He's a Serial Entrepreneur, Navy Vet, and Venture Capitalist
Resumen
TLDRJohnny Corson és un destacat emprenedor i veterà de la Marina que ha transicionat amb èxit del servei militar a l'emprenedoria, arribant a ser venture capitalist. Durant l'entrevista, Johnny comparteix la seva història personal i professional, destacant les habilitats i experiències que considera clau en el seu èxit. Inicialment va emprendre projectes petits mentre estava en servei actiu, finalment cofundant una empresa d'aprenentatge per a mariners que va vendre amb èxit a Kaplan. Johnny ofereix consells valuosos sobre cóm fer la transició del món militar al civil, subratllant la importància de planificar el canvi amb anys d'antelació, escoltar els que dubten i ser financerament preparat. A més, destaca la importància de desenvolupar una xarxa de suport sòlida i mantenir una mentalitat enfocada en el creixement personal i professional.
Para llevar
- 🎖️ Johnny Corson és un veterà de la Marina i emprenedor d'èxit.
- 💡 S'ha convertit en capitalista de risc després de vendre la seva empresa a Kaplan.
- 🏗️ Va fundar 'Blue Jacketeer', una eina d'aprenentatge per a mariners.
- 📚 Recalca la importància de començar a planificar la transició dos anys abans de deixar el servei militar.
- 🧠 Destaca el valor d'escoltar les crítiques i aprendre a vendre's a si mateix.
- 🔄 Subratlla la capacitat de compartimentar els diferents aspectes de la vida professional i personal.
- 🕰️ La transició de la vida militar a civil requereix planificació financera i personal.
- 🌐 Importància de construir una xarxa de suport robusta.
- 💪 L'experiència militar pot ajudar a construir resiliència i adaptabilitat.
- 📈 L'educació formal pot no ser sempre directa en aplicació, però altres recursos d'aprenentatge poden marcar la diferència.
Cronología
- 00:00:00 - 00:05:00
El presentador està entrevistant a Johnny Corson, un amic i mentor seu en el camp de l'emprenedoria. Johnny és un veterà de la Marina, pare i empresari que ha conduit diverses empreses i ara és capitalista de risc. Comenta la seva trajectòria, des de tallar gespes fins a unir-se a la Marina buscant estructura i experiències. L'estada en la Marina li va permetre formar la seva primera empresa i començar en l'emprenedoria.
- 00:05:00 - 00:10:00
Durant la seva carrera com a conseller de carrera a la Marina, Johnny va rebre una petició d'ajuda d'un mariner que tenia dificultats per aprovar un examen crucial per promocionar. Això el va motivar a crear una eina d'aprenentatge interactiva per a mariners. També destaca la seva associació amb Allen, que va ser clau per a l'èxit de la seva empresa, que finalment va vendre a Kaplan.
- 00:10:00 - 00:15:00
Johnny explica la transició entre la vida plena de estructura en la Marina i el món de l'emprenedoria, on preval la manca d'estructura. Compartint experiències sobre la seva carrera i formació, esmenta l'habilitat per compartimentar tasques i funcionar eficientment en ambdós ambients, destacant la importància de practicar la transició abans de comprometre's plenament amb una nova carrera.
- 00:15:00 - 00:20:00
Parla de la seva infància a Alaska, que va fomentar la seva independència i capacitat d'adaptació. Aconsella als joves que busquen sortir del seu poble natal que aprofitin els anys de joventut per experimentar i ampliar horitzons, tot afirmant que l'època de 18 a 24 anys és ideal per fer-ho. També menciona els beneficis del servei militar per a aquells que volen un canvi dràstic.
- 00:20:00 - 00:25:00
Johnny reflexiona sobre com compaginava les seves responsabilitats militars amb l'emprenedoria, destacant un moment clau en què el seu comandant el va aconsellar fer créixer la seva empresa fora de la Marina. Aquesta experiència va ajudar a expandir la seva empresa a través de campions que va inspirar dins la comunitat militar.
- 00:25:00 - 00:34:47
Johnny comparteix consells per a veterans que es preparen per a la transició al sector privat, recomanant començar el procés amb dos anys d'antelació, escoltar els escèptics i establir una xarxa de suport. També parla de l'impacte de l'educació i la planificació financera per a una sortida reeixida de l'entorn militar.
Mapa mental
Preguntas frecuentes
Qui és Johnny Corson?
Johnny Corson és un veterà de la Marina, pare i emprenedor d'èxit que ha dirigit diverses empreses i ara és capitalista de risc.
Quin tipus de negocis ha dirigit Johnny Corson?
Johnny ha dirigit múltiples empreses, incloent una startup de jocs i una companyia d'aprenentatge online, Blue Jacketeer.
Quin consell dóna Johnny als joves que volen unir-se a la marina o ser emprenedors?
Johnny aconsella preparar-se físicament, estar disposat a perdre el control sobre la seva vida i practicar la mentalitat d'aprendre a vendre's a si mateix.
Com equilibra Johnny Corson la seva vida entre les seves obligacions militars i l'emprenedoria?
Johnny gestiona la transició entre la seva feina militar i l'emprenedoria aprenent a compartimentar i a canviar de mentalitat segons la situació.
Quina és l'experiència d'emprendre mentre encara està en servei militar?
Johnny va trobar reptes com la gestió del temps i la necessitat de no influir indegudament en altres mariners amb rangs inferiors mentre desenvolupava el seu producte "Blue Jacketeer".
