Editor’s Note: Entrepreneur’s “20 Questions” series features both established and up-and-coming entrepreneurs and asks them a number of questions about what makes them tick, their everyday success strategies and advice for aspiring founders.
In 2013, Chieh Huang and his three co-founders were feeling ambitious. They decided to take on Amazon and big-box retailers.
They launched Boxed, a company that is dedicated to shipping bulk groceries and home products to customer’s doors at competitive prices.
“We just identified a problem we had in our daily lives,” explains Huang. “Before, people would drive an hour for price, but with technology, value is a function of price and convenience now. That changing of the formula allows us to come in and take advantage of that.”
Four years ago, Huang was running the business out of his garage. The first item the team ever shipped was some rolls of paper towels. Today, the company operates four fulfillment centers around the country, including its home base of Edison, New Jersey. Boxed has raised more $100 million in funding and surpassed $100 million in annual sales.
Boxed has also been in the news for some of its company wide initiatives, like a college fund for employee’s children and putting money towards the weddings of employees.
We caught up with Huang for our 20 Questions series to find out what motivates him and makes him tick.
Interview was edited for length and clarity.
1. How do you start your day?
I start the day just with the family. I don’t check emails until my commute, and I make sure my phone isn’t close to me until I’m out the door. I’m guilty just like everyone else. When you’re at the dinner table with family and checking email, you make nobody happy. I try to keep true to that and that’s why I don’t check it.
2. How do you end your day and
I end my day reading a [physical] book. It is the way I actually wind down. It gives me a little bit of clarity on things. I do it because I read this article about how right before you go to bed, the blue light [from mobile devices] disrupts your sleep. I do think I wake up more rested, but it could be the placebo effect.
3. What’s a book that changed your mind
50 Strategies That Changed History by Daniel Smith. It just basically went down this list of interesting moments in history. It kind of changed the way I thought about people who do things that change the arc of history. When I read the book and how they did what they did, most of these people were random people who had to step up and make a strategy to make it happen. You don’t have to be a superhero to change the arc of history.
4. What’s a book you always recommend
The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz. Every entrepreneur out there has challenging days. What you read about what he’s gone through, you think it is tough, but he still got through it. Definitely recommend that one.
5. What’s a strategy to keep focused?
Having a chief of staff. They aren’t just managing a calendar, they can fill in the gaps for you. My chief of staff writes me an email at the end of every day, and makes a list of the decisions that I need to make that people are counting on. Having someone to send that…