Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brendan Wang. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brendan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Being a founder is like that of a classical music composer. The composer, as brilliant as one can be, cannot create a performance that adds value to an audience without the orchestra members, who each contribute to the symphony performance.

At 19 years old, I knew I needed to start finding my orchestra members. For two years, I worked closely with manufacturing partners, engineering interns, and my co-founder to build product while defining the CAPNOS brand. With a scarcity of funding received through grant awards, it was important to focus all efforts toward launching a high-quality product to begin achieving sales and achieving scale.

It takes a village to accomplish the feat of launching a business. I had sought advisors, learned from their experiences, found supporters who believe our vision, and did whatever was necessary to reach each preceding milestone. Given the innovative nature of CAPNOS, creating a new playbook in a niche market has required solving a plethora of challenges; it takes a willingness to challenge the status quo, take risks, and trust the process.

Brendan, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I was first addicted to vaping at 14 years old and started CAPNOS at the age of 19 on a mission to prevent lung disease and save lives.

As a member of the Gen-Z population, largely known as the age group affected most by the rise of vaping, I noticed a lack of education and access to tangible tools that were accessible for people struggling with behavioral cravings associated with vaping and smoking use. Given my lived experiences and intimate connection with the shift of a major habit-forming trend, I knew I could bring an innovative perspective to the world of cessation.

I formed a scientific experiment to test the hypothesis: “If we can create an affordable, accessible flavored pressurized air inhaler to mimic vaping as a behavioral aid, then we can see a greater efficacy toward vaping and smoking reduction.”

In early 2022, CAPNOS launched to the market, soon quickly being discovered all across the world by people aiming to quit vaping or smoking. Within the first 15 months, over 30,000 CAPNOS products would be shipped to over 25 different countries.

We don’t take an anti-vaping or anti-smoking stance; rather, we believe in the importance of habit recognition and education to raise awareness about the prevalence of behavioral cravings playing a role in addictions. We aim to push educational awareness about the topic and provide effective tools as behavioral aids.

Any advice for managing a team?

In today’s economy, most people are applying for jobs for the sake of having a salary. With the rising costs of living, the first priority begins with paying bills; the next is finding fulfillment and joy within a role.

To successfully launch an early-stage social venture, I recognized that finding the right people to join our efforts full-time required finding alignment with people who resonate with our mission, vision, and values.

Within the first two years spent on research and development, I worked closely with my co-founder, Jake Roach, and brought on our first team member, Alec Cherrin, in March 2020. With no pay, it was important that we could award equity while having tasks that were flexible with other time demands like school and full-time work.

Today, we employ four full-time employees and over 20 contracted or part-time team members. High morale comes from finding the right people at the right time, while also creating space to experience a sense of unified culture. Every month, our team engages in a social event as we created space to be personally invested in each other’s lives beyond our projects.

To successfully manage a team of this size, I find that having a clear vision with an awareness of your people’s needs and desires is critical to operating smoothly. Learning to delegate effectively and manage project flows is integral to moving progress forward as well.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I am a Chinese-American founder who is also a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. From a cultural norm, it has been expected of me to perform my studies and become an employee that does what is told, without raising objections. Also, to be a queer person is considered taboo and can warrant being disowned in an Asian household. It also didn’t help that parental love is often conditional, on the merit that I do what is expected of me in order to be loved. Despite having financial security growing up, I struggled with mental wellness issues that led to an obsession with taking my own life as I experienced severe loneliness and depression prior to entering high school.

In high school, I struggled to find my identity as I began my journey with substance abuse. I thought I found friends who cared about me, only to realize they were my friends conditionally because I had much to offer as I yearned for acceptance. In my first year of college, I subscribed to egotistical values of feeling significant based on accolades: if you have a tech internship, are part of a business fraternity, and are in the known consulting programs, you were considered a force of nature. However, that year, I found my partner, who would love me unconditionally, and I learned to love him unconditionally as well.

The later years in college would bring about traumatic experiences, but also beautiful ones too as I navigated a COVID lifestyle. I began to venture into building CAPNOS – there were naysayers and those who claimed it could not be possible, but there were many more who had rooted for my success and pushed me to keep moving forward, no matter the circumstance.

I am the composer. I learned that to live a fulfilling life in my own symphony, I can find orchestra members to build my own communities and to embrace the falls, as it’s in those moments when we learn the most, to create a better path forward for ourselves.

My views on the world had changed – by learning to love myself, be patient with myself, and live with gratitude, I would find peace with living intentionally.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mycapnos.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mycapnos/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mycapnos/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wangbrendan/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO9Ny85HhRpctycoT65cP3Q