Ver más resúmenes de vídeos
- 00:00:00what is up legendary leader viewers and
- 00:00:02listeners today I have the honor of
- 00:00:04interviewing Johnny Corson Johnny's a
- 00:00:06good friend of mine I've known him a
- 00:00:07couple years he's helped me quite a bit
- 00:00:09in my entrepreneurial Journey I'm
- 00:00:11indebted to Johnny in in a lot of ways
- 00:00:13uh Johnny's a Navy vet he's a dad a
- 00:00:16successful entrepreneur who's run
- 00:00:18multiple companies and he's now a
- 00:00:19venture capitalist which is very cool uh
- 00:00:22Johnny how you doing today man good how
- 00:00:24are you doing man I'm doing well doing
- 00:00:26well it's great seeing you it's always
- 00:00:27great talking to you man than you thank
- 00:00:29you um and you know you helped me a lot
- 00:00:32when it comes to customer Discovery and
- 00:00:34my past company and this new one that
- 00:00:36I'm I'm working on now um I can only
- 00:00:38imagine the advice you have to give to
- 00:00:41young people who you know want to become
- 00:00:43entrepreneurs or or want to do something
- 00:00:44in in the military so let's get right
- 00:00:46into it uh Johnny could you give a quick
- 00:00:48overview of your career what you've been
- 00:00:50through and overall um you know the big
- 00:00:53successes and failures you've had over
- 00:00:54the past uh over the past career that
- 00:00:56you've
- 00:00:58lived yeah yeah sure let me get give you
- 00:01:00a bit of a wave top so um I've always
- 00:01:03been entrepreneurial I've always had
- 00:01:05kind of an opportunity to um monetize in
- 00:01:09in unique ways and in fact so even
- 00:01:12mowing lawns as a kid or uh you know
- 00:01:15turning a buck while catching fish um
- 00:01:18that that's kind of always been a part
- 00:01:19of who I am but I I did want a bit more
- 00:01:22structure and I wanted to leave my
- 00:01:23hometown in Alaska so that's what
- 00:01:25motivated me to join the Navy and um as
- 00:01:28you can imagine the Navy is not exactly
- 00:01:31um the the place that can in gender
- 00:01:34entrepreneurial Spirit but as as much as
- 00:01:37one can I had a good grasp of my own
- 00:01:39career and it was a Choose Your Own
- 00:01:41Adventure type um I really had a great
- 00:01:44experience in the Navy and that kind of
- 00:01:47culminated um in using a company a
- 00:01:51startup entrepreneurialism to um to to
- 00:01:54transition out of the military so it was
- 00:01:55a strategy of mine but even before that
- 00:01:57I had started I was you out of Japan and
- 00:02:00I had a lot of time on my hands so I had
- 00:02:03designed and had someone develop the uh
- 00:02:07quiz game called quiz hero I launched a
- 00:02:10company called pillar games and um it
- 00:02:13was a a quiz game it was a Japanese RPG
- 00:02:16type uh just kind of a silly thing that
- 00:02:18that I put together and that was the
- 00:02:21start I'd say that was the Genesis of
- 00:02:24actual entrepreneurialism so I wasn't
- 00:02:26you know selling uh Italian sodas to
- 00:02:29high schoolers was I I really had a
- 00:02:31product and I I got it in front of some
- 00:02:33pretty cool people um you know a story
- 00:02:35for a campfire in a beverage is uh the
- 00:02:39time that I went to it was in 2014 I was
- 00:02:42invited to the military ENT uh military
- 00:02:44influencer no entrepreneurialship
- 00:02:46something it was at the Inc 5000
- 00:02:48conference and it was a small contingent
- 00:02:50of us that were invited there um given
- 00:02:53you know kind of free reign an
- 00:02:54opportunity to meet some cool people
- 00:02:55like um the founder of GoDaddy and some
- 00:02:58and some others but while I was there
- 00:03:00that year the uh the number one fastest
- 00:03:04growing company in America was fuu which
- 00:03:07was um creator of the navi tablet it was
- 00:03:09a children's uh game tablet it was a
- 00:03:12repurposed um Chinese I think tablet
- 00:03:15that they just wrapped a a um plastic
- 00:03:18skin around and stole it to kids but
- 00:03:20anyway long story short I landed on
- 00:03:23their um the navi tablet featured apps
- 00:03:26uh for quiz hero and I was so super
- 00:03:28stoked uh fast forward a couple months I
- 00:03:31launched the game on a Friday um put
- 00:03:34some just a small amount of of money
- 00:03:36into marketing and then on Monday some
- 00:03:39leaders in my command I was stationed in
- 00:03:40Pensacola Florida at the time some
- 00:03:42leaders in my command had uh come into
- 00:03:45my office and said hey how would you
- 00:03:47feel if we told you you were deploying
- 00:03:49in three weeks for seven months and at
- 00:03:52first I was crushed I was like wow that
- 00:03:55that completely upends any opportunity
- 00:03:58for me to to see this game flirt but
- 00:04:00also it was a place that I didn't expect
- 00:04:02to to deploy and I had a wife and two
- 00:04:05small kids and so I said well you know
- 00:04:08like a good soldier uh I said all right
- 00:04:11well you know I got to do what I got to
- 00:04:12do and went home and told my wife and
- 00:04:15she was obviously um crushed initially
- 00:04:17but man she she stepped right up and and
- 00:04:20yeah kind of took the reins at the house
- 00:04:22for for the seven months I was gone now
- 00:04:25it was at that deployment I was I was
- 00:04:28actually um I was on a ship and I pulled
- 00:04:30into Kingston Jamaica and it was my
- 00:04:32birthday and I had a call from my U my
- 00:04:36son and he said it's first full sentence
- 00:04:38which was Daddy when you're coming home
- 00:04:40and man that crushed my spirit it was
- 00:04:43that was kind of like the Genesis of how
- 00:04:46do I get out of here it was like the rip
- 00:04:47cord like how do I pull the rip cord get
- 00:04:49out of the military spend some time with
- 00:04:50my kids and uh yeah so I just kind of uh
- 00:04:54wrestled with that problem on the top of
