Brian Weaver serves as CEO of Torch AI and has more than 20 years of experience leading mission driven, high growth, technology-focused companies. Torch AI helps leading organizations leverage artificial intelligence in a unique way via a proprietary enterprise data management software solution. Today, Torch.AI supports clients like H&R Block with fraud detection and mitigation, and the U.S. Department of Defense with machine learning-enabled background investigations for all federal employees, supporting the determination of an individual’s trustworthiness and security credentialing. Prior to Torch.AI, Brian launched or acquired several companies all focused on technology enabled services and data connectivity. His companies serve nearly 1,300 clients and have been recognized as Small Business of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
Brian’s friends, employees and network
When business started difficulties overcame:
“I never really thought about in the early days… I never really thought about making sure I was optimising my opportunity for myself. I was always sort of trying to do it for others. And it’s not that that’s the wrong approach that if you are going to be successful you need to have this element of self preservation and you can just have the right approach from the beginning… What I have learned is that in the early days I would almost try and solve problems at my own detriment. I wouldn’t worry about the financial implications, I wouldn’t worry about putting my family risk or any of those other kind of factors. I would just focus entirely on solving the problem and not worry about how truly sustainable it might be. And that’s actually the wrong way to approach it. You might consider it desperation to get a business deal done, I certainly would characterise it is that a little bit but maybe the biggest mistake I made in maybe the first couple of years at least if not more of launching companies was not really paying attention what are all of the factors of success. Because in order for you to deliver value you have got to be able to sustain that and if you enter into a business deal no matter how sort of attractive it might look like from the outside if it’s not sustainable it’s flawed and you are going to waste time and waste a big chunk of your life and that’s your most precious resource”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
The Checklist Manifesto: How To Get Things Right Book by Atul GawandeFavourite Quote:
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” George S. Patton
Recommended Online Resources:
- Harvard Business Review – Find new ideas and classic advice on strategy, innovation and leadership, for global leaders from the world’s best business and management experts
- University blogs
- MIT Media Lab Blog Ideas and goings-on from the Media Lab community.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“the first rule is don’t be afraid and the second rule is just do right by other people and in the end you will be fine. Put others ahead of you and ahead of money and everything”…[Listen for More]
More About Brian Weaver:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“Be content to act, and leave the talking to others.” Baltasa
Other Quotes From the Chat with Brian Weaver:
- “doers do and everyone else reads books about the doers”
- “having a good habit or a group of habits that you develop and just performing those consistently over time”
- “I wish I could tell my younger self that those moments, those dark moments where you are full of self-doubt and you think you’ve wrecked your family and put them in harms way, taken to many risks, that it’s not really anywhere close to as bad as it could be ”
- “fear of failure that’s I believe that’s probably my strongest motivator… You don’t realise until you are older that you were nowhere close to the edge, not even close, even financially when you think you are sort of in dire straits you have got a long way to go… The reality is it’s never as bad as you imagined and when you think you are sort of the end you have got a lot more to give, you have just got to buckle down and you realise that you can stretch”
- “if you just get up and have good consistent output and your habits are generally good”
- “just do the work. You get up every single day, don’t skip a day, there is seven days in a week don’t take a day off and just consistently perform and you will beat the competition because the competition takes rests”
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