In 1996 Apple had lost $867 million, and by 1997 they were on the verge of bankruptcy. According to the New York Times, they cut 1/3 of their workforce and were about 90 days out from running out of money. In a Hail Mary attempt to survive, the board brought back Steve Jobs as CEO. He eliminated 70% of their product plans, launched the now-famous “Think Different” ad campaign, and reimagined their entire product line. Just a few short years later in 2001, they launched the iPod which propelled them out of the red and into the black. Fast forward to today, and Apple is now worth over $2.3 trillion. Every company has to navigate setbacks. It’s an inescapable part of the journey. This is the final installment of a 3 part BrightLive podcast series where we break down how to build a distinct brand. In this episode, we are focusing on navigating and overcoming setbacks. On the panel, we have Jacob Pechenick, the founder of Lettuce Grow, Manu Seve, the founder of Alphaa.io, and Loren Brill-Castle, the founder of Sweet Loren’s.In this segment of the series we discuss:

• dealing with implicit bias while raising capital

• why embracing big problems can lead to big growth

• how making the decision to become an entrepreneur is like switching religions