Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Trust Me, I'm Trustworthy

As a founder of a tech startup in the sharing economy (Room2Care.com), I have preached from honor and integrity from the onset.  In establishing a new marketplace for senior care, it is essential that seniors and their families trust us.  Now, if you have ever spent time with me, you would know me to be obnoxious, arrogant, sarcastic, determined, dedicated, kind, intelligent and HONORABLE.  I've told people for years that one of my major hopes is, that at my funeral, everybody agrees that I was an honest straight shooter.  I have my flaws, but lack of transparent honesty, is not one of them.
So, I, as a founder, have managed to acquire a reputation for trustworthiness.  How do I get a similar reputation for my company?  I pulled up a Forbes Article that looks at the most trustworthy brands.  The top brand on the list was Johnson & Johnson.  Sure, I like baby powder as much as the next guy, but interestingly, I'm a lifelong Jets fan and Woody Johnson (of Johnson & Johnson) is the owner and he has been far below the level of trustworthiness that I strive for.  Number 2 on Forbes list is General Mills, the maker of Lucky Charms; a company that has sold us on feeding sugar to our children. Three is Google, but, am I the only one nervous about how much they know about me? In fourth place is Kraft Food, maker of Oreos and that strange cheese.  Do we know what that white stuff in Oreos is made from.
As I go through the list, I guess that the key point is that the trust worthy companies are those that have been around long enough or have been big enough that almost everybody has interacted with them and hopefully did not have a terrible experience (sorry AT&T)
I guess that Room2Care will have to grow our trustworthiness, the same way that I have, one honorable interaction at a time.


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