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Today I am joined by adventurer, entrepreneur, and angel investor Davis Smith — founder and CEO of Cotopaxi.
Davis grew up living in several countries around the world, which fueled his sense of adventure and his empathy for those living in poverty. After college, he ended up starting several successful e-commerce businesses while living in Brazil, but despite his success, he still wanted to do more to make a difference in the world using business.
For his next venture, he decided to merge his love of travel with a poverty-fighting business model. He named the new social impact e-commerce company Cotopaxi to represent the spirit of adventure, optimism, and determination that he’d experienced during his time in Ecuador. He soon started things off with a “scrappy” idea to bring two llamas onto a college campus to get the word out about the new brand.
Today, on the Rank & File podcast, Davis and I talk about his experience as a purpose-driven entrepreneur and CEO with a focus on doing good. We talk all about how his time building large e-commerce brands has helped him shape the sales strategy of Cotopaxi and the various ways they engage their customers throughout the year to drive revenues and impact at the same time.
Davis also shares his advice with fellow entrepreneurs on fighting impostor syndrome, copying others who inspiring you versus finding your own way as a founder, and why the little moments that touch just one person’s life deeply as a business owner are what matter most.
I can’t think of a better person to help me kick off the launch of Issue #16 of Rank & File Magazine.
In Today’s podcast episode, you’ll learn:
- Davis’ advice for balancing out seasonality in business both from a revenue and social impact perspective when working with vulnerable communities
- How Davis deals with impostor syndrome even now as the founder of his fourth successful business
- How Cotopaxi drives revenue online and through “scrappy” and adventurous events
- Davis’ most proud moment as an entrepreneur, giving insight into what should matter most to us as we grow our businesses.
Important links from this episode:
Cotopaxi
Questival
Rank & File Issue #16 — Building a “Do Good” Online Business With the Help of Two Llamas a Conversation with Davis Smith, Founder and CEO of Cotopaxi