- 00:04:56that ship with this beautiful kind of
- 00:04:58Kingston Jamaica back ground um in that
- 00:05:02same time there's a lot going on yeah
- 00:05:04yeah there was a lot going on and I I
- 00:05:06had as a career counselor that was my my
- 00:05:08role in Pensacola I was a career
- 00:05:09counselor to a thousand Sailors um
- 00:05:11throughout about 11 clinics and
- 00:05:14hospitals in in that area so they're
- 00:05:16mostly medical folks and one of the
- 00:05:19sailors on the ship had come to me and
- 00:05:20said hey I'm I'm having a hard time with
- 00:05:22this exam and for your listeners and
- 00:05:26viewers and and for your edification
- 00:05:28Navy sailors have to take an exam
- 00:05:30inlisted Sailors take an exam to promote
- 00:05:32throughout their career it's called the
- 00:05:33Navy advancement exam and that exam it's
- 00:05:37probably more correctly understood as in
- 00:05:40in the space as like 700 plus mini exams
- 00:05:44offered to hundreds and sometimes
- 00:05:46thousands of of people in a year so um
- 00:05:49this sailor he came to me and said hey
- 00:05:51you know I'm having a hard time if I
- 00:05:53don't pass I'm going to get kicked out
- 00:05:55um it's it's a program called highear
- 00:05:56tenure so I said wellow maybe I could I
- 00:05:59had this game this app and what I
- 00:06:01thought was I could probably build a CSV
- 00:06:03file that I could upload to to the API
- 00:06:06and then just have him play this like
- 00:06:08game built for 12 year olds um and and
- 00:06:11quiz himself in that U that material so
- 00:06:14that was what started um I I did some
- 00:06:16market research I found um the players
- 00:06:19in the market one of them had launched
- 00:06:21recently it was an MVP it was really
- 00:06:22only targeted to his small niche in in
- 00:06:25the Navy uh and I met Allen so Allen's
- 00:06:28the yin to my yang I I remember we
- 00:06:31communicated back and forth for a few
- 00:06:33months and I found out that just he is
- 00:06:35the product in techm I really liked the
- 00:06:37business and the the um strategy so we
- 00:06:41really came together and I remember it
- 00:06:42was October um I I had come back from
- 00:06:45deployment we had taken a trip to Hawaii
- 00:06:47and I remember being in the car when
- 00:06:50Allan uh reached back out to me and said
- 00:06:52hey let's do this yeah all right that's
- 00:06:54my ticket out because I knew at that
- 00:06:56point that you know I could get out I
- 00:06:58could take the GI Bill get some money
- 00:07:01from the GI Bill and then I could also
- 00:07:02build this company in a relatively safe
- 00:07:05space while transitioning out of the
- 00:07:06military so so that's what we did we
- 00:07:09built that company and over uh six years
- 00:07:12we um kind of took the market by storm
- 00:07:14we led the Innovation and and uh sold
- 00:07:17that company to Kaplan in
- 00:07:192021 uh yeah I've done some things since
- 00:07:22but uh yeah that's the kind of that's
- 00:07:24the Highlight that's amazing man and I
- 00:07:27think what I find so captivating about
- 00:07:29your story is that you you seem to have
- 00:07:32the um you know the structure of the
- 00:07:37military and you know being a military
- 00:07:39man a Navy man knowing how to live by
- 00:07:42the regimen live by a schedule but then
- 00:07:45also you know with entrepreneurship it's
- 00:07:47crazy uh you're doing one thing day
- 00:07:49after day and then the next week
- 00:07:52everything changes and then you're
- 00:07:53running out of cash and then you have
- 00:07:55cash and and whatnot yeah tell me before
- 00:07:57we dive into your your time in the Navy
- 00:08:00tell me how you deal with uh crazy
- 00:08:04amounts of structure and then no
- 00:08:06structure whatsoever uh because
- 00:08:08entrepreneurs they they they deal with
- 00:08:12no structure really well but in order to
- 00:08:14serve the country and you know be
- 00:08:16selfless like like you did you have to
- 00:08:18be okay with massive a massive sense of
- 00:08:21structure but also commands from higher
- 00:08:23ups I mean tell me how do you deal with
- 00:08:26that Push Pull and how is that how has
- 00:08:28that trained your entrepreneur Spirit
- 00:08:30over the past you know X number of years
- 00:08:32you've you've been an
- 00:08:35entrepreneur yeah that's a good question
- 00:08:38um I've I've always kind of um pred
- 00:08:41myself in the op in the ability to
- 00:08:43compartmentalize and you know for
- 00:08:45example when I was building blue Jacker
- 00:08:49I was also getting my undergraduate
- 00:08:51degree online finishing out my um my
- 00:08:54time in the Navy and so I really had to
- 00:08:56just flip the switch and as you can
- 00:08:58imagine you put one half hat on you kind
- 00:09:00of operate in that function and there's
- 00:09:01a a time at which you take that hat off
- 00:09:03and put another hat on I think the
- 00:09:05degree to which you can manage that um
- 00:09:08micr transition in the day um Can can
- 00:09:11make a huge impact on your ability to
- 00:09:14operate now I knew that when I put my my
- 00:09:17sailor hat the uh the bucket hat on I
- 00:09:20knew that there was a box that I was
- 00:09:22playing in right I knew the rules this
- 00:09:24is the environment these are the the
- 00:09:26four walls now you you put that
- 00:09:28entrepreneurial hat on and the the walls
- 00:09:32kind of fade away right there there are
- 00:09:34still rules and there's but the walls
- 00:09:37fade away and it was a really freeing so
- 00:09:39going back and forth was was the um the
- 00:09:43opportunity for me to flex that and it
- 00:09:45really gave me confidence and that's why
- 00:09:47whenever I talk to anyone who's
- 00:09:48interested in hey should I take make
- 00:09:51that jump and start this company sure
- 00:09:54don't leave your your day job before you
- 00:09:56do that but yeah why don't you practice
