We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brandon Ward. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brandon below.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made?
When it comes to investments, I think of timing. Any particular investment could be either your worst or best investment, solely based on when it was executed. In my case, I would say college was my worst investment—not so much because of the institution itself, but more so due to the timing relative to my age and life goals.
I started my freshman year of college at 17. If I were mentoring my 17-year-old self right now, I would advise waiting until at least 20 or 21 years old before making the college decision, and to take that intervening time to explore my real life goals. I say this because there was no intentionality behind my reason for going, besides the norm of ‘that’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to be successful.’ But without a clear purpose of how I would extract all of the value and benefits during my time at this place, or an understanding of why, I believe the full value of that investment wasn’t realized. Not only that, but I’m sure that everything I learned in college related to my specific profession could have been taught to myself in a quarter of the time, or learned within a year by just working in a junior role (I spent the first seven months at my first job learning before I was even an asset to the company).
Instead, I wish I had started my business sooner, which was my real goal before college. I recently started Keysha in 2023 and officially in 2024 after previously working as a full-stack engineer at two startups. Although I began the path of being a business owner even before then, in 2020, after working at a large corporate bank, I tried various things from a coffee brand to co-founding a company, DoorChef, with a colleague, and attempting a hardware technology business.
Looking back, the one thing I would have changed about my experience is practicing the behavior of immediate pursuit of endeavors, without going through a ‘means to an end’ first. Returning to my earlier take on my worst investment, I believe that by first taking the time to pursue my real goals, life missions, and exploring the world before continuing my adult education, I would have been better able to extract the fullest value from my time spent there or decide to invest my time and money elsewhere. The skill here would be to fail fast and learn fast.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am Brandon Ward the founder and CEO of Keysha.ai, a platform created to aid individuals in harnessing their full potential through enhanced productivity tools. I have a bachelors in Computer Science and an MBA. For most of my career I was a Software Engineer. I’ve always been into computers and technology since I was a little kid, when I was around 5 or 6 I remember helping my family install their computers and setup their dial up internet!
I’ve used my experience in both to build Keysha.
Our services at Keysha are designed to integrate seamlessly into daily routines, making efficiency accessible for everyone from busy professionals to students. The platform uses a blend of technology and behavioral science to enhance focus and manage tasks effectively, thereby addressing common hurdles associated with attention and productivity.
What sets us apart is our deep understanding of the real-world challenges our users face, driven by personal experiences and extensive research. We’re not just creating tools; we’re crafting a companion for your professional journey, helping you unlock your best self through technology. The common problems we see is that the interface for most productivity apps are too complicated or a burden in themselves to use. With Keysha, we make this a seamless integration to the user’s life without much of the effort overhead.
I most proud of the journey altogether, the fact that we pulled an abstract idea from the void into reality and are created a concrete entity the people resonate with and support. I think that’s the biggest dream of every entrepreneur, is seeing their vision start to come to life.
As far as the brand vision, in essence, our brand and work are dedicated to empowering individuals and communities through innovative technology that gives focuses on user experience.
Have you ever had to pivot?
There have been two pivotal moments in the development of Keysha that significantly shaped my journey. The initial pivot involved shifting my focus from a previous venture, SagePaper.org, to what would eventually become Keysha. SagePaper was conceived as a digital tablet designed to replace physical notebooks—essentially, a tool for consolidating notes without the distractions of a typical internet-connected tablet. Despite spending months researching and developing the concept, the feedback from potential users was lukewarm; the concept was often misunderstood, and enthusiasm was sparse.
This lack of traction continued until the concept of Keysha emerged, initially as a side project. Within just a few weekends, my co-founder and I had created a minimum viable product (MVP), and the response was starkly different. People were not only interested but actively followed up, offering support and eager for updates. This overwhelming positive feedback made it clear that pivoting to Keysha was the right move. The major takeaway from this experience was the importance of market feedback before going deep into product development—a lesson that has profoundly influenced my approach to business.
The second critical pivot occurred when I was laid off from my full-time job. This disruption turned into an opportunity, allowing me to dedicate myself entirely to developing Keysha. Leveraging my background in software engineering, my MBA, and diverse experiences from startups to major corporations, I fully embraced this challenge, steering my focus towards Keysha. And all in the SAME month, I also became a new father in the same month. As a parent, I strive to be an example for my children and have the ability to involve them not only in home life but in my professional life as well—now was the perfect time to start. This change wasn’t just a shift in projects but marked the biggest pivot in my entire life.
These experiences underscore a core business philosophy: be flexible and responsive to the market, and don’t hesitate to pivot when necessary to align with where the most significant opportunities lie.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Here are my top seven books for any entrepreneur, along with my key takeaways:
“Never Split the Difference” by Chris Voss – Negotiation is more about listening than talking.
“$100M Leads” – This book shifted my perspective on marketing, highlighting the importance of quantifying the effectiveness of strategies.
“The Personal MBA” by Josh Kaufman – As someone with an MBA, I found this book to be a great refresher. For those without one, it offers comprehensive guidance on all aspects of business.
“Extreme Ownership” by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin – Essential reading that explores the true mindset required to lead at any level.
“The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber – Provides a wonderful model for understanding the functions of an entire business, emphasizing how to work ON the business rather than just IN it.
“Crucial Conversations” by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler – This book enhanced my understanding of how to integrate Emotional Intelligence into communications, a great skill in managing teams and client relationships.
“The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries – Advocates a systematic, scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups amidst uncertainty, a philosophy that has influenced my decision-making processes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://keysha.ai/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soul_808/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandontylerward/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/soul_808?lang=en