What does it take to lead an idea the market isn't ready for yet?
Most leaders I work with can spot a problem in seconds. Fewer can see the opportunity sitting inside it, and fewer still have the patience to sell that opportunity through a long, skeptical buying cycle.
In this episode of The Perfect Route, I sit down with Jonathan Jakubowski, co-founder and CEO of SmartSolve, the Bowling Green, Ohio company behind PureNil 0, a 100% bio-based, water-soluble packaging material. Jonathan shares how a business plan written after a failure became a conviction, why he prefers innovation to mandates, and what it really takes to lead at the front of the adoption curve.
In this conversation, we cover:
- Why problems and opportunities are two sides of the same coin
- How innovation, not regulation, has solved some of history's messiest problems
- What long sales cycles teach you about patience and qualifying risk
- Why respecting the old solution makes you better at building the new one
- The case for multiple bottom lines, chosen rather than mandated
- Why the best step you can take is the next step
Whether you're leading a team through change or trying to win buy-in for a new idea, this conversation offers a practical lens on conviction, patience, and stewardship.
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