- 00:09:58that muscle a little bit before you go
- 00:10:00you know deep diveing and you know put
- 00:10:02put your future finances at risk uh on
- 00:10:07something that truly is um an absolute
- 00:10:10Journey tell me man growing up in Alaska
- 00:10:13and then getting into the military
- 00:10:16trying to leave your whole your hometown
- 00:10:18you have this tremendous sense of
- 00:10:19self-awareness and the adaptability that
- 00:10:21muscle to go back and forth between
- 00:10:23structure and no structure where the
- 00:10:25hell does it come from I mean is it as
- 00:10:27simple as you were born with it or did
- 00:10:29you see your family with it growing up
- 00:10:31um what about your your your growth your
- 00:10:35upbringing and then your journey just
- 00:10:37helps you become such an adaptable
- 00:10:41person yeah a bit of uh nature and
- 00:10:44nurture um I I think that so my parents
- 00:10:47were always entrepreneurial as well um
- 00:10:49and they'll never watch this but um they
- 00:10:53I watched them fail so many times at at
- 00:10:57things but they never stop they're just
- 00:10:58so so um tenacious in in all of their
- 00:11:01efforts my dad's a Salesman at heart he
- 00:11:03sold countertops and cars and homes and
- 00:11:06stuff so um I I think there's a bit of
- 00:11:10that environment that I was I was always
- 00:11:12kind of privy to but also and you
- 00:11:14mentioned Alaska Alaska has this kind of
- 00:11:18independent Alaska raises very
- 00:11:21independent people and I think part of
- 00:11:23it is because in order to just exist
- 00:11:26there there's a measure of Independence
- 00:11:28but it's also the culture there so um I
- 00:11:31learned to do things on my own very
- 00:11:33early and I was solo camping Seven Mile
- 00:11:36hikes at like you know 13 14 years old
- 00:11:39um you know trudging into the woods I
- 00:11:41was driving my truck up into the
- 00:11:43mountains at to a cabin so that's all
- 00:11:45stuff that I had to do on my own you you
- 00:11:47to figure stuff out that's really
- 00:11:48similar to to entrepreneurship where
- 00:11:51there's there's nobody telling you what
- 00:11:52to do so on the absolute opposite of of
- 00:11:55the Navy is there's nobody telling you
- 00:11:58what to do you have to to be able to um
- 00:12:00be efficient in that process that's
- 00:12:02amazing um and now leaving your hometown
- 00:12:06and you know wanting to get out and look
- 00:12:08at the world and and see it for what it
- 00:12:10is I'm I mean there are millions of
- 00:12:13young people who probably feel that way
- 00:12:16today and and in the past yeah what
- 00:12:18advice would you give to a young person
- 00:12:20who is looking to go into the military
- 00:12:22change their lives and just see the
- 00:12:25world or at least gain some new
- 00:12:26experience and
- 00:12:27skills
- 00:12:30oh gosh I've had many of these
- 00:12:32conversations and it always I think the
- 00:12:35Crux of the issue is that um there's
- 00:12:38comfort in your hometown there's people
- 00:12:41that know you there's people that you
- 00:12:43know and you know you you remember when
- 00:12:45that store changed owners and you know
- 00:12:49there's that familiarity of that um I
- 00:12:51think that time and everyone's life is
- 00:12:53very formative and so I think that like
- 00:12:56you know 18 to 24 year old time period
- 00:12:59is the absolute right opportunity to
- 00:13:01test your boundaries to um gain exposure
- 00:13:04to widen your aperture however you want
- 00:13:06to to to phrase that but it's that um
- 00:13:11that uncertainty of leaving comfortable
- 00:13:13spaces that um that I think uh is a bit
- 00:13:17of a a tricky mindset my brother's a
- 00:13:20navy recruiter in Alaska right now and
- 00:13:22he's having those conversations
- 00:13:24regularly um and part of his ability to
- 00:13:27communicate the the value proposition of
- 00:13:29the Navy to these individuals is the
- 00:13:32opportunity to tell his story and to say
- 00:13:34I was you know in Spain for three years
- 00:13:37I was here I was there I did this I and
- 00:13:40to to someone who's you know um even
- 00:13:42just in a HomeTown that that appeals to
- 00:13:47I think most people that that are uh
- 00:13:49physically fit and you know healthy in a
- 00:13:51way that that would you know at least
- 00:13:54get you above the bar for the Navy now
- 00:13:56final question pre pre- Navy life but
- 00:13:59all right a young man or woman is dead
- 00:14:02set on joining the military what should
- 00:14:05they have in order to do or what should
- 00:14:08they have in order or what should they
- 00:14:09be doing to prepare for a successful at
- 00:14:12least fouryear tenure while serving the
- 00:14:16country uh physical fitness is one uh
- 00:14:19that just comes to mind the other is um
- 00:14:23I would say practicing maybe in some
- 00:14:25respect the um the art of not having
- 00:14:30control so um you know as much as you're
- 00:14:34in high school and you're like ah what I
- 00:14:35really want is control over my I want to
- 00:14:37be my own person you absolutely do not
- 00:14:40have that opportunity in the military
- 00:14:41especially the first four years so as
- 00:14:44much as one can um you know condition
- 00:14:47their mind for that um and in a
- 00:14:50pre-military training um they call it de
- 00:14:54or something like that uh it it
- 00:14:57conditions you to be in that money
- 00:14:58mindset so yeah just listen to your
- 00:15:00recruiters or
- 00:15:02don't so you know you're in the military
- 00:15:05now and you're experimenting with
- 00:15:07entrepreneurship and building new things
- 00:15:09yeah tell us more about that that battle
- 00:15:12uh or or the balance the the push pull
- 00:15:14between um dealing with your daily
- 00:15:17duties but then also trying to cultivate
- 00:15:19that sense of creativity and wherewithal
