A Path To Entrepreneurial Success That Went Through Diapers S12 Ep20
Our early childhood experiences have a major impact on our lives. In the case of Rodney Williams, he started down his path of being entrepreneur at the early ago of 8. While his friends were out cutting grass, he had his first entrepreneurial success by renting, for $0.50, the latest and hippest magazines to customers waiting in his mothers beauty salon. He found he could make a few bucks and the results was that he always had $20.00 in his pocket.
Later, he became a Brand Manager for Pampers diapers at Proctor & Gamble. Turns out the diapers was ground zero for online sales and marketing. Did you know that Pampers was the first product to sold online and at one point, made up 51% of P&G's online sales?
Topics covered:
- Rodney's first entrepreneurial success was as an 8 year old "renting" magazines to customers at his mom's beauty salon
- From an early age, he wanted to be a CEO.
- At P&G, he was a brand manager for Pampers.
- P&G and the diapers products have a long history of spawning silicon valley leaders.
- LISNR was birthed with him trying to solve the challenge of knowing/engaging with customers at the right moment no matter where the are.
- Rodney shares how LISNR uses an audio tone that humans can hear to transmit (and not receive) information anywhere.
- Som euse case examples include retailers using it to display an ad at the right location in a store without the user doing anything.
- Newer use cases include using the tones as a form of authentication/identify verification - including at the offices of LISNR.
- What advice would you give yourself back when you were graduating college?
- What advice would you give an entrepreneur who is thinking about starting their first company?
About Rodney Williams:
Rodney Williams, CEO and Co-Founder of LISNR, leads one of the most disruptive companies in the IoT space and the world of mobile connectivity. He is the 2016 Black Enterprise Tech Entrepreneur of the Year and has also been honored by Ad Age's Top 40 under 40 and the Upstart100. Prior to LISNR, Rodney spent over four years at Procter & Gamble as a brand manager and is most noted for being the first marketer there to co-write digital patents. He is also a former Lockheed Martin and Department of Energy disruptor. Rodney achieved those honors after earning four degrees by the age of 24, including an MBA and Masters in Integrated Marketing Communications from Howard University.
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