Zachary Witman

Zachary Witman

The co-founder of GrowSquares, an urban gardening platform.

Brooklyn, New York, United States
Member since September 20, 2016
  • About
Investor interests
Locations of interest
Credentials None
Education
2004 Carnegie Mellon , BS , Economics
2006 MIT , MS

I am a(n):

Entrepreneur

Companies I've founded or co-founded:
GrowSquares
Companies I work or worked for:
PetskyPrunier, Greenwich Associates, Winterberry Group
If you're an entrepreneur or corporate innovator, why?

I want to change the world.

My favorite startups:

Zipline, Cylance

What's most frustrating and rewarding about entrepreneurship/innovation?

Every day I encounter strategic issues I once thought I knew a ton about (marketing, enterprise architecture, etc.) but have quickly learned the importance of being comfortable knowing your team can handle it. Weirdly enough, that might also be the most rewarding aspect of entrepreneurship as not only does encountering things you're not instinctively good at motivates you to learn, but it helps with personal growth as well.

What's the No. 1 mistake entrepreneurs/innovators make?

The amount of effort it takes for your product to gain traction. While I went into this process thinking a great product, a receptive and defined audience and 'hip' brand was all it would take to capture market share, I'm continually struck by how that's only part of the equation.

What are the top three lessons you've learned as an entrepreneur?

1. No idea is sacred, pivoting isn't a sign of weakness but resilience
2. KPIs aren't the same thing as player stats; companies are organisms with each one unique in how it grows/develops and efficacy/potential isn't always captured by the 'metric of the day'
3. Everyone has a voice but the most important one is always yours