David Segal is the founder of DAVIDsTEA and Mad Radish. During his time at DAVIDsTEA, he grew the company from a single store to a $200M brand. David left DAVIDsTEA in 2016 and started Mad Radish, a quick-service restaurant concept. In 2017, he was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40. Why did David leave his former company? How was he able to bounce back and achieve a higher level of success? Well, time to find out.

On this episode of the Perfectly Mentored Podcast, David and Jason discuss what makes an entrepreneur, how important it is to accept the intangibles in business, and the whys and hows of work-life balance.

Topics Covered:

• Who is David Segal? [00:19]
• How did you build a business without having prior knowledge about your main product? [10:53]
• How do you reconcile having to pitch into meetings with investors when the business isn’t moving at all? [15:35]
• What lessons did you learn from the experience of being so young yet having to pitch ideas in boardrooms? [19:48]
• From your experience growing DAVIDsTEA, which lessons can someone starting a business or looking to scale learn from the most? [21:42]
• How important is marketing and advertising to building a brand when it comes to your business? Why do you think so many business owners see it more as a cost rather than an investment? [26:43]
• What was the marketing strategy behind DAVIDsTEA? [28:22]
• There’s a story going around about DAVIDsTEA and Oprah. Can you share the real version and what was the thought behind it? [30:01]
• If you could go back in time and start DAVIDsTEA in this era instead, with all the technology available now, do you think it would have been easier for you? [32:46]
• Do you believe you could teach someone to be an entrepreneur? How do you define what an entrepreneur is and what’s your take on the current landscape? [36:42]
• How do you balance your personal affairs with the responsibility of building and running such a huge company? [41:36]
• Nowadays, taking downtime and breaks are given importance. When do you think that shift from work hard-put in the hours happened? [43:42]
• What’s your routine like? [45:12]
• Looking back, how important was mindset for all your success and what do you do to take care of that? [46:18]
• What advice would you give to entrepreneurs struggling with their mental health? [51:18]
• Did you face Impostor Syndrome? How did you handle that? [55:05]
• What tea would you recommend for entrepreneurs? What’s the best one for someone who wants to shift from coffee? [57:33]

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