Entrepreneur Zak Waddell on Startup Mistakes and The Bachelorette

<p><a href="https://markgraban.com/mistake214" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Episode Page</a></p> <p>My guest for Episode #214 of the <a href="https://myfavoritemistakepodcast.com/">My Favorite Mistake</a> podcast is Zak Waddell. He’s a college success manager at <a href="https://woolf.university/">Woolf</a> — the first global, collegiate higher education institution allowing membership for qualified new colleges through their software platform.</p> <p><a href="https://www.markgraban.com/an-nfl-players-business-struggles-and-his-identity-shift-anthony-trucks/">A previous guest, Anthony Trucks,</a> (Episode 97) was a contestant on American Ninja Warrior. Zak was a <a href="https://bachelor-nation.fandom.com/wiki/Zak_Waddell">contestant</a> on a show that might be even more grueling (at least mentally): The Bachelorette (Season 9)</p> <p>In this episode, Zak shares his favorite mistake story about, as an entrepreneur, falling in love with a business idea instead of starting with the “voice of the customer” and their needs. In this startup, why was it so difficult to challenge the traditional commission-based real estate model? What assumptions turned out not to be true? What did Zak learn? How does the experience with that failed startup help him now?</p> <p>We also discuss his experience as a contestant on The Bachelorette. Did he ever think it was a mistake to start that journey? What mistakes do contestants make? What mistakes might viewers make when watching a “reality” show? We talk about that and more in this most dramatic episode of My Favorite Mistake yet.</p> <p><br></p> <p>Questions and Topics:</p> <ul> <li>Falling in love with an idea</li> <li>Need to take a Iterative approach and listening to customers</li> <li>What assumptions did you have to test?</li> <li>What did you learn through cycles of learning…</li> <li>Pivot or Pull the Plug??</li> <li>Not vetting individuals… not stopping to think if it was the RIGHT team…</li> <li>How to manage in less hierarchical ways?</li> <li>Failed s