We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Javier Santana a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Javier, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Take risks, fail fast and be consistent. There’s no room for complacency when you’re an entrepreneur –– you have to always be learning, taking chances when others are scared to, and dust yourself off and keep going if and when you fail. The best lessons in business come from failures, so embrace them and learn from them.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’ve been in creative services and technology for over 20 years. I started as a graffiti artist and illustrator, then caught a big break when I was hired to do collaborate with a graphic designer for CD covers and promo assets. I quickly became interested in graphic design and went to work on teaching myself the rules and tools.

A few years into working as a designer, I became obsessed with the web (1995) and went deep down that rabbit hole, to the point where I even spent a few years of my life working as a network admin while we were going from DSL to High Speed before I returned to my creative roots.

Today, I work as a CXO / Creative-Technologist, where my team and I are constantly pushing the limits of digital experiences, and focusing on how future technology + consumer behavior will shape the next big wave of digital / connected products.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As a creative and entrepreneur, everything can seem like a business opportunity, so it’s important to focus and remove distractions that will slow down your progress.

In 2012, shortly after we started our agency (Launch), my biz partner (David Preiss) and I were determined to create an e-commerce marketplace to sell local/handcrafted products from artists and makers in the Atlanta area. This quickly spiraled out of control when one of the products we created required a different business model and team members. That side-business was a hobby-gone-rogue, and became a money pit and a 2-year distraction.

We had to take a moment to cut our losses, reassess and realign on goals.
We quickly shut down the side-business to put all of our focus on our agency, quickly bounced back and saw almost-immediate success.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Both Dave and I had experience working on the agency and client side of the business, so we knew what we wanted to do that we felt was great, but more importantly, we identified all of the things that we felt were the wrong way to do business.

We focused on creating a great culture and treating people fairly and with respect. We did the same with all of our client-partners, which has been a recipe for success.

For the first 8 years of business, our clients became our advocates and essentially our sales team. The majority of the work we landed was based on word-of-mouth that came from happy clients, which still contributes to our success today.

Contact Info:

• Website: launchxd.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/graphicweb
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/javierjsantana/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SpeedBumpsLive