Bob Johnson
Bob Johnson and His Experience with Aerospace Medicine
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Bob Johnson, a gentleman with an illustrious career in multiple different fields. Bob served in the military, was a deputy director of a federal lab, and now works as the Editor-in-Chief of a medical journal associated with the military. I got to ask Bob questions about his past experiences, his advice for entrepreneurs, and about his views as an investor. Our conversation and his experiences will be detailed in the following sections.
Bob began by going into detail on his past experiences and ventures. He explained how after serving in the military and going to medical school, he eventually became a flight surgeon in the military. In this position, he was able to travel all over the world, investigating aircraft accidents with a specialty on F16 accidents. Bob’s career path took many turns as it progressed. He ultimately realized he preferred to analyze and figure out what is going on with different systems and processes and then turn around and improve them. He also realized he didn’t want to do the same thing everyday, which ultimately led him to choosing aerospace and preventive medicine.
After choosing to pursue a career in aerospace and preventive medicine, Bob explained how he became the deputy director of a federal lab at the FAA Aerospace Medical Institute. A large part of his time with the FAA was focused on reorganizing the federal funding of science to be more efficient and less wasteful. He explained to me that the lab system that was in use had been set up after World War 2 and split research into 6 different levels, ranging from basic to applied research. The separation of these areas led to a lower, decentralized process that caused individuals doing basic level research to ignore the practicality or applicability of their research.
Because of this, Bob worked to streamline these projects and create a more efficient system. They discovered that you need to “start with a problem and do basic and applied research in parallel.” This allowed the government funding of science to be reorganized and used more efficiently, allowing government R&D to become a main source of company innovation. This allowed companies to focus less on their own R&D divisions and shifted the importance of research more to the government.
Next, Bob shared about his current work. He now serves as the editor-in-chief of a peer reviewed medical journal sponsored by the military called the Medical Surveillance Monthly Report. The journal is published once a month and is edited and put together by Bob and his team of high education individuals. The journal has to do with “surveillance and epidemiology,” meaning they present a lot of datasets. Bob then shared with me that being a self proclaimed “data nerd,” one of his favorite quotes is “let the dataset change your mindset.” He believes that by being presented with the data of a situation, people are able to think through it and make logical decisions with meaning behind them. In order to get people to think deeply about different topics, Bob says he aims to include “one truly thought provoking article per month” in the journal. The journal doesn’t tell people what to do or how to think, but rather presents them with the data they need to come to their own conclusions.
After hearing about Bob’s career path and experiences, I asked him what advice he would give to entrepreneurs. He explained that every entrepreneur should understand the meaning of their endeavor including “a connection to their purpose and community.” The problem you are trying to solve has to really mean something to you, and you need to draw passion from your head, heart, and gut. You must also be fully invested and committed to your idea. The process of beginning your own company is a long one, so you have to be all in. Bob further believes that having a strong community and support circle around you is necessary to find success. It is very difficult to do it solo, so having a supportive community is a great help.
Lastly, Bob gave the advice that startups and entrepreneurs need to be open to advice and guidance. Many times, entrepreneurs come to investors looking for money, but normally their problem lies in needing a better business model and guidance to get there. Running a successful business is far too complex for any one person to do alone, so you need to be open to help and support from those around you along the way.
To close out the interview, I asked Bob from an investors perspective, what he looks for in a company and their leaders before making the decision to invest. Bob explained that when he is investing he likes to keep in mind the quote “if you find yourself more fortunate than others, build a longer table, not a higher fence.” Bob looks for individuals with a passion for what they do that genuinely want to make a change in the world around them, not just make a bunch of money.
Bob likes to see people that want to do good and help others around them, as this is a clear sign that they will remain committed to their vision for the future of the company. Bob also likes to see entrepreneurs follow the advice he gave in the previous paragraph. He wants to see businesses come in that are looking for more than just money, and realize that they would benefit from advice and guidance from anyone who is willing to give it. The entrepreneurs looking for investments must be open to new ideas and considerations that they may not have heard before. In the end, though, Bob’s goal is to “build a longer table” for individuals that want to make a positive impact on others.