- 00:15:22and drive to independently Chase your
- 00:15:24own project I mean was there red tape
- 00:15:27you had to cut through in order to to to
- 00:15:29build your own thing and if there was
- 00:15:30how'd you deal with it and then of
- 00:15:32course the balance of Duty versus
- 00:15:34creativity tell us more about how you
- 00:15:36balance that yeah in fact there was a
- 00:15:40very uh poignant moment where we were
- 00:15:43building blue Jack tier blue Jack tier
- 00:15:45was selling to Navy sailors so yeah um
- 00:15:48there's this obvious issue in the
- 00:15:50military where someone of of higher rank
- 00:15:52is influencing the purchasing decision
- 00:15:54of someone of lower Rank and I'm
- 00:15:57directly uh benefiting from that
- 00:16:00interaction and so there was an
- 00:16:02opportunity for me and it was in
- 00:16:04Pensacola and it was years after um quiz
- 00:16:08hero and as I was transitioning to um
- 00:16:11South Carolina for the year before I
- 00:16:12left but the um command master chief at
- 00:16:15the time was teaching uh
- 00:16:16entrepreneurship classes at the the
- 00:16:18local community college so I couldn't
- 00:16:20have had a better champion on my side
- 00:16:23yeah to to and on a few occasions we
- 00:16:26would talk about blue jacket tier and he
- 00:16:27would he would make it clear this this
- 00:16:30is your red tape as you mentioned and um
- 00:16:33in order for this to grow in order for
- 00:16:35this to to kind of blossome you need to
- 00:16:37get out of the military and so what I
- 00:16:40would do is I wouldn't sell the product
- 00:16:42I would I would nowhere was I the face
- 00:16:43of the product um and and certainly not
- 00:16:46my rank but what I would do is I I would
- 00:16:49um include those of my same ranks those
- 00:16:53first class study officers I would go to
- 00:16:55them and ask them questions about what
- 00:16:56what would you do to build a product for
- 00:16:57your sailors and then I'd just go and
- 00:16:59Implement that the thing that comes to
- 00:17:01mind is the 10we study plan so we we
- 00:17:03just had this and it was you know an
- 00:17:05exam prep tool we had an exam prep tool
- 00:17:07that existed as you know Bank of
- 00:17:08questions an individual could go through
- 00:17:10but then we offered this 10we study plan
- 00:17:12it was just a PDF document that said
- 00:17:14read this read this read this and here's
- 00:17:15your 10 weeks before you know when your
- 00:17:17exam is that was born out of a
- 00:17:19conversation I had with with a first
- 00:17:21class petty officer a good friend of
- 00:17:23mine and and that's the type of like uh
- 00:17:26interaction I had early that built brand
- 00:17:29Champions that then as the military
- 00:17:32happens everyone left Pensacola but they
- 00:17:35had stories that they knew of Johnny
- 00:17:37Corson in Pensacola who was one of the
- 00:17:39founders of blue Jack here so it just
- 00:17:41kind of spread um and we really got to
- 00:17:44to that um product Le growth through the
- 00:17:48uh Champions that were born out of that
- 00:17:49Pensacola um early stage very cool very
- 00:17:53cool and then um you know as you're
- 00:17:55going out and um you know going out and
- 00:17:59building this thing after the the
- 00:18:02military what was that transition like
- 00:18:05going from a fully structured life and
- 00:18:08you know them shipping you around and
- 00:18:10being away from your family to to of
- 00:18:11course being with family which is
- 00:18:12amazing but then just going out into the
- 00:18:15wild and trying to get this product out
- 00:18:16there and building the company tell us
- 00:18:18more about what that Journey was like
- 00:18:20and what it was like just having the
- 00:18:22guard rails almost taken off and it's
- 00:18:25just all up to you now it was scary I
- 00:18:28won't lie um and I was a career
- 00:18:30counselor so I was in the business of
- 00:18:33retaining Sailors for the Navy that was
- 00:18:35our metric and if you did that well you
- 00:18:37were recognized by the Navy for your
- 00:18:39retention efforts so I spent years
- 00:18:42convincing Sailors to stay in but I
- 00:18:45think what helped me in my transition
- 00:18:48was that there were a few Sailors that I
- 00:18:50that thankfully my retention numbers
- 00:18:52were so high that I had the opportunity
- 00:18:54there were a few Sailors who came to me
- 00:18:55who just clearly were going to succeed
- 00:18:58out side of the military and and I could
- 00:19:00then just be a sounding board for them
- 00:19:03and a cheerleader for them and and work
- 00:19:05with them to transition out so I didn't
- 00:19:07find myself really convincing too many
- 00:19:10people to stay in um and when it came
- 00:19:13time for me to make my plan the hardest
- 00:19:16thing for me was the certainty of income
- 00:19:18that the military provides and as you
- 00:19:21can imagine you go 20 years in the
- 00:19:22military it's one of the last defined
- 00:19:24benefit uh plans out there so you get a
- 00:19:27paycheck for the rest of your life in in
- 00:19:29the retirement of of the Navy they
- 00:19:32actually don't do that anymore it's
- 00:19:33defined a contribution now which um it
- 00:19:36is for me uh those people who I were who
- 00:19:39I was having these conversations with
- 00:19:41would say are you sure you want to do
- 00:19:42that because you could just write out
- 00:19:44the next 10 years do this these things
- 00:19:46as side gigs and have the and I knew
- 00:19:49enough about myself that I couldn't do
- 00:19:51that as a side gig I needed to kind of
- 00:19:54Chomp on a bit and then I also used so I
- 00:19:56had the GI Bill and thankfully you spend
- 00:19:59enough time in the military they offer
- 00:20:00you an opportunity to earn your your
- 00:20:02degree I had had my undergrad paid for
- 00:20:05by tuition assistance while I was active
- 00:20:07duty and so I had this chunk of the GI
