Heroes in Business - Tanis Jorge CoFounder COO Trulioo startup over 1 Billion valuation unicorn, Author CoFounder Handbook

Episode Date: March 9, 2023

Tanis Jorge CoFounder COO Trulioo startup over 1 Billion valuation unicorn, Author CoFounder Handbook is interviewed by David Cogan Host of the Heroes Show and Founder of Eliances entrepreneur community.  

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes, where heroes in business align. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. That's right, and we're back. And thanks again. Love the feedback. Keep it coming. You know where to do it, alliances.com. Also, too, the feedback we had when i interviewed the chairman of century 21 in canada and also to michelle romano from dragon's

so go to alliances.com e-l-i-a-n-c-e-s.com all right what's it feel like when you build a company as the co-founder and it ends up being valued at $1.65 billion. And what is she doing now? We're going to learn a whole lot more. Welcome to the show, Tanis George, co-founder, CEO of Trulio Startup, went to $1.65 billion valuation. You're also involved in other projects that we're going to get and have opportunity to talk about. But welcome to the show. We're excited about having you here. Hi. Thanks, David. I'm excited to be here. Yes. Let's talk a little bit about the story of Trulio. So you started this company and you just grew it by leaps and bounds to a gigantic, enormous company worth a tremendous amount of money.

enormous company worth a tremendous amount of money. Like, talk to us, give us kind of the cliff note version of, first of all, what Trulio, some of our listeners and viewers may not know, what is Trulio? Trulio. Yeah, it's Trulio. So it does identity verification services globally. And, you know, it was the kind of culmination of over 15 plus years of other businesses that my co founder and I had built together. And truly, it really just sort of was that final cherry on top business that we set out to do. And, you know, how does it feel? It's surreal. You know, you as any entrepreneur, you have a starting point, and you have big hopes and dreams. And you just see that long long road ahead of you and you wonder, hey, you know, are we ever going to get there? And but we were fortunate enough to be able to have that experience and see our baby grow. What were some of the secrets, though, of being able to build it?

I mean, you built it pretty much right from scratch and, you know, reaching it to where you did and then doing an exit. pretty much right from scratch and reaching it to where you did and then doing an exit. Yeah. For us, I think it was really understanding our niche market. We had been in data-driven businesses in the identity space, like I said, for a couple dozen years. And it was one of those things where we just understood our place. We had an expertise in that field and we were really able to have the foresight to see where things were going. And fortunately, we had investors who believed in us and saw our expertise for what it was. And we were able to take it at that point. So when you both decided to end up selling the company and stuff, what was that kind of feeling

like? You know, you sign the documents, well, a gazillion documents, I'm sure you sign off and then it's done. Yeah, well, we actually the company wasn't sold. We just we went all the way up into like our series D and we were able to take some money off the table at that point. And, you know, slowly, you know, the next stage of CEOs, et, come in, and they take it to the next level. And we brought it as far my co founder, Stephen Efford is, was the CEO through all of that incredible, incredible vision for the company understood where it was going. But we both understood that there comes a time when the founders can step back, and the next piece comes on and takes it to the next level. So it really was

understanding what was best for the business at the time. And, you know, being able, again, to work with good investors who saw where we needed to go and were able to put us where we are today. How exciting. And we're going to talk about what you're doing next. You're watching, listening to me, David Kogan, host of the Eliance's Hero Show. So make sure you go to Eliance's.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com. The only place where entrepreneurs align because we have with us Tanis George, co-founder and CEO of Truly You Startup, valued at $1.65 billion and author of the Co-Founders Handbook. All right.

So, Tanis, share with us now what you're doing. Yeah. So I recently just completed a book called the co-founder's handbook and how that came to fruition was I would often get asked to advise other founders who are in a partnership and they would ask, you built four companies with the same co-founder and how have you not killed each other yet? You know, that was the general question. And as I started to talk to people, I realized that a lot of founders and businesses are silently suffering. And what that means is that they're struggling and they have nobody to talk to. And as I began to talk and interview partners, I realized there was this common thread in both factors that caused people to struggle in a partnership and the same, a different set of factors that allowed partners to flourish. And

I realized that this information needed to come out. And so I started to write the book and I interviewed hundreds of founders and gleaned as much as I could, as well as took my experience as a co-founder for over 15 years and what worked for us and where did we struggle and how could we have done things differently. And so that's what this book really is, is this opportunity across all stages of a partnership from how to find the right one to how to handle a partnership when you're in and keep it strong and then how to handle struggles or exiting. So this book really covers the entire gamut. And yeah, to me, it was essential to get this out. Statistically, 65% of businesses will fail because of issues between

the founding partners. That's huge. So I figure if we can really help build that foundation of that relationship strong, we really have a better chance of improving businesses. So that was my key focus. That's fantastic, because it certainly is in what the co founders are closer together almost more than any marriage that exists. You're spending more time with that person, right? Yeah. What are maybe can you share some of the couple of the secrets of if you were to boil it down to the kind of some of that secret sauce, so to speak, what would that be? Well, first and foremost, I would say that the founders that I met who really excelled at their partnership were ones that were really intentional. And that means they were very focused on ensuring communication was taking place.