The opportunity to sit down with Bob and hear about his past experiences and insights into the world of entrepreneurship was a great experience. I am looking forward to staying in touch with Bob in the future and keeping up with his work in the medical journal.
Sam Riehn
Sam Riehn’s Entrepreneurial Experience
I recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Sam Riehn, a current board member at Das Greenhaus and the CEO of SBIR Advisors. Sam has experience serving in the Air Force, starting his own businesses, and helping small companies win Department of Defense contracts. I got to ask Sam about his current experiences, what inspired him to become an entrepreneur himself, and for his advice to other aspiring entrepreneurs. Our conversations will be detailed in the following sections.
I began by asking Sam to explain his role on the Das Greenhaus board and what that entails. He explained that he has been a long time supporter of Das Greenhaus and the promotion of bringing small businesses to the
Kendall County area. He has been all in since he found the idea being developed, as he wants to develop Boerne as a good place to get the mentorship and resources necessary for success. He then went more in depth on his role, explaining how he looks for “ways to grow the organization.” Since he likes to see the results of his hard work, Sam is more on the numbers side, looking to grow Das Greenhaus financially.
Sam then took the time to describe his work with SBIR Advisors. He explained to me that with SBIR Advisors, he helps companies find customers within the Department of Defense for whatever service or product they are offering. Small businesses often need money quickly, so with strict budgets and guidelines, SBIR Advisors helps them to secure these contracts and work through their deals. Sam described them as an “outsourced sales team” looking to help businesses with their development and progress towards working with the DoD.
I then asked Sam to share the key skills he uses as the CEO of SBIR Advisors. He explained that he is in charge of “driving the bus.” He aims to make sure the right people are on the bus to ensure success. Because of this, in his day to day work he uses mainly soft skills. He does his best to make sure the customers are happy, the employees are set up to successfully serve the clients, and to find the right people to represent the company and brand in every facet. For all of these responsibilities, Sam must use and apply his soft skills to make sure everyone is happy to the best of his abilities.
After hearing about Sam’s experiences, I asked him what inspired him to get into the entrepreneurship and startup business. He told me that his dad was a small business owner, so he grew up watching him work on every part of the business—managing employees, sales, customers, and the financial side. His dad spent a lot of his time getting his hands dirty and wearing all the hats to get the job done. This is something Sam has always admired. Sam also explained that his dad had full flexibility with his own schedule with no one telling him what to do or where to be. Sam, who went into the military and had a very structured lifestyle and constant orders from superiors, always knew that when he got out of the military he would follow in his dad’s footsteps and become an entrepreneur.
I then asked Sam what advice he would give to aspiring entrepreneurs looking to get started in their ventures. He said
that his main piece of advice would be to “take the time to perfect your product and what you’re selling.” You can’t just get the basic steps done and start selling. You need to actually take the time to make the product as good as it can be; flushing out any flaws or imperfections. He gave an analogy that he wouldn’t try to open a bakery before becoming a great baker and testing out hundreds of different recipes. Sam also gave the advice of ensuring you have the best people on your team when you are still a small business. The first couple of hires are the most important ones, so it is necessary to find the best talent you can and the right people to fit and work with you. While you might have to extend yourself to get the right talent, it is ultimately worth it to surround yourself with the right team.
Lastly, I asked Sam, from an investors point of view, what he looks for in a company and its leaders before making a decision to invest. Sam said that he looks for the “financial sense” of the company, as he wants to invest in people who are in business to make money. Sam explained that a lot of companies are in business to raise investment and sell stock, but he looks for the people who have a plan to make a profit. He likes to see the results of his investment, so he wants to find companies with an actual plan for where the money would go and how it would benefit them and help lead to their success. He described that people looking for investment just for the sake of investment often don’t have a plan and will come back needing more money in the future.
The opportunity to sit down with Sam and hear more about his experiences and advice as an entrepreneur was great. I enjoyed learning from him, and I am looking forward to seeing what he continues to achieve in the future.