- 00:20:10Bill and um and I transitioned and I
- 00:20:13knew I'm going to go get my Master's
- 00:20:15Degree I'm going to use the stable
- 00:20:17income that comes from the basic
- 00:20:19allowance for housing that's offered by
- 00:20:21the GI bill as kind of that's my my
- 00:20:24standard we weren't paying ourselves at
- 00:20:26blue jacket here yet either so there was
- 00:20:28and I remember more more importantly I
- 00:20:30had to almost convince my partner who
- 00:20:32had left about a year before me I had to
- 00:20:35convince him hey we're going to get to a
- 00:20:37point where you will be able to do this
- 00:20:38and that and and don't you know so that
- 00:20:41to me was um was important was it was
- 00:20:45scary but I had kind of a plan and I
- 00:20:47said hey if this works and I'm
- 00:20:48extrapolating the data and saying well
- 00:20:50look if if we continue our growth we'll
- 00:20:53be able to pay ourselves handsomely
- 00:20:54eventually so and that's how it happened
- 00:20:57that's amazing um the growth of blue
- 00:20:59Jacker you're you know you had a
- 00:21:01successful exit you you sold it to a
- 00:21:03very big company I mean it's incredible
- 00:21:06um tell us about what the learning
- 00:21:08process was like on a on a macro level
- 00:21:10you know you went from the military
- 00:21:12you're a self-taught entrepreneur I mean
- 00:21:14like a lot of entrepreneurs are self
- 00:21:15toop but there's no business degree
- 00:21:16there for you um you know I don't have a
- 00:21:18degree in business
- 00:21:20either just a lot of learning and
- 00:21:22getting your ass kicked on a day-to-day
- 00:21:24basis tell me more tell me more about
- 00:21:27you know how Johnny the person how
- 00:21:29Johnny the the sailor went from Johnny
- 00:21:30the entrepreneur to Johnny the exited
- 00:21:33entrepreneur what was that
- 00:21:34transformation period like you know what
- 00:21:36were the the key pain points and yeah
- 00:21:40what did what did you learn from from
- 00:21:42just the entire
- 00:21:43experience I can tell you that I have an
- 00:21:45undergrad in Business Administration it
- 00:21:48was absolutely useless for the practical
- 00:21:50application of of running a company and
- 00:21:53it was simultaneous and I remember
- 00:21:55having it was this um it was an Excel
- 00:21:57class CL that I was in and I was
- 00:21:59building Financial models for the for
- 00:22:01blue Jacker at the time and then I have
- 00:22:03to go to this class where they're like
- 00:22:05cell A1 type equals some and I'm like
- 00:22:08guys like none of this matters like you
- 00:22:10need to be you know very contextualized
- 00:22:13um so my undergraduate degree um I would
- 00:22:16say you know at the risk of
- 00:22:18of not encouraging people to go get
- 00:22:21their undergraduate degree but it it did
- 00:22:22not apply at all um what did apply and
- 00:22:25I'll I'll plug this resource for you um
- 00:22:27it doesn't exist anymore in its current
- 00:22:29form but it was called bunker in a box
- 00:22:31and what it was is like a a 14 module
- 00:22:34just like absolute uh fire hose of the
- 00:22:38best entrepreneurship information
- 00:22:41whether it was books or podcasts or blog
- 00:22:44articles and it was it was uh you walked
- 00:22:47through it was gamified um in fact uh
- 00:22:50toting my own horn here I had the
- 00:22:52highest score in fact I had a higher
- 00:22:54score in Bunker and a box than the uh
- 00:22:57than the guy who made it inside bunker
- 00:23:00um and I think it was just because I was
- 00:23:02relentless at consuming information and
- 00:23:06and preparing myself for what what I
- 00:23:08would say is and this is a mantra of
- 00:23:10mine um the certainty of uncertainty
- 00:23:13which was actually gained through um a
- 00:23:16conversation with CEOs at the Inc 5000
- 00:23:18conference I mentioned earlier but when
- 00:23:20you talk about the uh
- 00:23:23gaining let's say the confidence to be
- 00:23:26able to continue in what is uncertain in
- 00:23:29the future um that hap happens through
- 00:23:32having good people around you um my
- 00:23:34partner Allan was AB my absolute Rock
- 00:23:36he's the into my yang we had other
- 00:23:38people champions in the space I had you
- 00:23:41know my wife who was in you know in my
- 00:23:43corner 100% And so and they were willing
- 00:23:46to um to risk it with me so I never felt
- 00:23:50like I was you know at like a blackjack
- 00:23:52table with my dollars putting dollars
- 00:23:54down that that's not how I I felt I felt
- 00:23:57like there were other people around me
- 00:23:59um yeah which blessing and occur
- 00:24:02sometimes you know if Things Fall Apart
- 00:24:04but uh related to the exit um so I don't
- 00:24:09I don't know how many people say you
- 00:24:10know think think about the end have the
- 00:24:12end in mind when when you start but we
- 00:24:15launched the company in 2016 April um be
- 00:24:18middle of 2017 I posted to slack that
- 00:24:21will sell the company to Kaplan for $12
- 00:24:23million um we didn't actually get to 12
- 00:24:26million uh thinks maybe to
- 00:24:28but um there was this opportunity for us
- 00:24:31to see everything in the product road
- 00:24:34map beyond that point through the lens
- 00:24:36of of a sale to Kaplan and so we we
- 00:24:39jumped on board with a a design team a
- 00:24:42nationally recognized design team who
- 00:24:44actually designed the brand for tear the
- 00:24:47paper ceiling uh opportunity at Works um
- 00:24:50skill through alternative routes
- 00:24:52initiative and so that's 368 so they
- 00:24:54redesigned blue jacket here they they
- 00:24:56actually designed entirely ever prep and
- 00:24:58and the brand strategy there as well but
- 00:25:01that was our thinking was let's do this
- 00:25:03as if we're going to sell it and worst
- 00:25:05case scenario we never sell it and it it
