Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Chris Booth and I previously served 6 years in the RAF. I was an aircraft engineer, supervisor, mentee and mentor. During my service, I found mentoring hugely beneficial for myself and my team. However, it’s time consuming and expensive, meaning their are limits to who can access the benefits.
To solve this, we’re creating AIMÉ, your personal A.I. powered mentor that challenges your thinking, holds you accountable and focuses on progress. Just like a human.
How have you found your start-up journey so far?
In one word: rollercoaster. At times it’s overwhelming, but it can also be exciting and joyous. Sometimes you hate it or face intense struggles or obstacles. That’s where your purpose and motivation comes in.
My favourite thing about being an entrepreneur is the learning curve is always near-vertical (or at least it should be!).
Every day, there is something new to learn or improve or iterate. I also love talking to people and understanding their needs, struggles and how I might be able to help. Fortunately, that’s one of my main responsibilities!
What do you listen to whilst you work?
My music tastes are wide ranging. I have a massive music collection that I usually just plug in and click on shuffle. Right now? ‘My House’ by Flo Rida.
What drives you to get up in the morning?
Simply: my purpose. In the military, you go through some unique experiences, both positive and negative. Unfortunately, our troops on the front line see and do things no person really should so, understandably, their mental health is greatly affected.
While the current mental health support structure is there, it has its flaws. I don’t think it’s good enough and I want to improve it dramatically, not just for the military, but for everyone. AIMÉ is the beginning of this grand vision.
What three things can’t you live without?
I’m a pretty easygoing guy. I prefer to focus on the simpler things in life, that way it’s easier to be happier. Food genuinely puts a smile to my face, which is great because I can put it away like a dustbin. I’m 6”5 so I usually have to eat 3000kcal a day just to maintain weight (jealous much?).
The other two would be fitness and family.
What’s your best time-saving trick?
I use Pareto’s 80/20 principle in just about every aspect of my life.
Every action I take I ensure it has the maximum amount of impact for the minimum amount of time.
I prefer to live by the philosophy of not just working hard, but hard and smart. Work fast and effectively. I’d prefer to put in 6 hours of solid productive work a day with no distractions, compared to your typical 8-10 hour a day where your mind will inevitability wander.
When you work at your best, you’ll make better quality work and reduce the amount of mistakes, saving you time in the long run. That’s why I think Pareto’s principle works so well.
What have you learnt that you’d like others to know?
What I think matters above all is your purpose. Why do you do what you do? What is your motivation? Make sure it’s bigger than you. To help others improve their lives, not just yours. Make your purpose to make a change in the world for the better and dream big. If you can land all these criteria and make it so it really means something to you, you’ll have all the motivation you need to overcome any challenge.
Don’t just take my word for it, listen to Simon Sinek or Tony Robbins to mention a few big names.
Where do you see yourself and your business in 12 months?
In 12 months, hopefully still on the Entrepreneurial Spark program that starts in Feb 2017. Secondly, I’d like to have found the right technical co- founder, gotten our first seed investment and have our first product up and running with our first few early evangelist customers. Easy. Right?
The best advice you’ve ever received?
That would be from one of my old mentors in the RAF. He taught me the power of using the ‘5 whys’ technique to find the root cause of my problems and challenges. That’s another tool I use in pretty much every aspect of my life. It makes things easy to solve and provides a solution.
In the words of the great Captain Jack Sparrow: “The problem isn’t the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem, savvy?”
Fill in the blank: I’d like to see ___ answer these questions
I have a list of at least 100 people I would die to see answer these questions! One of the top would be Jennifer Mcgonigal. Her TED talk is outstanding and I think her approach and way of thinking is really something to take note of. Also her app, SuperBetter, had a great launch, but sadly is failing to keep traction. I would love to learn the lessons there and understand why for my own ventures.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to get myself and AIMÉ out there and I hope this interview resonates with people. If you would like to know more, then don’t hesitate to contact me at chris.booth@aime.io.
Check out AIMÉ at aime.io and sign-up today!
