An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Don’t take it personally — this can be a tough one for a Founder because your business is personal, but there’s a reason it’s one of the four agreements. Create separation between you and your business and don’t wrap your entire identity in it.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Abelin, Co-Founder of PlantBaby.
Alex Abelin is an innovative entrepreneur, perennial optimist, and spirited connector. He has the unique ability to take big visions and bring them to life. He has founded three companies in diverse categories: PlantBaby in food & beverage; LQD WiFi in communications; LiquidTalent in technology. He spent over seven years working for Google, and two years for Verizon Smart Cities through its acquisition of LQD WiFi. He’s a proud alumnus of UC Berkeley and has called California, New York, and Hawaii home. As a new Dad, Alex is working harder and smarter than ever to make tomorrow’s world better for his son’s generation.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Ever since I was a young boy, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to walk my own path, trailblaze, create, and do something that’s never been done before. My career started at Google because at 22, I wasn’t ready to be a founder. Google was an incredible experience and I ended up spending over seven years at the organization. As my 30th birthday approached, I knew it was time to take the leap of faith. I gave my notice, went on a solo backpacking trip around Southeast Asia, and returned with a full tank of creativity and motivation.
Upon my return, I immediately started building. My first company was LiquidTalent, which was a modern job marketplace. We matched developers and designers with short-term gig projects through a beautiful web and mobile app. My second company was called LQD WiFi, where we re-designed and modernized the payphone into a digitally enabled 13 foot tall kiosk. We sold LQD WiFi to Verizon in 2016.
Now, I’m building my third company, PlantBaby. This time is different, because this company’s origins come from a personal pain point. The pain that my wife Lauren and I felt when we couldn’t find a suitable infant formula for our then six- month year-old son was all encompassing. He had colic and we needed a dairy-free and soy-free formula to supplement my wife’s breast milk. Turns out, it didn’t exist. In March of 2020, we rolled up our sleeves and have been working on family-focused, plant-based solutions ever since.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
Most food companies cheat. The next time you’re at the supermarket, look around and read the ingredient labels and nutritional panels. Most of the so-called foods within those paper and plastic and metal containers aren’t actual food. We’re being disruptive because we only use certified-organic whole foods. No fillers, no additives, no weird stuff. We third-party lab test for glyphosate and heavy metals, and our products are carbon-neutral. Our brand is honest, personal and trustworthy. These things may sound simple, but in today’s world, they are very disruptive.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
As mentioned, we started PlantBaby to design the first USA made plant-based infant formula. We are still very committed to this product, but it was naive of me to think that we can just make an infant formula and get it to market off a pre-seed round of funding. Infant formula is one of the most highly regulated products and the FDA is deeply involved. So, looking back on it, my first VC pitch was funny because it didn’t take into account the real costs of getting this product to market. But it was in the aftermath of this now humorous pitch moment we paused, broadened our vision, and developed a product portfolio that includes formulas, beverages, foods, and supplements. That funny pitch opened the door to more than we could ever imagined.
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
One of our mentors is Julia Collins, the Founder of Planet FWD and Moonshot Snacks. Julia is a leading voice in the sustainability movement and has been instrumental in helping us think about Planet Earth in every decision we make. We launched Kiki Milk as a climate-friendly product at the end of 2021, and shortly thereafter took it a step further and made it carbon-neutral. Julia has this incredible way about her, a tone that is warm yet authoritative, professional yet personal. We are very grateful for her guidance and support over the years.
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
Sure, disrupting for disruption sake can be harmful and take you backwards. But those businesses never make it through the gauntlet. True disruption leads to value creation, making a product or service healthier, better, easier, faster. When you think about disruption, think about your end customer’s quality of life rather than from a place of an egoic founder and good things will follow.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- “You’re going to do great.” My wife Lauren tells me this every time I head into a big investor pitch. The stakes are high and nerves are firing, so hearing this very soothing and positive affirmation from her makes all the difference.
- “Picture yourself entering the building with your new key fob and badge, and sitting down at your corporate desk on the first day of work.” This visualization technique was offered to me by my friend Colin when we were discussing whether or not I should build my third company or take a more cushy 9–5 job. The feeling of future disappointment settling for a job during that exercise pushed me and inspired me to take another entrepreneurial leap.
- Some balls are glass and some are rubber… you don’t have to juggle it all. Find out which ones are rubber and let them bounce so you don’t drop ALL the balls at once.
- Don’t take it personally — this can be a tough one for a Founder because your business is personal, but there’s a reason it’s one of the four agreements. Create separation between you and your business and don’t wrap your entire identity in it.
- Don’t be penny wise, pound foolish — it’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae and grip everything too tightly. you want to make sure you’re managing the things that actually move your business and not hyper focus on the little things that can be distracting and actually not that important. I also like the 80/20 rule as a compliment to this advice.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
How are we going to shake things up? Well first off, because real food separates, you have to really shake your Kiki Milk! Ok, kinda lame joke. We’re going to shake things up by doing some experiential marketing campaigns (Kiki Milk Ice Cream Truck anyone?!) and offering new products under the Kiki umbrella. We have some very big things planned in the plant-based space in early 2023 so keep an eye out!
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
My favorite books are Journey of Souls, Shantaram, and Harry Potter. I also love The Four Agreements, The Power of Now and most recently, Animal, Vegetable, Junk.
A few years ago, Lauren and I saw Eckhart Tolle speak in New York (the author of The Power of Now, A New Earth, and more) and it was fascinating to witness an enlightened human being. His presence, pace, tone and energy were all just different. One of my favorite things about Eckhart is how we came to reach enlightenment. His depth of struggle, agony and pain was the catalyst that ultimately set him free and into the light and bliss. It’s amazing how interconnected things are, that pain and bliss are two sides of the same coin. I try to remind myself that startup life may have plenty of struggle and pain but it also leads to so much joy, levity and growth.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Savor the moment. I love this life lesson quote because we can often find ourselves living in the future or past. So much mental energy away from the now. Savor the moment reminds me that all we have is now, that today is a precious gift to be celebrated, remembered and enjoyed and not taking anything for granted. In startups, we’re constantly looking ahead at future growth and projections that we can often miss the gems in the moment, the milestones worth celebrating on the journey. Smell the roses.
You are a person of great influence. 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. 🙂
I’m doing this as we speak with PlantBaby and Kiki Milk! We’re on a mission to nourish, inform and empower future generations with access to real food. We care deeply about the health of humans and the planet, and we intend to be one of the organizations that ushers all of us into a brighter, more healthier future.
How can our readers follow you online?
You can find me online at my website: https://www.alexabelin.com/
My businesses can be found here: https://www.plantbaby.co/ + https://www.kikimilk.com/Thanks for reading!
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Alex Abelin Of PlantBaby On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