- 00:25:07you know happens to be a great product
- 00:25:08but when we built the stable of offers
- 00:25:12before selling it to Kaplan and we went
- 00:25:14to Kaplan I mean it was so easy we were
- 00:25:17speaking their language we knew what
- 00:25:19their their um their motivations were so
- 00:25:22I think it may it and you could ask them
- 00:25:24on that side if that made any difference
- 00:25:27but for it was like just absolutely teed
- 00:25:29up for them and and we were going to
- 00:25:31take anybody else to be fair so yeah
- 00:25:35that's how it happened I I don't know if
- 00:25:37you and I ever bonded over this but when
- 00:25:40um I was a student at the George
- 00:25:42Washington University I was a career
- 00:25:44Ambassador like a career counselor for
- 00:25:46for students there a lot of students
- 00:25:48were you know former Navy or just former
- 00:25:50military in general and one of the key
- 00:25:53anxieties
- 00:25:55was they go from a a place place of
- 00:25:57structure to no structure or or rather
- 00:26:00they just don't know what the private
- 00:26:02sector looks like they don't know what a
- 00:26:03meeting is like and whatnot and to me
- 00:26:06you know when I was working with these
- 00:26:07people I thought like you're way more
- 00:26:09qualified than more people you know I
- 00:26:12once had a a young woman who she she
- 00:26:15handled some type of ammunition or like
- 00:26:17like firearm like like a weapon on a
- 00:26:19ship and you know she was crying in the
- 00:26:21session like I don't know what I'm going
- 00:26:22to do with with my life and this that
- 00:26:23I'm like you know you you you've done I
- 00:26:26promise you you've done more than most
- 00:26:28people have in their 20s you know and
- 00:26:30and this poor girl was was just so
- 00:26:32scared what end up happening was a year
- 00:26:34later I met her um she said a random
- 00:26:36restaurant in DC and you know life is
- 00:26:38going so well was going so well for her
- 00:26:40so um I love seeing veterans succeed um
- 00:26:44especially after you know doing a a tour
- 00:26:45of Duty for the country if you had a a
- 00:26:49list of five things you could tell a
- 00:26:50veteran who's leaving the the Armed
- 00:26:53Forces um to do in order to succeed at
- 00:26:57least have the easiest transition into
- 00:26:59the private sector what would those five
- 00:27:01things
- 00:27:03be yeah um first and foremost uh there's
- 00:27:07a company called pre veteran uh
- 00:27:09Founder's name is Jason Anderson he
- 00:27:11wrote a book that changed uh or really
- 00:27:15it empowered me to take those
- 00:27:17entrepreneurial risks before getting out
- 00:27:19and his Mantra is to start the
- 00:27:21transition two years early so what
- 00:27:24happens is and the military it's
- 00:27:25terrible at this they they wait till
- 00:27:27you're about six months out and they say
- 00:27:29all right now now let's you know put you
- 00:27:31in a class that um translates your
- 00:27:33military experience to the civilian
- 00:27:35world there's a lot of context that that
- 00:27:38U the service members are missing and
- 00:27:40like like you said they don't know what
- 00:27:41a meeting is or they don't know um how
- 00:27:44to to flex their um their strengths BEC
- 00:27:47and the other thing is the we and me
- 00:27:50there you don't talk about yourself in
- 00:27:51the military there's very very few
- 00:27:53opportunities where you stand up and and
- 00:27:55champ you're a champion for yourself
- 00:27:56it's a very um the in the Navy it's uh
- 00:28:00ship shipmate self so it's like the
- 00:28:02ship's the most important your Shipmates
- 00:28:04your team around and then it's like yeah
- 00:28:06you know at the end if you have any gas
- 00:28:08left in the tank you know go ahead and
- 00:28:09take care of yourself but yeah so let's
- 00:28:12let's see if I can um narrow this down
- 00:28:14to five things um first and foremost
- 00:28:16start way way earlier than anyone else
- 00:28:19is is telling you to do it um I would
- 00:28:22say um contrary to maybe what other
- 00:28:24would think listen to the naysayers
- 00:28:26understand what they
- 00:28:28what what they are keying in on and then
- 00:28:30just address those issues I'm not saying
- 00:28:32adopt them and you know live in that
- 00:28:34that kind of that mindset but listen to
- 00:28:36them and and understand what the the
- 00:28:39fruit of of what they're saying is the
- 00:28:41seed and so here we're on three I would
- 00:28:44say three is prepare yourself
- 00:28:46financially and that happens because the
- 00:28:50military gives you a pay they also take
- 00:28:52care of your healthare they take care of
- 00:28:54your housing there's a lot of things
- 00:28:55that are kind of um wrap around services
- 00:28:58that the military just absolutely takes
- 00:28:59care of and when you get out you have to
- 00:29:01figure that stuff out yourself um and so
- 00:29:03i' would say financially um just kind of
- 00:29:05prepare yourself you don't expect that
- 00:29:07you're going to land that that six
- 00:29:08figure job right away um yeah so and
- 00:29:11then the me and we learn how to sell
- 00:29:14yourself learn how to be a champion for
- 00:29:16yourself and and build a network of
- 00:29:18people who are going to also Champion
- 00:29:19you um the old saying that you know um
- 00:29:22the worst time to um build a network is
- 00:29:25when you need one so yeah that part
- 00:29:27that's part of like the the two years
- 00:29:29Out start building your network um yeah
- 00:29:31and then last I would say is um you're
- 00:29:33100% of the people in the military will
- 00:29:35eventually leave the military right so
- 00:29:37there's a certainty in the fact that you
- 00:29:39will eventually get there so um I would
- 00:29:42say just never have that like it'll
- 00:29:44never happen in your moment that's I
