David Kidder is the CEO and Co-founder of Bionic. David is a thought leader, influencer, visionary, and successful entrepreneur. David provides the leadership and energy that has inspired the creation of Bionic.
David Kidder joins other leading Bestselling Authors, International Speakers & Entrepreneur, CEOs and Founders taking part in our Leader Roundtable Interview Series. The DotCom Magazine editorial team is delighted to have David join us for our Leader Roundtable Interview.
Let’s start by telling us about your business.
The world is changing faster than ever before, and the pace of disruption continues to accelerate. To keep up—and grow—businesses must build for where the world is going, not for where it’s been.
Bionic is a collective of radical outsiders who have built and scaled companies across sectors and around the world. We’re entrepreneurs, investors, futurists, and makers focused on igniting and building growth within large companies.
Enterprises are skilled at making big businesses even bigger. Entrepreneurs and early-stage investors, on the other hand, are skilled at discovering new opportunities and turning them into big businesses. We’ve combined the best of both worlds, introducing enterprises to the methodology, tools, and systems of entrepreneurship and venture capital. We call this the Growth Operating System.
We believe that growth revolutions start with unlocking the creativity and potential of people. With a clear sense of purpose and the right tools, the people that power the world’s greatest companies are able to discover and build the future at scale.
Q: Please tell us how you make sure your customers will become raving fans of your company?
We call our customers, our partners. It has to be a collaborative, honest, and dynamic relationship. We are working shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners and committed to their success. We have created a culture where we are building something together. When we were able to be in person, we were in person with our partners in their offices and hosted them in our office – we are committed to a culture of loving the journey with our partners, and this makes them fans. The Growth OS has been designed to make the partner the hero in their journey of transformation.
Q: Please tell us the one thing that separates your business from the competition?
Bionic is different from our competitors because of our highly unique approach to the work, our commitment to commercial truth, and the mindsets we instill in our partners. We rely on lean startup methodology to do evidence based experimentation and focus on growth through a portfolio of bets, while our competitors would be looking towards data driven analytics and complex modeling. Bionic is led and built by serial entrepreneurs, and we work with our partners to discover the future.
Q: And to finish this section, Please tell us what is the one major key to your company’s success?
The purpose of Bionic – to ignite growth revolutions – is not limited to igniting growth in our partners, but this treaty expands into the interior journey of the people on our team and the leadership journey of our partners. We are intensely focused on growth and the journey, and this is the key to our success.
Q: For our readers just starting to build a company, what advice can you give entrepreneurs just starting out with a new venture?
You can’t be obsessed with a solution, you have to be obsessed with the customer’s problem that you are trying to solve. Never chase white space, always start with your proprietary gifts. This means, you should ask yourself what you know that no one else knows? What special gift, skill, knowledge do you have that you should be sharing with the world? Start with a thorough understanding of your customer’s needs, and then assess your organization’s proprietary gifts in meeting those needs. To discover your organization’s proprietary gifts and dive into your internal strengths, start by holding stakeholder interviews, talking to subject matter experts, and conducting secondary research. When brought to the world, a true proprietary gift creates an impossible-to-replicate, unfair advantage, that both your competitors, and most importantly, your customers recognize and reward.
Q: For entrepreneurs seeking to build a business as successful as yours, what big piece of advice can you give them when times get a little challenging?
Your mindset should always be about building a lasting company, which means this company needs to thrive in good times and survive in the bad times. No matter how high the good times go, it is inevitable there will be bad times, so if you don’t have the long term vision of what you’re creating, you probably won’t survive the lows. It’s always going to be a little challenging as an entrepreneur and in a startup. So once you accept that challenges are an inevitable part of the environment, you need to prepare to navigate those moments. If you’re not prepared on how to navigate those moments, you’re not going to experience success as a company.
Q: In today’s fast changing business environment, how do you stay abreast of things?
I am an avid reader. I am constantly digesting information and content. I try to be insanely aware of all the context around me.
Q: What is your “Why”? In one sentence, why do you get up in the morning?
My WHY is igniting growth revolutions – the Bionic purpose.
Q: In one sentence, what is the most important thing one has to do to be a great leader?
The most important thing to be a great leader is to lead yourself and that starts with building the system within yourself to thrive.
Q: In one sentence, describe how important your customers are to your business?
Our customers are everything to Bionic’s business – they are the heroes of our growth revolutions.
Q: In one sentence, describe a positive way that technology can make the world a better place?
Technology has a crazy way of connecting people from wherever, and during the quarantine, where everyone felt stuck and alone, connection was more important than ever.
Q: In one sentence, tell us something positive to motivate our readers?
Live by the 7:1 rule – a ratio of “good-to-bad” that acknowledges we’re not perfect and this gives us permission to move fast, take risks, then learn and grow.
Q: In one sentence, tell us how you start your day to get ready?
I have an operating system for life: I open and close my day by journaling to frame my mindset and set my energy and spirit in the right direction.
Q: In one sentence, describe how you handle rejection and setback?
I love the tests of life and I know that there are going to be challenges, so I have to lean into the challenges and love the journey – even if it’s hard.
Q: In one sentence, describe what your hiring philosophy is?
We look for those who will bring their whole mind, energy, and network to redefine the boundaries of what is possible.
Q: In one sentence, describe how you keep your sanity in a competitive business environment?
Don’t suffer from the sin of comparison – follow your own path.
Website
onbionic.com
Twitter
@Bionic10x
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidskidder/
Instagram
onbionic
David Kidder, thank you so much for participating in the DotCom Magazine Leader Roundtable Interview Series. We appreciate you participating in this important roundtable interview series, and helping our readers learn more about what it takes to build a great company and become a great leader. We wish you, your family, and of course Bionic, nothing but the best.
