This week Brock & Jeremy had a chance to speak with Mapate Diop.  Mapate is a co-founder & entrepreneur of WearDiop.com, a custom clothing line.  Mapate is an alum of Venture For America, like Brock.  His co-founder Evan and Mapate were both in Venture For America when they decided to launch Diop.  

Mapate provides his insight on why gathering experiences is important to entrepreneurs and leaders.  In his career, he had focused on internships and jobs to better understand a variety of industries.  During that time, he noted the sea changes of tech and the financial crisis as playing a big role on how he viewed his career.

Mapate was earlier than his peers to things like computer science and startups, relying on both formal and informal networks throughout his career.  Beyond a network, we discuss one of the most important aspects of being first - defining success.  Once you know what success means, you can fail and quickly recover and try again.  

Some practical advice for anyone leading a team or trying to start a business, Mapate has interviewed over 300 of his own customers to better understand his business.  His framework is 1). Know your customer 2). Understand what the thing is they want 3). Why they buy 4). What will ensure they come back.

It's not all about the bottom line at Diop.  Mapate and his co-founder, Evan, have made over 100,000 masks for frontline workers during the COVID-19 response.  Diop has also donated over $75,000 to non-profit organizations in the past few months using the proceeds from mask sales.

Mapate is an inspiring leader.  Follow his progress and get some clothing at WearDiop.com.