An Interview with Social Entrepreneur Brandon Hance

By Guest  Blogger Rebekah Iliff, Co-founder & CEO, talkTECH Communications 

(Rebekah is an organizational management, development, and communications professional who has served clients across multiple industries and across the globe for more than eight years.  OTM is very excited to have her as a periodic guest blogger.)

For any great entrepreneur comes the challenge of being in the right place at the right time, aptly understanding what innovations are necessary to improve buyer experiences and productivity, and managing the pursuit of those innovations in an effective manner. As the saying goes: "it's not about the idea, it's about the execution."

Recently, there has been a great shift in focus from the traditional economy to a digital economy that is driven by creative thinking on behalf of innovators who can identify a need, rapidly leverage technology to develop a solution, and then bring that solution to market while passionately convincing investors and constituents that it solves both a social and economic problem.  In short, this trend in “social innovation” and “social entrepreneurship” has not only usurped the demand placed on age-old industries, but it has also provided a paradigm shift in modes of thinking about the core of innovation. 

According to Jay Deragon, in his article entitled “5 Social Innovation Trends in 2011”:

“The digital economy perpetuates innovation and causes markets to migrate rapidly towards creation. Innovation comes from cross-functional ideation contributed by crowds of wisdom. The digital economy is fueling innovation as the masses contribute dialog about anything and everything with much of the focus being on how and what can be improved. The traditional economy is sluggish while the digital economy is booming. The irony is that the economics of the digital economy are created by the exchanges of value represented by minds meshing together for common causes.”

So who are these next-generation entrepreneurs? How are they changing the way in which innovation is evolving? How is their strategy and vision different from the entrepreneurs of fifteen, ten, and even five years ago? Or are they similar in their theoretical approach to problem solving and different only in process and motivation?

To answer some of these “burning questions” and to get an inside peek into the mind of one such entrepreneur, I sat down with GoodThreads Founder & CEO, Brandon Hance.  A little insight into Brandon’s pre-social-entrepreneurial life:  he was a two-time championship quarterback for the University of Southern California who sidestepped the opportunity to play professional football and instead assembled a team and raised nearly $7M in capital for his first startup Audiolife, a music technology platform he launched in 2009.

RI: How did GoodThreads come to be? What was the impetus behind launching the brand?

BH: Last year, my aunt Carol died from breast cancer.  My mother and girlfriend decided to participate in the Avon walk in her honor.  They created personalized T-shirts to wear on the day of the race, and also created shirts for our friends and family to support them on the sidelines.  When I got to the race, I realized that almost everyone there had done something similar.  The process was expensive, time consuming and a hassle, but more importantly, I noticed that nonprofits were missing a huge opportunity to increase their donations, awareness and engagement with their supporters.  From that moment, we’ve been focused on building a fun and easy solution for nonprofits and their supporters to buy personalized merchandise, with 100% of the proceeds going directly to their favorite causes.

RI: Social innovation is a huge trend right now, how does GoodThreads fit into that?

BH: GoodThreads is passionate about helping those who are helping people in need.  We like to think of ourselves as a ‘profit for purpose’ business that is focused on more than just the bottom line.  We use technology to improve the processes in which nonprofits raise money and engage their most passionate supporters.  We’re starting with T-shirts, but have major strategic plans to expand upon that in the coming years.

RI: What is the current “make-up” of your team?

BH: GoodThreads is fortunate to be able to leverage the incredible team and platform of Audiolife, which powers more than 200,000 artist storefronts including Paul McCartney, Eminem, Rihanna and the Beastie Boys to name a few.  We will share their operations and engineering resources, but have hired a new marketing, sales and business development staff that are specifically dedicated to GoodThreads.  The new staff is passionate about our vision and deeply experienced in the nonprofit sector.

RI: What does growth look like for GoodThreads over the next 6 to 12 months? What are your expectations?

BH: I expect that GoodThreads will establish itself as the market leader for personalized merchandise in the nonprofit community.  No other company will empower nonprofits to increase fundraising and engagement the way that we will.

RI: What is your business model, main source of revenue?

BH:  When we first started GoodThreads, we had a vision of making it as easy and affordable for nonprofits as we possibly could.  Therefore, we decided to make our solution available for absolutely no upfront costs.  We only make money when the nonprofits are generating donations through our platform, via the sale of merchandise.

RI: How is serving the nonprofit sector different than serving the for profit sector?

BH:  From my perspective, I find it extremely fulfilling to know that we are truly changing the world.  Every time a merchandise item is purchased through our system, I know that we are contributing to some of the most challenging issues that humanity faces: disease, environment, animal rights, domestic and sexual abuse and so many other worthy causes.  My team and I were always motivated to build the best products and services that we possibly could, but knowing that our work is helping others definitely gives an additional boost of motivation to all of us.

RI: What is your favorite part of working with a startup/small business?

BH: There is nothing more gratifying than having a vision start in your mind, and eventually bringing it to life.  The ideas, challenges, teamwork, ups and downs are priceless.  I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else.

RI: What is one of the greatest challenges you face as a young CEO?

BH: Like any CEO, young or old, one of the most challenging aspects of leading a company is learning to be patient and stay the course, even when naysayers and doubters circle the roost.  Learning to distinguish sheer negativity from realistic concern is something that only comes with experience.  However, I believe that encountering challenges is one of the motivating factors behind innovation; and as an eternal optimist I tend to view these “hiccups” as merely another growth opportunity – both for myself and for my companies.

RI: What opportunities do you see in technology over the next 2 to 5 years? What are the trends?

BH: The trend of convergence and cross-utilization of various platforms will continue to be an opportunity for innovators over the next several years.  Consumers and businesses, while grateful for the efficiency and connectivity technology has afforded, also want the convenience and effectiveness that comes only when these various forms can communicate and integrate with each other.  This was a driving force behind our decision to make GoodThreads a B2B platform that integrates with already existing software for nonprofits.  We believe that the best tech solutions of the future will not disrupt the already existing processes, but rather, “enhance” them.  I don’t think people want any more “disruption” – as popular as that term is.  What I think they really want is convenience and user-friendliness.

RI: Any last words of advice for aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs?

BH:  Do something useful that improves people’s lives.  If you have an idea that you believe can do that, chase it with all of your might and surround yourselves with the smartest, most passionate people you can find.  Oh yeah, and try your best to enjoy each and every step of the process, no matter how hard it may be.

To learn more about GoodThreads visit: http://www.GoodThreads.com

Follow Brandon Hance/GoodThreads on Twitter: @goodthreads

Follow Rebekah Iliff on Twitter: @ttcrebekah | @talkTECHcomm

Please note: the University of Illinois is not affiliated with, nor does it endorse, GoodThreads.