Steve Chapman, who co-founded “smart drinks” company Shine+ with Zambrero food chain entrepreneur Sam Prince, says his road to success has been lined with thorns.
Sharing his “hero’s journey” at the AIP Conference in Queensland last week, he described using his ego as armour throughout high school.
“You need to wear your ego comfortably - otherwise you will be found out,” he said.
Always the “start-up kid”, Chapman sold his car wash services from his back-yard and carved out an inevitable path towards investment banking.
However, realising he was “more entrepreneur than accountant”, he came up with an idea to sell an app, called FaceBuy, for a billion dollars.
The next thing he knew, Facebook's legal team sent him a cease and desist letter for trademark violations, and deleted the 8000-follower Facebook page Chapman had built.
“The toughest thing was spending my dad’s $100K savings which were meant for his retirement,” he said.
His biggest insights came in this dark season, and he was able to rise above his circumstances and slowly pay his father back.
It was a humbling time, with Chapman taking on a job working as a PA for Zambrero food chain founder Sam Prince for three years, taking notes and making burritos.
“The road back was tough, and I had to shed my old skin,” Chapman said.
Even the Shine+ launch was met with challenges. The natural nootropic drink sold out straight away, finding its way into 2000 stores in 18 months.
But 90 per cent of the bottles they shipped broke – which led Chapman and Prince to a packaging team which helped them with a custom display holder which would ensure it wouldn't happen again.
They went on to devise a new 400ml range to roll out nationally – but it too was met with challenges, with the matt black painted bottle chipping and flaking during delivery from China.
“We then had to create shrink wraps and depalletise, and apply new shrink wrap over the label,” he says.
“We’re always on the journey of reinvention – and we know we will continue to feel the chaos of the unknown.
“But we will continue to believe that anything is possible.”
