Winner’s Showcase: Andy Weinstein of GODOT

Founders Live Winner’s Showcase features a recent competition winner

Founder: Andy Weinstein

Startup: GODOT

City: Seattle

3rd generation Pepsi bottler accidentally turned waste to value entrepreneur. I live in the intersection of the physical world and the digital world. Going from diversifying and modernizing beverage distributors across the US to turning apples into hydrogen and carbon dioxide, I have a broad knowledge set that is driven by a lifelong curiosity.

How did you discover Founders Live?

Friends

Tell us about your Founders Live Pitching Experience?

I really enjoyed the energy in the room and great questions from the audience. The format was great with 99 seconds as a forcing mechanism.

What 2 tips can you share about crafting a winning Founders Live 99 Second pitch?

1. Focus on the slides establishing the context not the content. The content should be the voice of the founder.

2. Remember, as a founder, you have earned the right to be there so act like it. Be confident and do not oversell.

Please describe the company or project are you currently building? Why are you building it?

I am turning local waste into carbonation and fuel. I am doing it because I reduced my own cost of goods while solving the problems of my customers. As a Pepsi bottler, my daily expenses are fuel and carbonation.

What is your vision? Go out 5 years, what does the world look like with your product or service in it?

Every beverage distributor no longer is using diesel and the carbonation is always local. A side benefit of GODOT is the systemic removal of carbon emissions from the use of diesel and the transportation of key ingredients like diesel and CO2.

What ONE thing do you need help with the most, and what do you want to ask from the Founders Live community?

Capital. Our project is CAPEX heavy and thus is capital heavy.

Identify 3 qualities that when combined make a great founder. Expand a few descriptive sentences on each.

1. Listening

2. Curiosity

3. Creativity

If you could go back to the beginning and talk to your “rookie founder” self, what would say? And if you are a Rookie Founder, what areas do find most challenging?

As Lisa Su said "Run toward hard". Nearly every piece of advice is to run to what is easy and that ends wasting time in something indefensible and not interesting.