An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Search for patents and get a provisional application for a “patent-pending status.” You then have one year to decide whether to formally file.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Will Russell.
In 2017, Will launched Russell Marketing: an innovative digital agency, specializing in e-commerce launch marketing. To-date, they have generated more than $25 million in revenue for 300+ new entrepreneurs. Will has been featured on Forbes, Business Insider, Crain’s New York, StartUp Nation, and more.
In 2021, Will launched the Russell Gives Foundation, a family foundation that offers grants and mentorship to early-stage 501(c)(3) partners committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In November 2022, Will’s first book, Launch in 5: Take Your Idea from Lightbulb Moment to Profitable Business in Record Time, was published by Nicholas Brealey and is available on Amazon.
Prior to product launches, Will spent his early career managing launch marketing efforts for brands and websites in the media and nonprofit space. A decade of experience in launch marketing — across an array of industries, products, and for businesses of all sizes — provided Will with a unique perspective on the attributes of successful launch campaigns.
Originally from San Francisco, followed by two decades in London, and now in Austin, TX, Will holds a dual degree in Philosophy & Sociology from the University of Leeds.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory?”
While I was born in California (and live in the US now), my parents are both English and we returned to that side of the Atlantic shortly after my birth. So, my upbringing was the stereotypical English one, culminating in graduating from the University of Leeds. Soon after graduation, I decided to return to the US and pursue my own American dream, which led me to Michigan, North Carolina, California, New York, and now, finally, Texas.
Looking back, I’m not surprised at all that I pursued the route of entrepreneurship. As a child, I was stubbornly independent and hated being told what to do. While many of my friends took the conventional path of a 9-to-5 commute in central London, I knew that was never for me. I wanted to create something for myself.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A quote from comedian Ricky Gervais is the one that most sticks with me: ”The best advice I’ve ever received is, ‘No one else knows what they’re doing either.’”
It’s a reminder that those we look up to as “successful” aren’t special or unique. They’re just like me. They have imposter syndrome, they have doubts, and they’re simply doing the best they can with the information they have. The message I always take from that is: if they can do it, why can’t I?
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Man’s Search for Meaning, by Viktor Frankl. It’s a phenomenal book with both narrative that glues you to the page but also overarching concepts that offer a valuable perspective. If I’m feeling defeated or down, this book is my go-to.
The core message in the book is a modified version of Nietzsche’s quote: “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” Ultimately, he suggests “meaning” is subjective, fluid, and can be found in many little (and big) things. There’s not just one “meaning of life,” there are many. And, if Frankl can find meaning during his time and suffering in concentration camps during WW2, I’m reminded how fortunate I am.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
Launching a business is a big, intimidating thing. I’ve been there; I know what it feels like to give up the comfort of a consistent paycheck and look ahead to months of the unknown. It’s important to remember that any successful business was built by small steps, nothing is an overnight success. Look at your idea and the path to a viable business objectively. Break it up into smaller tasks and smaller timelines. Day-by-day, week-by-week, you chip away at these tasks, you meet deadlines.
Don’t look up at Mount Everest and think how impossible it seems. Just put one foot in front of the other, take it one step at a time, and one day you’ll look back astonished at how far you’ve come.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
I would argue that almost no one comes up with a completely new idea. Even an idea that seems like it’s “new” has likely been thought about by dozens of people before. Ideas are worth nothing, it’s all about being able to execute the idea successfully. And so, if someone has thought about it before (or even if they’ve pursued it), who cares? Facebook wasn’t the first social network, Google wasn’t the first search engine, and Tesla wasn’t the first electric car. If you have an idea that you truly believe to be new to the market and/or better than any other idea currently in the market, I say go for it.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
- Validate the idea and prove there’s a need in the market for it.
- Search for patents and get a provisional application for a “patent-pending status.” You then have one year to decide whether to formally file.
- Create a prototype that will prove your idea can indeed function in the way you intend it to, at the price you need it to be.
- Get quotes from manufacturers (if you’re launching a physical product). Before moving into any form of investment, I would recommend having numbers and some form of intent from a manufacturer that they’ll be able to produce it. These days, almost all the clients we work with will be working with manufacturers in China or India.
- Acquire funding. This could be a product crowdfunding campaign (like Kickstarter or Indiegogo), an equity crowdfunding campaign (such as StartEngine or Wefunder), or a more traditional funding route (like angel investment or venture capital).
- Deliver the product. With validation, prototypes, manufacturing partners and funding in place, it’s time to get your idea into the world.
- Scale. It’s taken a long time to get here, but this is still only the beginning. Once you’ve gotten your first customers, the sky’s the limit. Learn from them, delight them, and add fuel to the fire.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
I’ve described my 5 Things in this YouTube video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt5eAwaS0gI
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
The first step is to validate that the idea is actually something people need and are willing to pay for (at the price you need to sell it to have a profitable business). Get out and put this idea in front of strangers, whether that’s online or hitting the streets and speaking to people in-person. You need to prove that there are people out there willing to buy it (that aren’t your family or friends).
If you’re pursuing an idea and you haven’t yet validated that the idea has product-market fit (aka — is something people want and will buy), stop what you’re doing. Go back. Start again and validate. Don’t waste another minute or dollar until you have data that proves the viability of your business idea.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
The answer to this question depends on the scale of what you’re looking to achieve and the budget you have to achieve it. Money and experts will make things move more quickly and with less mishaps. However, some people don’t have access to this kind of money or are happy to make mishaps in the name of learning. If you’re looking to start the next Apple, you’ll want to invest in help. If you’re happy with creating a product as a simple hobby, going it alone is a perfectly fine path forward.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs. looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
Like the previous answer, this often depends on what result you’re after. If you’re looking for massive growth, very quickly, you’re going to need investment to make that happen. If you’re happy for a slow and steady path to success, I can speak from personal experience how brilliant it is to fully own your business and not have to report back to investors.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
I used to work in the nonprofit sector and always wanted to get back there somehow. Once my business reached a level, financially, that I felt was secure, I launched the Russell Gives Foundation as a way to revisit that sector and give back. Russell Gives is a family foundation that offers grants and mentorship to early-stage 501(c)(3) organizations that focus on reducing racial inequity in the US.
I also recently published a book, Launch in 5: Take Your Idea from Lightbulb Moment to Profitable Business in Record Time (available on Amazon). So often I heard from entrepreneurs that they didn’t have the budgets to work with a launch agency like mine. My book offers up the strategies and systems to anyone looking to pursue an idea, without the high cost of hiring an agency to help with that launch.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
A movement that focuses on empathy. I read once that many astronauts experience the “overview effect” when they first see the earth from space. It’s the sense of understanding the “big picture” and of feeling a connection among all humans. Yet, here on earth, there’s so much vitriol, hatred, and bitterness. I wish our schools would teach more empathy and I wish all of us were more empathetic. After all, we’re all in this together.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
David Beckham. He’s not only one of England’s greatest football captains and would have some incredible stories to share about what goes on behind the scenes in professional football, but he’s also a guy that has used his work ethic and determination to get past difficult situations and flourish. In 1998, he was the scapegoat of English football and effigies of him were burned across the country. He kept his head down and kept working hard. Two years later, he was named captain. Similarly, while playing for Real Madrid, he was relegated to the youth team due to a falling out with the manager. Again, he kept his head down and worked hard. By the end of the season, he was back in the first team and played a key role in helping the team win the championship.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Will Russell Of Russell Marketing On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
