IAM1245 – CEO and Founder Helps His Clients Build their Business Ideas and Scale them Up

Patrick Bryant is a co-founder of Code/+/Trust software development firm in Charleston, SC. After co-founding his first company, Go To Team (broadcast video services), and taking it to 20 offices around the US 25 years ago, his bio is then a steady stream of starting new companies in media, rolling papers, and software. As a serial entrepreneur, he continues to start and invest in new startups including, Teamphoria (human resource engagement software), and Event. Gives (fundraising event software), ADesk (crew production directory software) & Shine Rolling Papers. Bryant feels strongly about making Charleston and South Carolina a better place to work as an Entrepreneur. He serves as a Trustee of Trident Tech, on the SC Department of Workforce & Employment Workforce Review Committee, chairs the Harbor Entrepreneur Center, and was previously Chairman of Palmetto Goodwill and the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. He’s recognized as a Liberty Fellow by Wofford College, a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network, and a Riley Fellow granted by Furman University.

• CEO Story: started helping his father’s business, building his own during high school, and was able to create his business formula. And has kept growing new businesses and investing in new start-ups.
• Business Service: Help companies including start-ups, build their business ideas & software and help them scale them up.
• Secret Sauce: Growth and Scale. Help people find products that can scale and help protect the products.
• CEO Hack: Sell something to someone. Analyzing how can we quickly put a product that a person is willing to pay for its value.
• CEO Nugget: High-level selling. Even if you still don’t have the product but can produce it – closing the deal.
• CEO Defined: Paints the vision. Paints a picture of vision to Clients. Sell the vision to employees and partners. Grow the team.

Website: www.codeandtrust.com

Facebook: codeandtrust

Youtube: CodeandTrust

Instagram: codeandtrust

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Transcription

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00:14 – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresh values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is to  I AM CEO podcast.

00:43 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the  I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today Patrick Bryant of Code and Trust. Patrick, it's great to have you on the show.

00:51 – Patrick Bryant

Nice to be here. Excited?

00:53 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, I'm excited as well too, and super excited to have you on to hear about all the awesome things that you're doing. But before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Patrick so you can hear about some of those awesome things. Patrick is a co-founder of a code and trust software development firm in Charleston, South Carolina. After co-founding his first company, go to the team and took it to 20 offices around the US 25 years ago. His bio then a steady stream of starting new companies in media, rolling papers, and software.

As a serial entrepreneur, he continues to start and invest in new startups including team four year and event gives and a desk and shine rolling papers. Brian feels strongly about making Charleston in South Carolina a better place to work as an entrepreneur and he serves as a trustee of Trident Tech in the SC Department of Workforce and Employment, Workforce Review Committee, chairs the Harbor Entrepreneur Center, and was previously chairman of Palminto, Goodwill and Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce.

He's recognized as a liberty by Wolford College a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and a Riley Fellow granted by Furman University. Super excited to have you on the show, Patrick. You're doing so many awesome things. I'm glad we had an opportunity to kind of get a little bit of knowledge and information from you. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO Community?

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02:07 – Patrick Bryant

Absolutely.

02:08 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Well, let's make it happen then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit, a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

02:15 – Patrick Bryant

Well, you know, I started my first business when I was in high school. I had helped my dad start his first business a few years earlier and was so excited, learned all kinds of amazing things from helping my dad, but ultimately he filed for bankruptcy. And I went through one of the most trying, difficult, painful times of my life. We ended up losing our house. My parents got divorced. It was an incredibly painful time. But I took everything from that experience. I mean, literally everything. I took the pins, I took the equipment, I took the used minivan that our business had had because that's all I had at that moment with our family losing everything.

I started a second business at 17 graphic design firms and really focused on things that I knew I could control. The financials, working hard, hustling, let's just say girls weren't coming over to look at my p and L. All my friends were out worried about where they were going on dates and what fields they were going to party on. And I was worried about running a business and hustling and being an entrepreneur. And that moment, that growth as a high school student, really set my entire career on a path of multiple businesses, figuring out the growth business formula where you're really just able to scale and grow businesses.

