here https://youtu.be/xsIhVipYdTE
Find out more about Souper Natural.