Birthing of Giants with Lewis Schiff #4: Van Sullivan Reveals His “Secret Sauce” for Success — Strategy

05/18/18 • 17 min

Show Notes: Interview with Van Sullivan

Traversing new territory is always frightening, but Van Sullivan didn’t get his company Trideum to where it is today by following in the same footsteps as everyone else. Strategy, planning, and innovation are the hallmarks of this company. A successful engineering services contractor for the federal government, Trideum provides high-end engineering for testing weapons systems and training military personnel. In helping to build and sustain the U.S. military, Van’s company epitomizes the place where the supreme importance of defending our nation meets the innovation and entrepreneurship of the private sector.

Trideum's innovative approach has brought the company remarkably fast growth in an industry not known for it. Trideum has doubled in size over the last two years, and made the Inc. 5000 list in 2017 for the fifth time in seven years. Van attributes this success to his “secret sauce”— his willingness to grow the company strategically, even if that strategy takes time.

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For more information on the Birthing of Giants Fellowship program, click here to visit the program's website.

Show Notes: Interview with Van Sullivan

For more, listen to the podcast!

For more information on the Birthing of Giants Fellowship program, click here to visit the program's website.

Previous Episode

Birthing of Giants with Lewis Schiff #3: Tortoise or Hare: Why Greg Theroux Runs a Slow and Steady Race

The entrepreneurial spirit isn’t just reserved for glamorous industries. As CEO of Heritage Building Maintenance, the legacy company of the Heritage Group, Greg Theroux knows there’s money to be made in providing the fundamental solutions the business world needs. Operating out of Des Moines, Iowa, Greg has decided to concentrate on growing the company locally rather than risk losing focus. But that isn’t to say he’s opposed to change.

At the Birthing of Giants Fellowship program in April 2017, Greg revealed that the demand for “green cleaning” has seen the Heritage Group’s microbial control services experience enormous growth. After completing the fellowship, he successfully launched a new “Cleaning for Health” program to take full advantage of this opportunity. I recently caught up with Greg to find out how he’s restructured his operations to support this shift in direction.

For more, listen to the podcast!

For more information on the Birthing of Giants Fellowship program, click here to visit the program's website.

Next Episode

Episode #5: How Mike Risich Is Bolting On A Sales Strategy For Maximum Growth

Every entrepreneur knows there’s money to be made in solving problems, especially if you find a niche that hasn’t been cornered yet. That’s exactly what Michael Risich did when he founded BOLT ON Technology, a software company that offers cloud-based workflow tools for the automotive repair aftermarket. Far from fixing cars, Michael’s company helps shop owners improve their communications to optimize productivity — all by bringing cutting-edge technology to an industry that was previously lacking it.

Despite many of its customers being small mom-and-pop shops, BOLT ON Technology has experienced enormous growth in the past five years, achieving 4% market penetration and serving customers in every US state, Canada, and South America. But during his time at the Birthing of Giants Fellowship program in April 2017, Michael realized that to sustain this growth, the company would need to pivot its strategy to improve outbound sales. I caught up with Michael recently to find out how he’s implementing this new sales strategy and how emerging technologies continue to shape his business as it scales.

For more, listen to the podcast!

For more information on the Birthing of Giants Fellowship program, click here to visit the program's website.