Your heart pounds as you approach the firing line.
You hear the metallic clinking of spent shells hitting the floor.
You take a deep breath, steading yourself as you run through your pre-shot checklist: stance, grip, sight picture.
Steady your nerves.
The world seems to fade away as you raise your pistol to eye level, your vision narrowing to a small circle centered on the target.
Your breathing slows; you hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears.
Time slows.
You gently squeeze the trigger and watch as the bullet streaks toward your target.
You hear the sharp report echoing as you watch it hit dead center.
It’s not easy to be a dead-eye (aka a really good shot!). Doesn’t matter if they’re in a competition or on the job, when marksmanship counts most, every system and body part has to sync up and chill - at will. Their lives and livelihoods depend on their aim, vision, and focus.
And until recently, nobody aimed to serve the sharpshooter marketplace. That is, until Greg Potapenko acquired Aimcise and became its new founder in 2020.
Serving Serious Marksmen and Archers
Recently concluding 22 years of service in the Canadian Army Reserves, Greg’s using his combined experience on the range and in digital marketing to serve serious marksmen and archers. The first products in the lineup are supplements to fight anxiety, boost concentration and memory, speed healing, improve night vision, and more. Plus, there’s a planner that harnesses the routines, rituals, and habits of elite champions and gets you into that peak performance state mentally before you step up to the line.
Person? Check. Problem? Check. Product? Check. Competitive shooting will become a $1.3B marketplace by 2027. This business has all the signs of being a winner. Except, it’s been a bumpy ride so far. Greg’s in the grind. Not the fun part of the grind where you’re full of ideas and optimism – the part where he’s wondering whether he’s got something… or nothing here.
He’s spent the better part of the last couple of months at trade shows for shooting sports. The response from the crowd? While many have scooped up samples, Greg’s been a bit underwhelmed by the results he’s seen so far. It’s got him wondering whether he’s got a good product-to-market match.
We’ve all been there. (And if not, give it time.) Entrepreneurship ain’t for the faint of heart.
So, whaddya do here? The very things Greg’s doing.
What Is Greg Doing?
He’s continuing to research the market. He’s talking to his people - face-to-face to find out what they want. In this case, they’re so unused to having any company serve their physical and mental state that they may not even recognize their unmet needs. Or, it could be they don’t want or need what he’s offering. It takes courage to ASK, and Greg’s got that in spades.
He’s all-in on his person. Zeroing in on this audience - one he’s got decades of experience in - means that even if this isn’t the exact product mix they crave… he’ll find it. He’s not afraid of feedback. Just being out there with his people and listening to them, it’s a sure bet he’ll find his way through this hazy part of the path.
He’s also smart and experienced and has a long track record of winning in the face of long odds. As a 6-year-old growing up in the USSR before his family immigrated to Canada, Greg helped his dad in his (illegal) side hustle, manufacturing jeans. Within about 5 years, he’d saved up enough rubles to be able to buy the second-most luxurious car in the USSR (a GAZ-24).
Fast-forward to his life in Canada, and not only did he serve in the infantry as a Sergeant Major, he also built an ecommerce business that did $3M+ over four years. Before that, he had a digital marketing agency that did 7-figures a year. There’s some pretty solid evidence in that track record that suggests Greg’s going to come out on top.
But when you’re in the thick of it? Well, it can be hard to see clearly, even harder to be objective.
Folks, that’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with your tribe - they can remind you that you’re on track, you’re doing the right things, and that you’ll figure it out. More than anything, as investors say, “Bet on the jockey… not the horse.”
We’ll follow Greg’s journey, wherever it leads. As for us, we put it all down on this jockey.
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