Entrepreneurship with Impact: David Gandini's Path to SOBRsafe

0:02Who's ready to rock today, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire, the only daily show interviewing the world's top entrepreneurs seven days a week. Today, we'll be breaking down entrepreneurship with impact, David Gandini's path to sober safe. And to drop these value bombs, I brought David into EO Fire Studios. David is a serial entrepreneur who's led multiple companies to successful exits and now drives innovation as CEO of Sober Safe, pioneering alcohol detection tech with real world impact and recognition. And today, Foundation, we'll talk about how to be uniquely positioned to lead a new frontier.

0:36We'll talk about navigating high stakes decisions and faith, purpose, and entrepreneurship, and oh, so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to David and our sponsors. These days, your business needs total visibility from global shipments to tariff impacts to real-time cashflow. That's NetSuite by Oracle, your AI-powered business management suite trusted by over 42 ,000 businesses. Download the free ebook, navigating global trade, three insights for leaders at netsuite.com slash fire. David, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.

1:18First of all, thank you for having me. And I will say what is up to Fire Nation. Let's go. Appreciate that. I think, I mean, I think that's a really interesting, deep question, John. And I think for me, it's having the patience and the perseverance to deflect what is around you, all the challenges, and having that clear-cut vision to get to where you want to go at the end of the road or seeing that dim light get brighter at the end of the tunnel. but it's believing in yourself and believing in what your company is doing and just continuing to go past all the naysayers because if in your heart you know something is needed, you know you have something great, you have to continue because nothing's easy.

2:05David, in the introduction, I broke down some details about SoberSafe, how it's pioneering alcohol detection tech with real-world impact and recognition. But what I want to know now is what inspired you to launch SoberSafe? Over the 40 plus years, I've done about six or seven companies. And most of them I started myself. And I find that I go through this period where when I'm done with something, whether you exit or whether it's time for you to exit, because you've taken the business as far as you can, I always try to get into something different. I didn't want to be sitting on the porch at 75 years old, talking about my 40 year career, doing the same thing.

2:48So I'm not interested in that. So what I did, just prior to meeting Sober Safe, I decided that I was going to start raising money for venture capital because I had raised money for companies, but not only for companies that I had worked for. So what I did is I met a guy at a luncheon and he ended up bringing me on a few months later. And I started raising money for Sober Safe as a venture capitalist and not as an employee. So when I started to get involved with SoberSafe. And at the time, it was in its infancy, but they had an alcohol detection product. And I thought about this significant alcohol use disorder problem that's global, but in the U.S.

3:29it affects 30 million people. I thought, maybe it's time for me to shift and make a product and build a business that's disruptive, but with the potential to save lives and make a meaningful social impact. So probably after two months of raising capital, I ended up taking over as the vice president of sales and the chief operating officer. So that's how that happened. It just hit me one day that I need to make a difference and do something that would make impact and perhaps have a legacy for myself and my family. Now, David, you are uniquely positioned to lead this new frontier. year. But what I want to know is why?

4:13My journey has taught me that success in early stage companies, first of all, you have to understand it requires more time than you would expect, more capital than you would expect, and really a relentless commitment to building a strong, resilient team of individuals that have battle scars. And so in terms of this company, It's very similar to other companies. Now it's hardware and software, but it really is understanding the process, how to raise capital and how to build the right team with the individuals that have, again, the right acumen to get to where you're going. And then you start early on.

4:54You manage based on realistic timelines and metrics, but also being ready to pivot if things aren't working well. And I don't mean pivot 180. 80, I mean, maybe pivot 35 or 25 degrees. So that's where I thought I could fit in well based on my background. So speaking of unique, like let's talk about SoberSafe's unique alcohol detection solutions and specifically how you recognize the opportunity that you just found to be staring you in the face. Well, if you think about it, I think, and this could be, this is not exact, but I think the breathalyzers have been around for six decades or more. and that was the baseline.

5:36That was the benchmark in the industry for how individuals were testing alcohol and here we come with this sensor and it was 25 % less time to get this done and it was also hardware with software which doesn't happen today with the technology. So I saw this potential, didn't understand the markets at that point, but saw the potential for major disruption And I think that that term is overused, but in this case, it absolutely makes sense. We could disrupt the market with something that would be much more beneficial and much more humane for the individuals that would have to use this device or the band.

6:18So it was really based on seeing that there was this massive greenfield, but understanding that there would be significant challenges when you're entering with no competition, at least in the space that we started it, at Fleet and Warehouse. So David, talk about a challenge that you encountered at one point along your journey, because you mentioned that you made a couple of pivots, a couple of adjustments, and that you were uniquely positioned to make those calls because of past experience that you have. But tell us a story of one of those times you really had to make a pivot, like take us there.

