Striking Entrepreneurial Gold: Knowing When You Have a Winning Idea on Your Hands
How a Personal Struggle Led to the Creation of an App and New Business for a Serial Entrepreneur
It’s a great day to read Generation Si! Glad you’re here. 👋🏽👋🏿👋 Today, I’m delving deeper into Francisco Cornejo’s entrepreneurial journey. He and his wife, Daniela Vega, cofounded the Storybook app.
But that wasn’t the business they thought would be a homerun for them. In Part One, you learned how a mindset shift helped Cornejo see a billion-dollar business as a possibility. In Part Two, here’s what else you’ll learn:
🌴How Vega realized they might be onto something big
🌴 The flashing signs that were telegraphing to Cornejo and Vega that this was the app they needed to pursue full-throttle
🌴Why you can’t be afraid to share your idea with others
🌴Let’s get right to it! This is Part Two of Francisco Cornejo’s entrepreneurial journey:
LOOK FOR THE DISCONNECT
Like many parents, Francisco Cornejo says, there was a time when he and his wife, Daniela were struggling to get parenting and work responsibilities into a rhythm.
“Our routine was a mess. This was the time when we were living in Australia. But the trigger was that [Daniela] wasn’t really enjoying motherhood. She was feeling really disconnected with the kids. Of course, she loved the kids.”
But something just wasn’t working. She didn’t feel like she was connecting with their two sons.
LOOK FOR SOLUTIONS
She soon found out about infant massage and the techniques associated with it. She took classes on it and even became a certified instructor.
In Vega’s case, she applied what she learned about infant massage during story time just before the kids went to bed. She turned it into a fun activity with them.
PAY ATTENTION TO THE SUBTLE AND NOT-SO-SUBTLE SIGNS
Cornejo says, “The kids loved it so much...”
They even started to fight with each other over who would get to go to bed first.
We know that rarely happens with kids.
That was the first thing that got the Cornejos’ attention.
"Hey, we have something here.”
It was not only great for getting the kids to bed but Cornejo says, “The most meaningful thing is, their relationship changed a lot.”
The moment that Francisco's wife, Daniela, knew she had a winning idea for an app
The bond between Daniela and the couple's sons was stronger.
Daniela felt like the connection with her kids grew.
So she approached Francisco with an idea.
THINK OF WAYS TO TURN YOUR IDEA INTO AN APP
She told him, “Hey, how about [developing] an app out of this concept?”
But the couple was actually working on another app.
“We thought the other app was going to be the number one [app]. But it got delayed after a lot of technical difficulties. And we managed to launch Storybook first.”
Cornejo says it had been a year since he and Daniela had launched their MVP (minimum viable product).
It was at that time that something else tipped them off that this app was resonating with users.
The Storybook app
“We started to see sales growing at a faster rate than we expected. But, most of all, it was, I think, that change in mindset… when I started to surround myself with people who had success in the same space.”
That was something transformative for Cornejo.
TELL YOUR STORY INSTEAD OF FOCUSING ON WHO MIGHT STEAL YOUR IDEA
“Don’t be afraid of telling your story. Because nobody’s going to steal it.”
He says it took him a year to realize that he didn’t need to keep the idea shrouded in secrecy.
He calls the time they kept it to themselves “lost time.”
During that first year, he says he was working “behind my four walls with Daniela and just a couple of hires, without telling anyone about this.”
SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIKE-MINDED ENTREPRENEURS
It was once the Cornejos started surrounding themselves with other entrepreneurs and began telling people about what they were building that they learned how other people scale their companies to a value of more than a billion dollars.
PUSH FOR SCALE
“We realized that we had a lot of things in common. We were simply putting that corporate mindset into a different kind of company. So instead of growing slowly, steadily, aiming towards, again, profits and profitability in the short term… we could actually do this the other way around. Push towards scale, volume, not… become too concerned about profits.”
STAY FOCUSED ON ONE VENTURE, INSTEAD OF PURSUING MULTIPLE ONE SIMULTANEOUSLY
Instead of trying multiple things at the same time, he found it was better to “focus solely on one thing. Prove it wrong as fast as you can, and then move to the other until you find one that… proves your hypothesis right.”
He believes that singular focus and lean operational approach is “the best way to de-risk the startup life.”
LOOK FOR EVIDENCE OF TRANSFORMATIONAL RESULTS
But there was another powerful clue, on the market side, that led the Cornejos to believe this app was something they needed to pursue fully.
That meant abandoning the other app they had also been working on simultaneously.
The clue came from reviews they were reading from users of the product. Some of the users told them that the Storybook app was transformational in helping them interact and feel connected with their kids.
A user of the Storybook app
“The transformational effect of what was happening was the code that was flashing in front of us saying, stop everything else.”
THE BIGGEST TRANSFORMATION MAY SURPRISE YOU
The biggest transformation, though, is how the development of the app transformed Cornejo’s own life, especially when compared to his previous corporate job and his other businesses.
“My focus was really on my career and growing professionally. And it was all about me. Even when my kids were born, I was still focused on my corporate job and growing and [focusing] on me first and my career first.”
Now, Cornejo says his priorities are different.
“I started to connect more with my kids. I started to focus more on my #1 task, which was my family, above everything else.”
Francisco & Daniela around the time when they launched the Storybook app
INSPIRATION FOR THIS ISSUE:
Latinos are known for prioritizing their families. Traditionally, we would see the abuelita (grandmother) or abuelito (grandfather) living with the nuclear family or going with family members on different outings.
The Latino culture has always been known for its strong bonds and involvement that may extend to other family members. Those strong ties remain.
But in today’s world, demands on our time and attention are, frequently, overwhelming. Things fall through the cracks. Kids can sense the stress their parents feel, while dealing with their own stressors.
And that was even before the coronavirus.
In the Cornejos’ case, Daniela was just searching for a solution to the disconnect she felt with her kids.
Inadvertently, she stumbled upon the premise behind the Storybook app as a way to bring not only herself and Francisco together with their kids, but to help other parents struggling with the same kind of problem.
And that goes back to a fundamental goal for a new product or service - solving a problem or unfulfilled need in the market.
In the process, it transformed how Francisco Cornejo approached his career and family, making this new business for him and his wife even more meaningful.
And that is such a bonus.
Isn’t that what we’re all looking for? Meaningful work that doesn’t compete but, instead, enhances our personal lives?
🌴Did this newsletter give you some ideas to consider? If so, be sure to subscribe to receive it directly to your inbox. Share the article, if you know someone who could stand to benefit from these inspirational stories and practical business advice.
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🌴 As always, I’m grateful for your support. Remember, #theskyisNOTthelimit 😺
Cover Photo: Pablo Carrión Fotografía