Reboot Podcast Episode #71 – Patience and Persistence – with Bobby Brannigan

The Reboot podcast showcases the heart and soul, the wins and losses, the ups and downs of startup leadership. On the show, Entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and Startup Leaders discuss with Jerry Colonna the emotional and psychological challenges they face daily as leaders.

Episode 71 // November 9, 2017

Guests

Bobby Brannigan

Bobby Brannigan

Co-Founder & CEO at Mercato

View Bio

Episode Description

Bobby Brannigan, CEO of Mercato, has built his second company into a steadily growing business in a hard market with narrow margins. While the company is growing strong, he longs for the excitement of his first startup – which he remembers as a thrilling success. Brooklyn-born and raised, Bobby prides himself on being a rebel, having built his first company – a multi-million dollar textbook business – while still in college. With help from his friends, a ragtag team of unexpected victors,  Bobby disrupted the industry with his “for the students” approach. He took a lot of risks and succeed wildly. Believing in his heart that his success inevitable, Bobby is determined to tackle a risky marketplace with his newest venture.

In this conversation, Jerry asks Bobby to consider what having high-risk stakes means for him, and how he can connect to that sense of confidence and aliveness in other aspects of his life. They also acknowledge that patience and persistence are integral to affecting the change Bobby wants to see in the market he cares about – and how it’s not so easy being patient when you know where you want to get to.

Bobby Brannigan on Twitter  | Mercato

 

Show Highlights

Top Quotes:

“It’s not as exciting as it was the first time. And I’m trying to figure out how to get that first time feeling again.” – Bobby Brannigan

“Even though we’re making progress that’s very reasonable for a company in the stage we’re at right now, about a year and a half in, I still feel like something’s missing.” – Bobby Brannigan

“It feels like something’s missing — So what we’re really talking about is an emotional experience.” – Jerry Colonna

“I feel like as you build a company, you work really hard. you learn, and you feel as though once you’ve learned, you don’t have to learn that again.” – Bobby Brannigan

“When you reapply the same process to the new business, you expect to be able to exponentially grow things much faster than you did before.” – Bobby Brannigan

“It was nice to be a part of a team that was creating change.” – Bobby Brannigan

“Having other people around me, I think that makes me really, really excited about what I’m doing because we’re all in it together.” – Bobby Brannigan

“I really value people’s word. If I give somebody my word, it’s very important for me to back that word.” – Bobby Brannigan

“I’ve picked a very hard opportunity to be successful at.” – Bobby Brannigan

“You picked one of the hardest markets to launch a business in and it hasn’t created enough risk for you to feel excited enough.” – Jerry Colonna

“You used the word renegade, which relates back to the word rebel. And you paint yourself as this ragtag team of unexpected victors.” – Jerry Colonna

“In Brooklyn, you grow up, it’s all about being tough, about being hard, about you know, making it.” – Bobby Brannigan

“I looked at the opportunity I wanted to go after, I really looked inside and said, “Where am I talented?” “Where is my passion?”” – Bobby Brannigan

“ I’m like an entrepreneur Navy SEAL — you can’t kill me. I might as well go after something that’s really hard because that’s part of my strength, is my resilience.” – Bobby Brannigan

“The work of transformation is to find the things, the other things, besides risk, that give you a sense of confidence.” – Jerry Colonna

“If you go into that question merely from a place of why and what’s missing, without understanding what it is your soul is really seeking, then I think you’ll miss the opportunity to grow.” – Bobby Brannigan

“What I’m trying to get to with this business, is I want to be in a position where I can really create change. Change in a market that I care about.”- Bobby Brannigan

“It creates anxiety a little bit because it’s not so easy sometimes to be patient.” – Bobby Brannigan

“You know, you can be wise and rational, and try to be as patient as you can, but something inside you is like, “I got to get there now.”” – Bobby Brannigan

“There’s always a better chess move that could be made. I’m relentlessly thinking about where is there the better chess move.” – Bobby Brannigan

“I do hold a lot of that burden on myself to find that special, strategic move.” – Bobby Brannigan

“How do I approach the whole market in a way where the whole market’s coming to me, right here?” – Bobby Brannigan

“Patience married to the persistence. Married to the fierce resolve. It’s like, if you want to affect a large revolution, it is not done in small, quick bites.” – Jerry Colonna

“And what you’re trying to do is build something that is longer lasting and larger in impact. And so, you have to simultaneously be patient and go fast.” – Jerry Colonna