Read. As an entrepreneur, whenever I stop reading or listening to books about entrepreneurship I start losing motivation and focus. I need to keep learning in order keep my skills honed and keep myself on task.
David Taylor is the twenty-five year old founder and president of Mobius Nutrition. David was born in Alberta, Canada but was raised in Texas as the second oldest of five brothers. He attended Missouri University of Science and Technology where he earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. It was while he was in school that he found a passion for health and fitness and started leading workouts with his fellow students. After graduating university in May of 2013 he began work as a consulting engineer in the food and beverage industry but soon after realized that his true passion lay in helping people maintain a healthy lifestyle. During the fall of 2013 David reached out to his college friend Michael Eichenseer and along with David’s wife, Megan, the three of them founded Mobius Nutrition. Their first product was an all-natural pre-workout supplement called Primer, but after an unsuccessful crowdfunding campaign they decided to try another approach. After considering different ideas they settled on trying to create a breakfast drink that would outperform the current products on the market. David then got to work formulating the ingredients for what would become Mobius Breakfast. He, along with the rest of the Mobius team have just launched Mobius Breakfast on Indiegogo.
Where did the idea for Mobius Nutrition and Mobius Breakfast come from?
Mobius Nutrition came from a passion for helping people live healthy lives. We chose a mobius strip as our symbol because although it looks like it has two sides, it actually has one, just like most people perceive the mind and body as separate entities yet they are one. With this in mind we wanted to provide products that would benefit both mind and body.
Mobius Breakfast was created out of necessity. Both me and my wife were drinking shakes in the morning to save time but a plain protein shake doesn’t provide the proper nutrition and it takes too long to blend a proper breakfast shake. The current breakfast shakes on the market use sub par ingredients, and don’t have enough calories.
What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?
During my typical day I wake up about 5:30 to feed the dogs and make myself a breakfast shake and a coffee. I then get ready for work and am out the door by 6:15. I get to work at 7:00 and leave at 4:30. After work I try to get a workout in and then head home for dinner. After dinner I’ll take the dogs for a walk and then get to work on Mobius Nutrition. I’ll work on Mobius with my wife Megan until about 11 when I’ll go to bed.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Whenever I have an idea, I’ll first take a few days to mull it over and then I’ll start researching it to determine the steps that I will need to do to materialize the idea. Once I have complete my research is start executing the steps.
What’s one trend that really excites you?
I am really fascinated by the advancement of DNA research. I am really looking forward to when we can use DNA to determine the perfect nutrition plan for each individual.
What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?
I make it a point to go the gym at least a few times a week. I notice a huge difference in how well I am able to think and focus when I am working out consistently. Keeping active plays a large part in my success as an entrepreneur.
What was the worst job you ever had and what did you learn from it?
The worst job that I ever had was being a lifeguard. I worked at the job while in high school and on a summer break from college. I learned two things from that job. First, I learned to be calm during hectic times and emergencies. I also learned that for a job to be truly fulfilling it needs to be challenging. No one can thrive in a job that is too easy for their ability.
If you were to start again, what would you do differently?
If I were to do it all again, I would work on starting a company sooner while I was still in school. It’s never too early to start being an entrepreneur.
As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?
Read. As an entrepreneur, whenever I stop reading or listening to books about entrepreneurship I start losing motivation and focus. I need to keep learning in order keep my skills honed and keep myself on task.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business? Please explain how.
Connecting with people has been one of the biggest contributors to the growth of our company. As soon as I made the decision to be open to meeting people and providing them with value, I had many opportunities open up. Once you truly connect with someone you can collaborate with them which helps both parties succeed.
What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?
One failure I had was to launch a crowdfunding campaign for a pre-workout drink called Primer. I had not read a single business or marketing book and just thought that the money would show up. The product was also too late to the market and we were trying to market it to a way broader audience than we should have. After the failure our team did a root cause analysis of the experience so that we could learn from the experience. With the experience we gained from that experience we were able to design a great product and promote it much more effectively.
What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?
I think that there is a niche need for business clothes that fit athletic people well. As someone who lifts weights and “body builds” I would really like to buy a button down shirt that fits in the chest and arms but doesn’t billow out around my midsection like a tent.
What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?
I would say that $100 spent on books is probably the best way I have spent my money. There is no substitute for learning. Without learning and reading you will never become a successful entrepreneur.
What software and web services do you use? What do you love about them?
I like Hootsuite because it simplifies our social media outreach and makes sure that we are providing consistent and regular content to our fans. I do also like the Google app suite, our team uses Gmail and Drive to communicate effectively with each other and all of our business contacts. Mailchimp is a great service that we use to reach out to our email list. I really like how simple it is; the learning curve is very small. The last service that I really like is Slack. This is especially important because our team is in different locations. It acts as an organized group instant messaging service and has greatly decreased our communication errors.
What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?
I would definitely recommend “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’ by Carol Dweck. It talks about the mindset that you need as an entrepreneur. The growth mindset that is explained in the book should be the foundation for anyone wanting to be successful in life.
What people have influenced your thinking and might be of interest to others?
Some people who have greatly influenced my thinking are: Elon musk @elonmusk, Tim Ferris @tferriss, Richard Branson @richardbranson, Mark Cuban @mcuban, Barbara Corcoran @BarbaraCorcoran, and Nathan Chan @NathanHChan.
Mario Schulzke is the Founder of ideamensch, which he started a decade ago to learn from entrepreneurs and give them a platform for their ideas.