There was a real respect for one another and a focus. They seemed to really hold back their what they wanted to say. You know, they waited their words a little bit. They didn't necessarily jump out with whatever they felt. They respected their partner and really appreciated their input. And they negotiated those hard decisions together. And it wasn't hard lines on this is what I want to do. And, you know, they really learned to be cohesive. And so that to me comes with intentionality, which is really important. And of course, like I said, communication is also extremely important. Are we

talking about these difficult things or are we brushing them under the rug? And again, the successful co-founders found a way to have that communication and come to a solution, whereas those who struggled either just didn't want to talk about it or they just couldn't figure out how to pass through the conflict. So the co-founders hub when somebody goes there is it and you said there's a handbook in that does it rate it or does it give you a scale is it like yeah you're a match or work out or both? Not there yet but what actually it does so the co-founders hub, it is a platform that provides support and resources for founders in different stages. So right now we have two excellent resources. One, we call it a self-assessment. And this was where I realized that a lot of times a bad partnership happens before they even sign on the dotted line.

How do you find the right co-founder and how do you make sure you avoid the mistakes of entering into a partnership with the wrong person? So the self-assessment actually allows you to look inwards on yourself and determine what are the real factors you need to find in a partner. The other thing we have is a discovery resource where co-founders are provided with about 120 different questions that are essential conversations they need to have to avoid conflict in the future. It's one of those dig your well before you're thirsty and have these conversations now before it actually becomes an issue. So questions like, should our kids work in the business? You know, ask that question before, you know, your partner

says, hey, I want my 14 year old to work in the office, you know, talk about that ahead of time. So these are the resources that we provide. And then the handbook is the book. And that covers the entire gamut. And again, it's just a real resource for partners to figure out how to make the partnership a success. figure out how to make the partnership a success. This is phenomenal. This is, I mean, this is the key because there's nothing else like that. We think, oh, you know, and should we be with who our best friend is? Should we be starting a company with them? And does that mean just because we have a past history with them, maybe from growing up, does that mean more success or not? We need to use your book. Statistically, about 40, 40% of people just fall into their partnerships and that can often be a real issue so how even if you do go into partnership with someone you know how can you structure it in a way so that you don't fall into struggles excellent again we have with us tannis george co-founder ceo of truly you valued $1.65 billion.

I mean, that number is just astronomical. And it was nice and smart of you to come out with a handbook to help others with all of the history that you've had of four companies that you've built with your current co-founder, and yet you're still together. Yeah, we're very fortunate. We were best friends in high school. And outside of high school, we started our first business together. And then we built three companies over the course of 10 years together that we successfully built and exited. And then truly,

it was our fourth company, which was a roller coaster. And it was amazing. And, you know, I definitely attribute a lot of most of my success to our partnership and how we were able to work together and be friends and really figure that portion out. So to have someone beside you in the trenches, you know, two are stronger than one, three are stronger than one. And I'm such a proponent of partnerships, especially if you can make it work. Excellent. You've got to come up with one for relationships, marriages. I know. That was a whole other level.

Right, right. So I want to do some snooping now. We're going to do some snooping. So those of you that are watching our video and stuff, there's something behind you. And I'd like to know what that is. Let me just briefly describe it. It's a large poster. There's a lot of text on it, a lot of words. What is it? And why do you have it? Okay, it's in my office

here. And it says, Oh, can you see don't quit? It's a quote by John Greenfield Whitaker. And it's just an excellent quote that he has about just don't quit when things seem hard just push through and I think with over 20 plus years of my journey building businesses you know success is often literally around the hardest corner so if you just push through and find ways again if you have a partner lean on them you know usually when one is up, the others, or when one is down, the others up and you end up help supporting each other, but don't quit. Keep going. Keep going. Excellent. Excellent advice. So that brings up the next thing. And we've got time for, I think one more question here in regards to it is, is, you know, you've made an impact again,

for, for, I mean, for companies building a unicorn, still talking to your co-founder after four, which is in itself a miracle upon miracles. What advice do you have for, you know, young adults, children and that that want to make an impact, you know, have this dream of starting their business? Maybe it's with someone who they don't even know yet that they haven't met yet trying to find that person or so on. But what kind of secrets can you share for them to have just a 10th of the success of what you've had? Yeah, you know, I really firmly believe that entrepreneurs who have a vision have really discovered the purpose of their lives. One of the reasons I wrote this book is I feel like we need to uplift and encourage entrepreneurs. I think entrepreneurship is so, so important in our economy and who we are as people.

And so I would say, understand that if you believe in something that can be made better, chase it. That's your purpose. Take it. You will find contentment as you attempt to achieve it. And it'll be really, really self-fulfilling. And I'm always pushing. If you have a vision, don't be afraid,

go after it, because you never know what's around the corner. Fantastic. Well, Janice, you helped co-founders like yourself to be successful as you have. You've also created the co-founders handbook and helping others. You think this person's a match for you, go through the handbook together you brought up great questions in regard to things to think about before they happen settle them now work them out now you know what too is you've also created co-founder CEO of truly you startup valued at 1.65 billion dollars both that's a hero. And as George, once again, thank you so much for being here. She can be reached at the co-founders hub.com.

Once again, you can go to the co-founders hub.com. This has been David Hogan with the Alliance's Hero Show. Thanks, David. Got to dance with me though, too.