Krein Meets Ryan Freed: A Journey Through the Empowerment of Young Tech Startups with Impactful Endeavors

‍Ryan Freed is a key founder of "GoodSide," an impact fund studio based in New York City. Their focus lies in investing in companies committed to various impact categories, aiding them in building their foundations. Started out as "Arc Studio," they wanted to make the brand cohesive and have a new look, more aligned with the actual thesis.

Krein played a role in this transformation, assisting in the creation of a new brand that unified all visual elements. Krein's contribution included developing a new logo and design system through an iterative process. The culmination of this process was a comprehensive brand book for their updated website. Ryan, pleased with the outcome, shares insights into sustainable B2B startups and the key strategies for their growth in our interview.

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In your view, how does helping ESG and social impact businesses in scaling contribute in today's context?

From a “philosophical perspective”, the raison d'être of business should be to positively impact people's lives. This principle can be interpreted in many different ways. There is, in my opinion, a broad spectrum of things that should be prioritized or even placed at the forefront of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices, which are facing numerous challenges and issues that need more addressing.

Unfortunately, in our global society, the pursuit of profit has often overshadowed other priorities. In other words, the center of what business is about. Business education often emphasizes the importance of profit-making, reflecting the origins of our societal structure. While generating profit, making money, is essential, the traditional approach needs a reevaluation. Because it has taken away from prioritizing impact or purpose at the heart of our enterprises.

However, there are examples of businesses that have successfully integrated purpose into their operations, such as, for instance, Patagonia. With the emergence of Generation Z, there is anticipation for more businesses to follow suit, placing value creation for people's lives ahead of mere profit.

At GoodSide, our diverse experiences have shaped our understanding of building and scaling companies, as well as advising and mentoring. We recognize the importance of representation from minority groups and different segments of the population. Many individuals from these groups have already achieved success as founders, and we aim to leverage their experiences to assist other companies in succeeding.

Our focus is on shifting the emphasis from purely profit-making to aligning financial success with positive impact, with the latter taking precedence. We believe that money should naturally follow impactful endeavors.

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‍Based on your work at GoodSide, what influence do you believe empowering young decision-makers like visionary founders to create sustainable and inclusive initiatives has on society?

What we have done so far is building more inclusive pathways in business careers by giving the chance for more entrepreneurs to take that capital and turn it into something bigger. We have been particularly focused on supporting exceptional founders from underrepresented communities who may not be receiving adequate funding due to various barriers. By embracing individuals from different backgrounds and socio-economic statuses, we aim to cultivate a richer tapestry of cultures and business models.

Our mission has always been to identify talented individuals, empower them with capital, and facilitate the creation of innovative ventures led by the type of diverse founders we aspire to see driving change. Through this approach, we tried to develop more equitable solutions that fit with the varied needs of our society, fostering creativity and inclusivity on a broader scale.

We envision this effort as a ripple effect, with the impact going beyond the immediate beneficiaries to their networks, including families and communities. This foundational approach reflects our commitment to driving positive societal change at both a fundamental and broader level.

In terms of specific sectors, we are particularly focused on climate and equity, aiming to build a more equitable employment landscape and develop solutions that address the diverse needs of different cultural and societal groups. Our goal is to fund and nurture companies that want to have a long-term lasting impact, shaping the future for the next decade and beyond.

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Which B2B startups with groundbreaking value propositions have you been involved in building, accelerating, or investing in? What do they have in common?

A premise: in the realm of impact-driven companies, the journey to identifying your market can often face a longer cycle to figure out who your market is, primarily due to systemic issues. This calls for early and thorough customer research and experience, focusing on understanding the specific problems within the sector that customers aim to solve. So, rather than creating solutions and then seeking a market for them, success often stems from addressing customer needs directly.

In the B2B landscape, I see a lot of the most success from establishing trust with initial customers or partners. Building this connection can be challenging initially, requiring significant effort to earn trust, collaborate closely with customers, and iterate on solutions until achieving a product that resonates with them and drives long-term engagement. However, this process is crucial for achieving product-market fit, as many B2B founders may find that their customers aren't yet buying due to a lack of alignment between the product and market needs. Therefore, it's essential to focus on taking the necessary steps to reach product-market fit first. And this is what successful B2B start-ups do.

In your opinion, what does the future hold for two pivotal sectors like climate technology infrastructure and clean energy? What strategies should these startups adopt for growth?

I think that all these start-ups should consider the holistic view of how the world functions. It's important to have an idealistic perspective, create amazing hardware products, and harness cutting-edge capture technology. But, at the same time it's also important to consider the “bigger picture”: where does the liquid carbon go? A market can still be in the process of evolving; it is essential to create products that fit really into the existing system.

Green start-ups should ask themselves: How do we align with governmental frameworks? How can we access available grant money? There is a need to be “realistic”.

Achieving a balance is key: we need long-term solutions that can be adopted in developing markets, but we also require immediate solutions. It's tricky. It’s all about embracing the needs of both still-developing markets without immediate buyers and addressing the needs of the present. Finding this balance is key for sustainable growth and impact.

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Can you provide an example of a few tech startups from the us midwest that you have advised in the past, if you have any?

A project I'm intimately engaged with is “Public Grid”, which is launching a new electricity company in the Midwest. Its aim is to create transparency and build trust within the market, addressing the confusion surrounding energy markets. By implementing a wholesale supply financial model and providing insights into individual energy usage, Public Grid aims to make green energy more affordable and understandable.

They are focused mainly on leveraging energy data to develop strategies for reducing consumption. Despite high customer acquisition costs, particularly due to behavioral factors, Public Grid is launching in the Chicago market with solutions to help manage electricity consumption and prices with interesting expected results.. My role involved assisting with their go-to-market strategy, seeking strategic investors, establishing partnerships for technology integrations, and managing customer acquisition costs.

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‍Pills of Ryan Freed‍

Ryan Freed is an American entrepreneur committed in launching and scaling businesses mainly focused on social impact. He collaborated with companies across various sectors such as ESG, healthcare, agtech, utilities, fitness, DEI, education, proptech, and more. His expertise lies in helping companies find product-market fit, develop value propositions, drive sales, establish efficient sales teams/processes, and refine strategies. Beyond building companies, Ryan is passionate about mentoring early-stage entrepreneurs, particularly first-time founders, through performance coaching. He also enjoys facilitating networking opportunities to expedite their sales and fundraising efforts.