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Episode 389

Focus, Resiliency, and Grit: Three Seeds for a Sustainable Startup with Stuart Lombard of Ecobee

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On the show today is Stuart Lombard, co-founder and CEO of ecobee.

Ecobee is a Canadian home automation company that makes thermostats for residential and commercial use. They are on a mission to create a more sustainable world by simplifying everyday life.

In this episode, we learn more about Stuart’s background and journey into entrepreneurship, how making canoes with his father as a boy inspired his entrepreneurial spirit, and what it was like building one of the first internet service providers in Canada (from his dad’s basement!).

Key Discussion Points:

  • Discover why Stuart started ecobee to sustainably address the way we consume energy.
  • Learn more about how energy is consumed in the home and the Donate Your Data Program.
  • How building things with his dad inspired Stuart’s journey into making and entrepreneurship.
  • Starting one of the first internet service providers in Canada from his dad’s basement.
  • Learn more about Stuart’s non-fundamentalist, open, and curious approach to business.
  • The journey of continuous learning and how it defines the trajectory of any career.
  • What ecobee’s customer development and consumer research model looks like today.
  • The value of transparency and Stuart’s core philosophies for culture building.
  • Using concepts from anthropology in the office space to foster collaboration and connection.
  • What to read: Top recommendations for professionals from a business-book junkie.
  • The future of ecobee and why the next commuting platform is the connected home.
  • The importance of creating a simpler, better life and a sense of wonder for customers.
  • Quality versus quantity and the challenges a founder faces in living a more balanced life.
  • Find out more about the power of focus and creating great word-of-mouth as a startup.
  • You’re not going to out-Google Google: Why you can’t just do what your competition is doing.
  • Leveraging partner channels and the importance of identifying where to pour your energy.
  • Focus, resiliency, and grit: Stuart’s advice for young CEOs entering the startup game today.

Mentions:

This episode of Mission Daily is brought to you by our friends at TriNet. TriNet makes HR easier, from payroll to benefits to compliance. AND they offer full-service solutions tailored to your industry and your company, whether your team is 10 people or 1,000. Check out TriNet today at trinet.com.

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Episode 373
Focus, Resiliency, and Grit: Three Seeds for a Sustainable Startup with Stuart Lombard of Ecobee