So since then, I've started ten businesses total, and four of them have gone multi-million. Some of them are still in the works. And I really do feel like there's a lot to share there in ways of helping people create businesses that are built for scale and growth. And that to me, is the number one thing we as entrepreneurs can do. So in Charleston, South Carolina, and then in Washington, DC, the two places where I spend the most time, I really do focus on that, learning from those early childhood experiences and growing businesses, but also helping other people grow good businesses.

04:24 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Well, I appreciate you so much in sharing that and sharing how you were able to kind of take everything, including the pins, you know, from that, the business experience and kind of just, you know, hit the ground running, it sounds like. Also, too, I'm glad we now know that women are not interested in p and l as it sounds like as well, too, because that's something that's important for anybody that they want to make sure that they know about. But I love how for one, you know, you sound like you've been able to have, you know, so much success, but you haven't just, you know, hoarded that or taken that and not shared that. I appreciate you for, you know, being able to make that impact in so many different ways in the Washington, DC area and also in the South Carolina area, too.

04:57 – Patrick Bryant

Yes, absolutely. And I am truly passionate about helping entrepreneurs achieve scale and growth in both DC and Charleston. So in DC, the co-director of startup Grind which I think is a fantastic product to help people connect. And then in Charleston, we founded a nonprofit called the Harbor Entrepreneur Center that's helped over 90 businesses scale and grow. So in both places, I'm all about mentorship and helping people, especially in the software space. But I've touched a few other places, too.

05:30 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, awesome, awesome. So I wanted to drill down a little bit more about code and trust. Could you take us through a little bit more on what you're doing there and how you're serving your clients?

05:37 – Patrick Bryant

So Code and Trust is a software development shop, again, based in DC and Charleston. And the entire mission for Code and Trust is to help folks that are working on software business ideas to help them grow and scale those quickly and in a really positive way. So we built our team of software engineers to think like entrepreneurs. So even when they're developing your software, they're not just building what you told them to build, they're building. Knowing these growth scale strategies and the beauty of what we've accomplished at code and trust I'm super proud that my business partners and I, have all started businesses, and we've all exited.

We all understand that moment of startup, and that's why we've been able to build this company that really helps. So some people come to us as corporations and they already have a client base or employees that they want to build software for, but they want to build something new. Our team is able to build that minimum viable product, launch it to their employees or their clients, get feedback, iterate, and really grow something that's going to work well for them.

On the other hand, we've got a lot of entrepreneurial clients who are in the startup phase somewhere between zero and 20 employees, and they are growing a software product. In that case, we really help them understand market analysis, competitive analysis, and pricing models, getting them to a code base, and a level of security that allows them to scale, but also isn't ridiculous for the size that they're in, right? You need different security if you're publicly traded than if you're a startup. And so we really have a handle on, these are the things you need right now at this scale. And then as you grow, we're going to help you get into those next level pieces.

07:37 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So you might have already touched on this, but I want to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. This could be for yourself personally, the business, or a combination of both. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

07:48 – Patrick Bryant

Generally speaking, people are excited to hear about the breadth of businesses that I've been involved in and the, you know, rolling papers to cigars, to television production. We're involved in a lot of TV shows. And then software and software and software. So people are always saying, how are you in so many of these deals? And I always go back to the basic framework. We are trying to create companies that have the ability to grow very quickly, and that means we've baked into the model that they can scale, which means sold around the world repeatedly. Right. That's what we're looking for when we're testing out business models.

We don't want to sell just one zip code to a certain group of people, you know, males under the age of 18, and then only sell to them once. That is not a recipe for success. Our secret sauce is to help people find products that are in their lane, that they understand, that they're experts in, but that can scale. And then, as we develop those products, be looking for innovation where we can protect things with patents and trademarks. And even to your question itself, secret sauce. Right. What can we provide in building out that company?

There is some sort of protected innovation through a proprietary process, a trademark, a patent, or any of those things? That's what we're looking for because it's that scale that lets us grow really large and really fast. But it is the innovation in the process that is the thing that is juice behind that ability to grow because competitors can't come along and just replicate exactly what you're doing. So for me, it's growth and scale. That's the secret sauce.

09:50 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit, and I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

10:01 – Patrick Bryant

Well, my favorite line is to sell something to someone. My hack that I push whenever I'm working with a young company is how quickly can we get to a product that we can put in front of a person that wants to buy it and then see if they will pay the amount of money that we perceive as the value that cycle. To me, I define that as selling something to somebody is really the proof in the pudding. Do all the analysis we want, but until we create a thing and then give it to someone willing to pay for it, then we really don't know what our differentiating factors can be.

