''Today I am doing the thing. Talking, writing, thinking or dreaming about it, is not doing it'' Â
Joost is the Founder of Be Better - An Easy 1:1 Ingredient Swap Of Dairy-Butter That Enables Chefs To Create Pastries That Are Pure, Inclusive And Free From Guilt. He has taken the challenge to answer our 20 Truth Questions, For us to gain some insight, And learn the Truth about the person behind the venture.
My TRUTH Story:
1. INTRODUCE YOURSELF IN THE THIRD PERSON TO A CROWD OF 10,000+ PEOPLE?
Originally from Amsterdam and now living in Barcelona; Joost is an entrepreneur on a mission to create and build bold brands that bring about a good change.
2. WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF A TRUTH FOUNDER?
A Truth Founder has a pioneering spirit and challenges the status quo with an unstoppable conviction and determination.
He or she is willing to go further where others stop, accepting the inevitable suffering.
3. WHAT EVENT OR EVENTS HAPPENED TO YOU THAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A FOUNDER?
A severe car accident that left me miraculously unharmed but gave me this ‘matrix’ vision of how we as people are being enslaved by the system.
We are more and more financially squeezed. Our value as employees are more and more marginalised and replaceable; Making us become consumers of products that make us sick, empowering the big corporates.
All this inspired me to have autonomy while doing something good that is aligned with my core being which became my priority.
4. WHAT IS YOUR MORNING ROUTINE & RITUAL? Waking up at 5 am. Starting with water, lifting weights, stretching and meditation, followed by a walk while listening to a podcast about history, expert opinions or a biography.
Once back home, I start to organise my day by defining the 3 things to focus on.
Always starting with the full morning with an undisturbed focus on sales. Either by calling prospects / customers, by optimising the lead generation and conversion or by writing sales and demand advertisements.
5. WHAT MANTRA,QUOTE,LINE OR PHRASE DO YOU SAY OFTEN TO INSPIRE AND MOTIVATE YOURSELF? Today I am doing the thing. Talking, writing, thinking or dreaming about it, is not doing it. I am doing the thing, how I feel is not important.
6. WHY DO YOU THINK PEOPLE SHOULD CARE ABOUT YOUR VENTURE? Because we are bringing a change that is easy to implement and it is better for people, our planet ,and is profitable.
7. WHY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE THE ONE TO MAKE YOUR VENTURE A SUCCESS?
Because I am designing a company that is making me obsolete.
With a superior product and a company centred around branding, distribution and education, the products are starting to sell its self via our customers, distributors, content and advertising.
8. WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE FOR YOUR VENTURE? ( START WITH: IMAGINE A WORLD... WHAT IF... WE WILL BE... )
Imagine A World in which the pastries we enjoy is heavily depending on animal-derived ingredients like butter, creams and eggs.
What If We offer a plant-based alternative that works the same and offers the same quality but significantly reduces carbon emissions and do 0% harm to animals and the rainforest.
We Will Be enjoying pastries that are inclusive (allergy-free) and free from guilt. - That makes it's so much more tasty.
9. ANSWER THESE AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE - I BELIEVE... I DON'T BELIEVE... I believe in brands, in authenticity, in originality, in honesty, in hard work, in friendships, in loyalty, in the long-term, in doing good, in a win-win scenario or respectfully part ways, in agree to disagree, in disagree but commit, in not wasting my time or others time.
I don’t believe in shortcuts, in blabla, in the short- term, in win-lose scenerios.
10. WHAT'S ONE DECISION YOU MADE AS A FOUNDER THAT COMPLETELY CHANGED THE COURSE OF YOUR JOURNEY? The realisation that my single most important priority as a founder is driving sales and growing the business.
So instead of procrastinating it, I adopted the mindset of being a doctor dedicated to identifying my customers’ issues and providing them with the cure.
I started to love the game.
11. WHAT DO YOU REGARD AS YOUR GREATEST SUCCESS PERSONALLY & AS A FOUNDER? Personally: That despite (or because of) all the changes and challenges in my life and todays world, me and my ex-wife have been able to raise a daughter and a son whom are both healthy, socially educated, pretty happy with who they are, as well have clarity on what they want to become.
As a founder: The fact that the worlds leading chefs from France to Australia to Japan to the UK are using and loving our plant-butter.
12. WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST ABOUT YOURSELF AND WHY? That others never have defined my life. I always challenging the status quo to make things better; Or helped people find and stay true to their core.
I left the Netherlands in 2013 to widen my perspectives and transformed myself into an entrepreneur.
I always have and always will be this mysterious and respected outsider; As well as being a good observer and listener, connecting the dots to bring about change that's ahead of the curve.
13. WHAT'S ONE THING YOU CAN IMPROVE ABOUT YOURSELF, AND WHY DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE NOT DONE IT BY NOW?
My professional drive to bring good change, is something to improve on a personal level.
I hide and isolate myself too much, avoiding conflict coming from a childhood in which emotions were not communicated and where I learned to do it all by myself.
When I moved to Barcelona and shortly after divorced my wife, I needed to build up a new social circle and become active in dating. This made me realize I needed to improve myself here.
14. WHAT'S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED OR GIVEN, OR BOTH?
Life is a playground. Enjoy the process.
15. ON A SCALE FROM 1 TO 10 - 10 BEING THE BEST. HOW WELL DO YOU THINK YOU AND YOUR TRUTH STORY IS CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD BY YOUR COMMUNITY? ( WHY NOT 10? ) Score of 9. - The proposition we have is very clear and constantly repeated.
Why not 10? We are lacking the resources to grow awareness and to bring about more education.
The truth is that people only believe our proposition (see *17) as they become aware of the problem with cow-butter.
If only they could learned by themselves how easy it is to 1:1 replace dairy-butter with 0 compromize on taste, quality and workability.
16. WHO DO YOU MOST ADMIRE AND WHY? Steve Jobs. His vision, his unique ability to bring things down to the absolute essence, and his relentless pursuit to realizing it.
17. DESCRIBE YOUR VENTURE - ELEVATOR PITCH STYLE?
Be Better plant-butter is an easy 1:1 ingredient swap of dairy-butter that enables chefs to create pastries that are pure, inclusive and free from guilt.
18. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT MISSION STATEMENT OR MESSAGE + MARKET FIT FOR YOUR VENTURE?
It is our mission to stop pastries dependency on animal-derived ingredients with Be Better plant-butter.
Be Better is designed by and for chefs and offers them a sustainable 1:1 alternative with zero compromise on taste, quality and workability.
19. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO TO UNWIND AFTER A LONG WORK DAY?
Having a walk and talk.
Learning about photography and going out to take photos.
Enjoying good food with good friends.
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU TREATED YOURSELF TO AND WHAT DID YOU CELEBRATE? We are, as many start-ups will experience, in a challenging phase; Being close to break-even.
With very little cash, our focus is on growing sales and minimizing our expenses.
We have daily, weekly wins and challenges.
Honestly, I don't really celebrate, But we should with the small team we have, And some great successes we've had already such as our official launch in Australia, Securing the best Japanese distributor, And some big bakers already starting to work with us.
BONUS QUESTION: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SAY TO ALL THE PEOPLE THAT ARE SUPPORTING YOU ON YOUR AMBITIOUS JOURNEY?Â
Thank You for trusting us and for daring to lead good change realizing that bakers are going through tough times (no staff, inflation, energy and ingredient costs, government regulation pressures).
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