- 00:29:47think the the most destructive thing uh
- 00:29:49that I've seen Sailors where they're
- 00:29:51forced out for one reason or another and
- 00:29:53then they're just you know put into a
- 00:29:55weird place so yeah that's fine amazing
- 00:29:58yeah um last couple questions now for
- 00:30:02our our rapid fire um what's your
- 00:30:05morning and nighttime routine look like
- 00:30:07it and let's caveat this by saying
- 00:30:09you're a dad and you're a new dog dad um
- 00:30:12what did it look like at the height of
- 00:30:14blue Jacker and what does it look like
- 00:30:16today and and what do you do to keep
- 00:30:18yourself sharp on a day-to-day
- 00:30:22basis yeah that's a good question at the
- 00:30:24height of blue Jacker I was also getting
- 00:30:25my master's degree in leadership which I
- 00:30:27would say was really applicable way more
- 00:30:31applicable than my under business um
- 00:30:35yeah my so I'm a I'm a early bird um I
- 00:30:38think the military kind of breeds that
- 00:30:41type so um yeah and I drink a lot of
- 00:30:44coffee um I actually don't drink alcohol
- 00:30:46this year I'm taking a year off um as
- 00:30:48you can imagine Sailors are are also
- 00:30:51Adept at that so um yeah my my morning
- 00:30:55routine is currently um just managing
- 00:30:59the sporadic Descent of children into
- 00:31:02the living room um and and then just
- 00:31:05kind of you know sending well wishes to
- 00:31:07my kids and my my wife as I come back
- 00:31:09upstairs and you know jump into my home
- 00:31:11office so nothing crazy but I do like to
- 00:31:13listen to music and I start every day
- 00:31:16kind of understanding the Cadence of the
- 00:31:17day so I get a sense of like oh my
- 00:31:19afternoon's kind of light this is what
- 00:31:21I'm G to do you know so that's kind of
- 00:31:22like I I you know kind of give my get
- 00:31:24myself into a posture before I I start
- 00:31:27day but nothing crazy yeah um so next
- 00:31:33question the last two are wild card
- 00:31:35questions here so you know excuse how
- 00:31:37how poy they are
- 00:31:40but what period of time in human history
- 00:31:43or natural history would you go back to
- 00:31:46to just see what's going on and and take
- 00:31:50in the vibes your safety is guaranteed
- 00:31:52so you will come back to the year 2024
- 00:31:54as when we're recording this um in one
- 00:31:56piece totally and sound um one would you
- 00:31:59go back to
- 00:32:01yeah uh thanks for the question I'm
- 00:32:04going to steal Andrew Cohen's answer uh
- 00:32:07I know that he talked about going back
- 00:32:09to to Jesus's Ministry and just
- 00:32:11observing that absolutely pivotal time
- 00:32:14in in human history and I would just you
- 00:32:17know maybe not uh bend the ear of Jesus
- 00:32:20himself but those around him and just
- 00:32:22understand uh you know what was going on
- 00:32:24what the motivations were and it changed
- 00:32:27the course of human history and I I'm
- 00:32:29just I am particularly I mean I got a
- 00:32:32degree from a seminary as well but I am
- 00:32:34particularly interested in um in that
- 00:32:38kind of uh yeah that that time period so
- 00:32:41that's my answer thanks Andrew it's
- 00:32:43fascinating I I went to so I went to
- 00:32:45Catholic school for for high school um
- 00:32:47and for some of elementary school so you
- 00:32:49know I'm well versed in you know Jesus's
- 00:32:51teachings um and the key tenants and
- 00:32:54principles but I I never knew you know I
- 00:32:56don't know I don't know if we at
- 00:32:58historians or people know what he did in
- 00:32:59his life like on a day-to-day or
- 00:33:02extracurricular basis and other theories
- 00:33:04like he went to India or something and
- 00:33:06traveled or or whatever but I'd be
- 00:33:08interested in knowing that because that
- 00:33:09influences the man and um yeah great
- 00:33:13answer final question now is that you're
- 00:33:15going to dinner you can bring three
- 00:33:17people with you wife and kids not
- 00:33:19allowed so so you know you have amnesty
- 00:33:21there um which three people dead or
- 00:33:23alive famous or obscure are you bringing
- 00:33:25with
- 00:33:29uh I'd bring Elon Musk I'd bring niola
- 00:33:32Tesla okay oh yeah bring someone yeah
- 00:33:37I'd bring someone who uh wins the go to
- 00:33:41dinner with these two Lottery and agrees
- 00:33:43to just absolutely shut up so that would
- 00:33:46be someone who who just sits there and
- 00:33:49like me just takes it all in those would
- 00:33:53be uh those would be my two and then the
- 00:33:55other guys just as long as or wom just
- 00:33:58as long as they agree to you know ask
- 00:34:00good questions and and stay out of their
- 00:34:02way I'd love to hear those to jam that's
- 00:34:05amazing um Johnny thank you for your
- 00:34:07time today wonderful interview uh love
- 00:34:09learning from veterans turn
- 00:34:11entrepreneurs but you know I love I love
- 00:34:12talking to you you're so full of wisdom
- 00:34:15um and you've been very supportive of of
- 00:34:17my journey and you know I've reached
- 00:34:19success or some semblance of success and
- 00:34:21and you've you've been a part of it um I
- 00:34:23won't put your email in the show notes
- 00:34:25but I do recommend Young entrepreneurs
- 00:34:28uh you know hit you up on LinkedIn or
- 00:34:30somewhere and and say hey Johnny I'm a
- 00:34:32young person just trying to get into the
- 00:34:33entrepreneurship game or I want to learn
- 00:34:35more about the military Johnny will
- 00:34:37answer um and if he has a time of day he
- 00:34:39will he will help you out um Johnny
- 00:34:41thank you for your time you have a
- 00:34:43wonderful rest of your day and um
- 00:34:46hopefully we'll have a part two soon
- Johnny Corson
- Marina
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- transició militar
- Blue Jacketeer
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