6:49Yeah, sure. So it's a perfect segue, John. But when we started in the business, we did some pilots. and the original thought was we would put our devices in fleet facilities where drivers would come and check in in the morning to get their keys and make sure that they were sober. And then every time they'd come in and out of the facility, they would have to check in to make sure that they were sober. And it wasn't penal. It was just preventative. And so we had a couple of pilots. The pilots went extremely well, and then we embarked on that market. I think in 2023, we did 29 different trade shows.

7:30We had a very significant funnel. There was a tremendous amount of interest, but there were no sales. We weren't closing. So I spent some time, I think in the month of August, I took about a week, and I really dug into the funnel and started looking at the information, started looking at comments, and I said to myself, well, I'm not feeling this. We've spent so much time here. We spent money here, and we're not closing business. So I made a few phone calls to these leaders with these companies and got some feedback. And what I found was that even though the technology was great, they were not interested in testing their employees on a regular basis.

8:12This was like right around COVID time or post-COVID. and they thought it would be too difficult to maintain their employee base and they would rather take the odds if somebody had an issue and they were driving with alcohol and they had an accident. They were more concerned about keeping employees than keeping the employees safe. So at that point in time, I had to make a decision, and we were all in. We had three or four salesmen. We had a lead on the sales side, and we were deep into that space. And I think it was the end of 23 into 24. I spent a couple of days and said, okay, we need to make a pivot.

8:48And at that point, we just dropped everything we were working on in that space, and we migrated to the behavioral health space where they already had a breathalyzer. They were already testing, and there was no data backup. There was no dashboard. There was nothing. It was just crude, a simple device. So we made that. I can tell you, we made that adjustment on January 14th of 2024. for. And since then, being in a market where there is that function required, which is testing, it's been pretty significant for us in terms of gathering interest, gaining traction, building brand. And I believe we're now in, I think, 44 states with the band.

9:27And I think we're located in, I think we have 40 installs with the stationary. So things are going well. They're not going as well as I'd like them to, but we're gaining traction and momentum now. So that was a big move to drop everything that we were doing in that space and the time and money that was spent and shift. And we had instant traction in the first quarter of 2024. We're building from there. And to me, Farnation, this just speaks to you needing to keep your finger on the pulse of your ideal customers, your ideal clients. You have to say to yourself, am I asking them the right questions?

10:04Am I having the right conversations? And that's what David had to flip. And he actually went out there and said, listen, this is not working. Like you're not investing. You're not buying. I just want to know why. Like he was just asking why. And people were very willing to tell him. And then he said, okay, well, maybe this shifts some of the strategy. And then that shift and that pivot, that adjustment caused some initial success and now some momentum. Now you can double down on things that are actually working and you can amplify those successful funnels. And we have a lot more to talk about around this topic and more when we get back from thanking our sponsors.

10:37When I first launched Entrepreneurs on Fire in September of 2012, I had a feeling it was going to be big, but I didn't know how big. Fast forward to May 2014, not even two years later, and Kate and I were traveling Europe on our first ever completely unplugged vacation. No emails, no interviews, everything for the business was handled ahead of time. From the beginning, location independence has been a high priority of ours. We love to travel and we love the freedom of being able to pack a bag and hit the road on our own terms. While we were away, we thought it'd be great to make some extra money to host our place on Airbnb.

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12:20If our business needed a tool like this, NetSuite is what we'd use. It's one system, full control. Tame the chaos with NetSuite. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, download the free ebook, Navigating Global Trade, three insights for leaders at netsuite.com slash fire. That's netsuite.com slash fire. Now, David, we all have varied views on faith, on purpose, on entrepreneurship, but I'm curious on how you personally view the relationship between those three, between faith, between purpose and entrepreneurship, and guiding your personal work and your leadership. Okay. Well, first of all, I mean, I'm a strong believer that God put me on this earth to do what I do, which is lead people in challenging situations and be the individual that raises his hand when asked in a room of 10 or 20 people who can do this, that I raise my hand.

13:16So I have strong faith. And I think in my personal experience, that faith, it gives me strength and it gives me the ability to be the best person that I can be. And I practice that on a daily basis. And I really think it's been extremely helpful to me and for me and those around me. But at the heart of our mission, John, it's really improving behavioral outcomes for these individuals with alcohol use disorder, which is significant. But more importantly, we're saving lives and we're helping these families through this difficult process where there's this lack of trust. and how do we track and where is John or where is Dave and how do we know he is safe?

