Mike Tecku first appeared on this podcast in 2019 as an Amazon marketplace seller. Shortly after, he sold his floor mat manufacturing business. He retired, got bored, and in 2022 launched Momentum, a producer of direct-to-consumer nutritional shakes. He and I discussed this venture last year during his second appearance.
He is back. Momentum Shake is booming, and so is Tecku. It has evolved from the nuts and bolts of making money to achieving a goal, building a team, and personal development. “If I don’t grow, I die,” he told me.
Our entire audio conversation is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.
Eric Bandholz: Your entrepreneurial journey is impressive.
Mike Tecku: Growth gives me meaning and the feeling of being alive. If I don’t grow, I die. The American dream of having nothing to do goes against human nature. When I retired, I got good at golf. I read many books but I couldn’t get rid of the urge to solve problems. I’d be in a store and think, “That’s an interesting product.” I wonder if I could do that.
I was depressed when I wasn’t working on anything. I felt myself shrinking. About a year later, I decided I needed to become an entrepreneur again. It’s just who I am. These are my gifts. I wanted to use my gifts and strengths, and I now had the privilege to use them in any way I wanted, not just to survive or make money.
The world is constantly changing. Making something perfect is impossible, but you can do it by continually adjusting. The further you go, the more precise the destination is and the more in tune you are with your goal. You gain knowledge and make better decisions. When you are truly interested in something, you continually grow and perfect your craft.
Bandholz: How does a company strive for perfection?
Tecku: You need to develop trust with your customers so they know you have their best interest at heart. If we change the flavor of our shakes, customers fear we will make it cheaper when the reality is the opposite. You need to be transparent with customers and communicate to them that you want to add more value without increasing their costs. It is essential to go beyond supply and demand. What benefit can you bring to the market besides making more money?
I want to make a product 10 times better than everyone else for the same price. Most businesses are just media and marketing platforms. They don’t touch the product. If they do anything, they sell raw materials. I want to create something that is a masterpiece and adds a lot of value to it.
This was not happening with our outsourced manufacturer. I like these people, but they can’t innovate at the speed I want. I can reduce costs by 30% when I resume manufacturing. I can reduce cash flow, increase quantity, reduce costs and improve quality. The only way to do this is to take ownership of the manufacturing process.
Bandholz: What are the pitfalls of in-house manufacturing?
Tecku: The first step is to believe that it is doable. I spent 10 years thinking manufacturing was complicated and beyond my expertise. But I had to start questioning myself. Why can’t I build a team of smart, hardworking people? Why can’t I resolve these issues?
The goal is to make manufacturing easy. If I can build something simple and scalable, it will be more secure and reliable. I like to plan five to seven years down the road. What are my goals? I want to reach a hundred million dollars. What does that look like in terms of how many units I need to make each day and what machines can do it?
I buy machines to simplify and reduce the risk of error. We can’t eliminate errors, but we can streamline processes, steps and inputs. The machines I buy should be able to make a thousand bags per hour with just one employee. It is an evolving system.
Bandholz: You have a single SKU that brings in thousands of dollars per month. You don’t touch it. There is beauty in that.
Tecku: It’s beautiful because it frees me to grow and improve. Remember the old phrase: “Work on your business, not in it.” This cannot change. You have to be on top when looking at the pieces. My job is to make decisions. I want two hours of hyper-focused thinking every day.
Constantly executing is not the best use of my skills. Some people are much better at this. I consider all parts of the company to be assets. The manufacturing plant that I have been building for six months is an asset. I want it to work perfectly without me. It involves the machines, the space, the team – every decision.
Bandholz: I have difficulty transitioning from an execution role to one of strategy and decision-making.
Tecku: I try to check with my team if they need anything from me. I have to remind myself that this is what they are good at and that they appreciate my confidence in them. If you want to create independent people who think for themselves, you have to let them fail. My job is to figure out the next step. There is no right way. It requires a lot of walking around, reading books, talking to people, and being attentive.
Bandholz: Where can people follow you?
Tecku: Our site is MomentumShake.com. I’m on it LinkedIn.