It’s rare to meet someone who can answer any question with a brilliant one-liner. Andrew Bermudez is one of those people. Andrew Bermudez is one of the three co-founders of Digsy: an “Intelligent Assistant” that helps automate the search for the perfect office and warehouse space for your business. Andrew has raised over $1.3M, with a majority of the investors coming from Orange County. For this reason, Startup Grind Orange County welcomed Andrew as a speaker last week. At first glance, Andrew’s an outgoing, awkward but funny guy -- but once the interview started, it was clear his answers were to be taken seriously. Below are just some of his great one-liners.
“I just like poking people between the ribs.”
When asked why he liked entrepreneurship, he responded with this gem. Everyone tilted his or her head for a moment before realizing the greatness of that line. Essentially, entrepreneurs are the ones who create the real change. They push people and the industry in their weak spots to better both their team and their customers’ lives.
“I tried to hire the kid selling lemonade.”
Lemonade stands are one of the earliest signs of a young entrepreneur. Andrew has built his hiring plan on the idea that a natural born entrepreneur shows signs of their talent from a young age started. Andrew didn’t want to be the one selling the lemonade; instead, he was the child trying to convince others to sell lemonade for him, and let him reap the profits. Essentially, he was the entrepreneur who was ahead of everyone else in terms of getting all the benefits without any of the work.
“CEO is the one who always wears the shirt.”
This is so true. When asked how his team of co-founders chose their specific roles in the company, he explained that he was the CEO because he wears the company t-shirt every single day. The CEO is the face of the company and should be the top sales person in the group. They are going to the be the one who does all the interviews and all of the VC pitches and should be the most outwardly passionate about the startup.
“Intuition's great, Data's better.”
Defining success becomes far more objective with metrics. Success to Andrew includes clearly defined goals in every part of the company. From sales in a particular city to an engagement rate on a single social media platform, everything is being turned into a measurable level of success. This is both the beauty and challenge of our digital world. Intuition is great and should often be considered when making a decision. But data is the future in defining both internal and competitive success.
The interview exceeded expectations and its clear to see that Andrew knows how to growth hack in Orange County. What stood out as remarkable was the applicability of his answers to everyone sitting in the room. It was another great night at Startup Grind OC!