HAVE YOU MET
Charles Brian Quinn (CBQ) Co-Founder and CEO, Greenzie
My first job in the green industry was...mowing lawns
Charles Brian Quinn
UAC MAGAZINE | FALL 2019
Phone: 404-394-4935 Email: cbq@greenzie.com Address: 3423 Piedmont Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30305 Web: www.greenzie.com
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in the neighborhood. I figured if I was going to have to mow mine, I might as well mow the whole street and make some money while doing it. I never charged enough, and I was always trying to be more efficient and find quicker ways of doing it. I also loved doing stripes and remember experimenting on my lawn with different heights on each pass and burning up the grass.
The biggest challenge in my career…was when
I was CEO of Big Nerd Ranch. We were recruiting the smartest of the smartest software developers, but they were always being lured away to program at big companies. We really had to dig deep to showcase the benefits of working for our company. Labor challenges are no joke. When you have the work, but no one to do it, it hurts.
The people who have influenced my career include… My mastermind group. I meet with a group of seven other CEOs/founders/ business professionals from all walks of life and industries. We started meeting back in 2011 and I can count on one hand how many times we’ve missed a meeting. They are that powerful.
Having a group of like-minded, always improving, true friends to hold you (and each other) accountable continues to be an amazing sounding board through each company I’ve built, and the many iterations of those companies, in addition to family and personal life milestones. My Co-Founder at Big Nerd Ranch, Aaron Hillegass. He is brilliant. Together we were able to grow our company from 20 people up to over 100 and build brilliance for some of the best companies in the world building software, apps and training for Facebook, Google, Apple, and many more still today. My Co-Founder at Greenzie, David Cummings. He thinks bigger than anyone I know and is a deep strategic thinker. He never holds back in sharing ideas on how to improve the company and the product, which helps me to continually push our team to do the same.
My biggest career success so far has been…starting Greenzie. The problem we’re
solving is extremely difficult. We are going to free humans from repetitive outdoor labor and I know we’ve only just begun to touch the surface of robotics in the green industry. I recruited some top-notch strategic investors from the green industry to robotics to software to company building, and don’t tell anybody, but our last fundraising round was way too easy (and way oversubscribed).
One piece of advice I would give to someone entering the green industry today is…study technology and software.
There’s no reason not to always be looking for an edge, whether its using software like SingleOps to run your business, or simply apps or productivity hacks to give you a leg up, so you can focus on making beautiful outdoor green spaces. Also, don’t be afraid to be an early adopter, the industry needs you!
