Adam Tratt shares how Haiku Deck was conceptualized from his struggle to design a presentation deck that accurately showcased the story he had in his head surrounding his former business. He wanted to create a beautiful presentation for his Board and investors but without a professional designer he was lost. And Haiku Deck was born. Today you’ll hear:
That if you’re not a designer, no matter how much of a command of the technology you might have it’s too damn hard to create a beautiful presentation.
How Haiku Deck was created to help solve the fundamental problem with presentations
That the thing that makes people, people is that we tell stories to each other.
The best part of being an entrepreneur is sharing the dream.
About the mission and purpose of Haiku Deck and how Adam ensures that all of his employees are focused on the right things.
The exhausting march of failure in business that Adam experienced before he landed in his current role
About their launch back in November 2013 and how they got 150 thousand downloads in the first 3 weeks
About the three voices in Adam’s head and how they keep him focused and on track
Why he values transparency with his team
About “The Startup Death Wobble” and “The Failing Entrepreneur”
The character traits (or flaws) of entrepreneurs which include resilience and grit
How to ensure that as a leader you aren’t obsessing over the failures but focusing on the opportunities
What working at Cranium taught him about having a strong vision
Why he believes in having a clear vision and the courage to stay true to that vision
Why he says that there are very few entrepreneurs who feel like they’ve ‘made it’
His advice about getting comfortable with discomfort