14:05And so it's all about that. But then in terms of purpose, you know, the company's purpose is further supported by sharing all of these great testimonials and real-life stories and the interviews that we have, this podcast with you and I, which inspire and motivate our employees and our users because at the end of the day, my job here is to lead with purpose and it's to get everybody on board with our mission, which, again, is to save lives and to help these individuals that are caught in this trap of AUD. So it's extremely important to me as a faith-based guy to every day and every night to check in and to make sure I'm doing the right things, I'm handling things properly, but my faith gives me the strength to get through the last five years and do the things that we have done.

14:59Now, I think this does lead into the next topic I want to discuss because our listeners, Fire Nation, they're entrepreneurs, they're small business owners. They are looking to apply their own unique talents to creating a meaningful impact in this world. And whatever their passions might be, their skill sets, their knowledge, their value that they can give, what is your top advice right now for those individuals who are looking to do just that? Another great question, a great topic, but I think a lot of individuals have ideas and they have great ideas and thoughts on business opportunities and making changes, but they don't have the courage to step forward.

15:43So the first thing, I mean, I guess my advice would be, first of all, be honest with yourself and ask yourself, Do you have an idea that can truly make a difference? And is there a market to support that idea? So that's kind of the first phase, because in a lot of cases, you'll see the entrepreneur that goes down with a ship because he or she believed that this idea was great, but nobody was buying anything. Nobody was interested, but they would continue. They didn't pivot. They didn't make an adjustment. Maybe they were afraid to. Maybe they think they couldn't. But that's the first step. The second is that do you have the entrepreneurial skills?

16:21I mean, I'm assuming, John, this is a first-time entrepreneur that's stepping out, walking into the aisle to get things done. So do you have the skills? Do you know what that means? The perseverance, the courage, the energy, the ability to raise capital, the ability to attract great talent that can help you? Because it's not you. It's you plus everybody that you bring in. And I think if you go through that process and you write it down on a piece of paper, and if your answer is you've got more yes than no, then you have to have the courage to build your plan and take the leap. And that's the only way you can bring your vision.

16:59You don't want to get, when I talked earlier, John, about sitting on the porch talking about what I did for 40 years, I've had some successes and I've had some failures. and you've got, again, I just get up and keep going, but you have to have courage, confidence, and perseverance and you have to have something that somebody's interested in buying or using. David, you shared a lot of great, what I like to call value bombs throughout this entire interview about your story, your beliefs, your thoughts, your processes, your advice. What would be the one thing that you would want our listeners to really take away from our conversation today?

17:39If you have an idea, if you feel that you can create something that's beneficial, and you feel you can take that leap, go ahead and take the leap because it's worthwhile. It's an unbelievable experience, whether you succeed or not, to go out and give something a try and put your best effort into it rather than sitting on the sidelines saying you could have done that. If you want to do something, do it. David, if our listeners are really connecting with you and what you're doing with SoberSafe in general, what is your call to action for Fire Nation today? Well, the call to action is, I mean, if there's interest and there's energy around what we're doing, please reach out to us.

18:26And together we can work on this significant issue, which is global. And we can try to make these families and we can try to improve and we can try to prove outcomes and save lives. So if you're interested in joining the mission, we'd love to hear from you. And what would be that URL or that location to go to? It would just be SoberSafe.com, our website, and they can reach out to us through the website. S-O-B-R-S-A-F-E.com. Sober Safe Fire Nation. And you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with DG and JLD today, so keep up the heat. And for links to everything we talked about, visit eofire.com, type David in the search bar and the show notes page will pop right up.

19:09And David, I want to say thank you for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation. For that, we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Thanks, John. Appreciate it. Hey, Fire Nation, a huge thank you to our sponsors and David for sponsoring today's episode. And Fire Nation, over the last decade, I've interviewed more than 4 ,000 of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, and I've created a revolutionary 17-step roadmap to your financial freedom and fulfillment. I put it all into my first traditionally published book, The Common Path to Uncommon Success, which is personally endorsed by Seth Godin and Gary Vaynerchuk.

19:44The Common Path to Uncommon Success is the step-by-step guidance that you need to achieve the lifestyle of your dreams. Visit UncommonSuccessBook.com. I'll catch you there or on the flip side. These days, your business needs total visibility from global shipments to tariff impacts to real-time cash flow. That's NetSuite by Oracle, your AI-powered business management suite trusted by over 42 ,000 businesses. Download the free e-book, Navigating Global Trade, Three Insights for Leaders at netsuite.com slash fire.