I don't usually sit interview someone who started their business the same year I was learning how to type.

Joseph Weaver launched Global Design Interactive in 1995. That's 30 years. Through the dot-com crash. Through 9/11. The 2008 financial crisis. The pandemic. And now AI.

When I found out he went to Lincoln University too, I knew I had to get him on Built Different. I wanted to understand how someone stays in the game that long without burning out or becoming irrelevant.

He gave me way more than I expected.

Built Different Podcast: 30 Years of Creative Problem Solving with Joseph Weaver

In this episode, I sit down with Joseph Weaver, founder of Global Design Interactive, FAA-licensed drone operator, and automated retail entrepreneur, to talk about surviving disruption, choosing your market wisely, and why AI is about to change the economics of every service business.

A little something special for Built Different readers:

7 Survival Lessons from 30 Years in Business

• Pick your ponds. Stop trying to swim in the ocean when a focused segment is where your skills and relationships actually win.

• Lead with the problem, not the tool. Figure out the strategy first, then find the tools. Not the other way around.

• Diversify before you have to. Joseph added three businesses because he's watched entire industries get disrupted overnight.

• Protect your routine like revenue. If it's not on the calendar, it's not happening.

• Double down on strengths. Put your energy into what you do best and hire for the rest.

• Relationships outlast everything. Someone you met years ago might come back two jobs later ready to work with you.

• Fail is not a negative word. It just means it didn't work this time. Study it. Adjust. Get back on.

Watch the full episode here:

Curated by Q:

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Unti next time

-Q