A kid that if you were to bake a pie and you think you're going to go into the pie-making business if you give it to your grandmother and look for her external feedback? That is completely useless. It is even equally useless if you give it to anyone on the street for free because the value of that pie is completely based on what they paid for it. So what we need to do is bake the pie and then put it out into the world and say, would you be willing to pay dollar 25 for this pie? And if the answer is yes, then we're onto something. Because now they have said, all right, I will pay that amount. And then their feedback is completely valuable because now they're going to give you really good feedback. They just paid $25 for a pie. They are going to have an opinion on whether or not that was worth their money.

11:39 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So you might have already touched on this, but I wanted to ask you if you had any more of what I like to call CEO nuggets. And these are a little bit more of words of wisdom or piece of advice. I like to say it might be something you would tell your favorite client, or if you jumped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

11:54 – Patrick Bryant

I have learned, and it sticks with sales here as well, that it is completely the right idea to sell the ghost. And it does go a little bit off of, you know, sell something to someone, because I believe you can even sell a product that you don't have. Now, I'll put the little caveat on there, that if you sell something that doesn't exist, you take someone's money and you don't produce, that's fraud. Don't do that. That is not what I'm saying.

What I'm saying is the founder of Under Armour can make that call because he's able to say, I understand what you want. I know I can produce it. And if you go ahead and place the order right this second, I'll have it delivered within whatever terms he wants to say. 30 days, 60 days, 90 days. He could very easily, in that conversation, say, I hear what you want. We already can produce it. I can get it to you within 90 days. This is the price I'm thinking of. Can you place the order and pay the money right this second? And if the client says yes, you're in business.

13:00 – Gresham Harkless

Absolutely. And I think when you're able to kind of, you know, take it to another level, like, you know, you said so well, we talked about your secret sauce. When you know that you're able to kind of provide something, you know, it sounds like beyond that code and that expertise, that knowledge of how to grow and scale, that's when things really go to another level. So. Absolutely appreciate that. So I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different, quote-unquote, CEO's on the show. So, Patrick, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:26 – Patrick Bryant

For me, the CEO is the person that paints the vision. They are the ones who grow the team. Good CEOs paint a picture that the client can see. This is what this company does and how I can interface with it. And so that's business development. But then they also sell that same vision to the employees and the partners and the vendors so that they, as the CEO, are out there pushing forward the ultimate goal of this particular product and service, understanding the why and then breaking it down into these particular parts.

14:07 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, I absolutely appreciate that definition. I appreciate your time tremendously. So what I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best people can get a hold of you and find about all the awesome things you and team are working on.

14:22 – Patrick Bryant

Normally at this time of the podcast, people say, hey Patrick, I would want to run some business ideas by you. I get that in the chat and messages offline. People are always wanting to pitch ideas and talk them through, and the answer is yes, I'm happy to have those conversations. In addition, we've built an entire webpage scoring system for looking at business ideas products, and services to make sure that you're building your business to be a growth-oriented business. And that is@codeandtrust.com dot.

We can give the link in the chat or the description, and that particular score allows you to answer each of these questions of what I talk through regarding scale and innovation, and plug that in and really, for yourself, begin to put a lens on your particular business ideas and whether or not they're scalable, they're innovative and you have the ability to execute them with your particular team, or do you need to add resources? So that is really the best way to engage with us, is a use that tool to help your ideas become better. And then, of course, reach out to me on LinkedIn and other platforms and I'd be happy to have conversations as well.

15:38 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And just like Patrick said, to make it even easier, we're going to have the links and information in the show notes so that everybody can click through, connect with you, and take advantage of that tool and all the awesome things that you all are working on, but truly appreciate you for taking some time out. There's so much that can kind of come about from having a conversation, as we did today.

And I think when you have that opportunity to kind of reach out and learn from you and the tools that you've been able to build and the teams that you have is really a phenomenal thing. So remember to have those conversations. Truly appreciate you for doing that with us, of course, as well, Patrick, and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

16:08 – Patrick Bryant

Thank you so much. Good to see you, Gresham.

16:10 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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