Justin Connor is a business builder who currently serves as the Founder of Camp. He started his first business, The Noble Vine, while studying at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. A wine and spirits brokerage business, TNV was inspired by Justin’s experience working in the wine department of a supermarket in Washington, DC. Managing wine collections around the world drove him to later build Domaine, the world’s largest fine goods storage and logistics company. Domaine’s network of climate controlled warehouses supports thousands of collectors around the globe, secures billions of dollars in inventory, and fostered Justin’s lifelong love for driving forklifts. During his time building Domaine, Justin also launched multiple software products, such as Bottlestock, to make storing collectibles more efficient and fun for millions of collectors.
After Domaine, Justin was recruited to lead the Y Combinator backed logistics SaaS company, Easypost. As Easypost’s President, Justin grew revenue, rebuilt the legacy data stack to enable AI development, and launched the organization’s first equity plan for all team members. Easypost has grown into a billion dollar leader in the logistics technology space.
Currently, Justin is the Founder of Camp – where he is working with some of the world’s best chefs to create incredible immersive experiences. Justin believes that shared experiences are central to the human condition and endeavors to connect millions through the joy of food. He is a joint venture partner of Global Blue (NYSE: GB) and Eleventh Ventures, one of the Middle East’s largest holding companies. Justin has explored more than half of the countries on earth and is a volunteer mentor at home in DC. He has also raised millions of dollars to deliver nutritious meals to children through his annual FatKidWeekend dinner series. He lives in Washington, DC with his two daughters.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I have two daughters – six and one. My day starts with waking up and making breakfast for them. Then, I exercise and scan emails that came in overnight. After dropping my older daughter off at school, I begin my routine of calls and emails. Most of the calls I take while walking. On travel weeks, I stack meetings during the middle of the day so that I have time to explore a new city and check out some fun restaurants.
How do you bring ideas to life?
Do something. Call potential customers and ask if they would buy your product. Many people love whiteboards, I love the phone.
What’s one trend that excites you?
Artificial Intelligence excites me not only because of the freedom that it will create for billions of humans, but also for the challenges that it will cause for human attention. In a world of infinite content, what will people pay attention to?
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Templating helps me stay organized and efficient. Anything that needs to be done repeatedly becomes a template. These templates often teach me how to make processes even more efficient.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Stay focused on what matters. So many things can seem urgent, but that doesn’t make them important. With every new project, I ask myself what is to the right of the decimal point and what is to the left of the decimal point, and I only focus on the latter.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
That a hot dog is a type of taco.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Exercise every day.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Take a walk in nature. It is the best way to reset my brain.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
There is no secret strategy. The only way to grow is to show up every day, talk with people, be curious and open to change. It is all about showing up.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
I’ve had plenty of failures in my career, but the most biting was a deal that I worked on for more than a year. I checked every box required to acquiring with a company, and in the end, the owner just said ‘no.’ It was a deflating experience, receiving a negative response without any reasoning after spending 18 months planning and assembling a team. This illustrated the importance of being brave and over-communicating. If I had been in constant communication with the business owners, I would have understood their position earlier and altered my plan.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
You can’t find cold brew coffee in Europe…
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf exudes the spirit of adventure that inspires me. Alexander Von Humboldt wandered around South America during the 19th century – documenting flora, fauna, and natural beauty. His discoveries sparked the curiosity of Charles Darwin. Von Humboldt was brave, thoughtful, kind, and diligent; all characteristics I aspire to share with the world.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
For years… even before I had kids… my favorite movie has been Ratatouille. Remy’s passion for culinary creativity is fun and exciting. He overpowers his critics with his kindness and love of food.
Key learnings
- Be kind. Kindness solves all problems.
- Show up. The compounding nature of showing up every day is extraordinary.
- Be curious. Knowing everything makes it easy to do nothing. Ask questions, be excited to collaborate, and always be learning.