Ben Lamm, the CEO and a
founder of Chaotic Moon was born in Austin but grew up in Dallas. When heading
off to college he wanted to stay in Texas and so chose Baylor University for
their 30:1 student:teacher ration. “. I really got to know my professors and
learned so much during my time there because hardly any of the courses were
lecture-based. We solved actual problems for real businesses.” Says Ben. “It
was a very “Shark Tank” kind of experience: less talking, more doing.”
After school, as founder
of an interactive education software company, Simply Interactive, Ben noticed
how mobile adoption was changing the way people interact with the content on
their phones. Recognizing an opportunity, Ben partnered with the founders of
iPhoneDev camp to start a business that applied education user experience
models to a growing mobile audience. This company, Chaotic Moon, has since then
moved beyond mobile into the internet of things space.
Ben says that the things that set Chaotic Moon apart aren’t “… any of the things that make us famous -
incredible user experience and design, innovative product strategies, a team of
engineers who can do things most shops never dreamed of - the real answer is
our ability to say no to clients. When you can say no to bad work, difficult
clients or partners with mediocre visions, you’re free to do things no other
company can do.”
The ethos of Chaotic Moon can be summed up in its mantra “We’re The
Best”. Says Ben, “We’re building the
future. We’re not solving mid-level marketing problems, we’re finding the
interesting opportunities that push not just our client’s businesses forward
but the entire industry forward.”
The belief that they are
the best enables Chaotic Moon to build a culture unlike any other company. As
Ben explains, “When you know you can do anything, and the best brands in the
world believe in you, you have a lot of fun doing it. We are a very aggressive,
work hard, play hard culture.” And this belief enables Ben to recognize the
value of the people around him. Says Ben, “People are the best resources, from
entrepreneur friends of mine to networking with people that have been there
before. I lean on the advice of people that are smarter than me. The people you
work with become your family, [and] you become the company.”
For Ben, the most
challenging aspect of starting a business was the personal sacrifice. “Being
your own boss gives you complete ownership of your own time, but if you’re
going to succeed, you’re going to be working 100-hour weeks. At the beginning,
the CEO’s job is to set the vision and survive at all costs. But at some point,
you’re no longer a startup and your responsibility grows beyond vision and
direction to increasing shareholder value. It makes you look at everything
through a different lens.”
From his perspective, Chaotic Moon’s growth looks good. “We’re getting larger clients and bigger
engagements and starting to roll out some of our own products and hardware. The
ultimate goal is world domination. Our software is in phones, cars, tractors,
Xboxes, hotels, drones, shopping carts - you name it. We’re already to the
point that when you order a pizza from your car on the way home from a movie,
you’ve used all Chaotic Moon software.”
All of the
interconnectedness that they’re building allows Ben to see new opportunities
for his company and clients. “Chaotic Moon is always looking to hack existing
hardware to find new uses, bring two of our clients together to make something
they couldn’t have done on their own, and we’re always mentoring and re-invest
in the startup community.”
For
the startup community, Ben’s advice is to be as aggressive as Chaotic Moon’s
slogan. “My absolute biggest
piece of advice is you have to take it. No one is going to give you anything,
your partners aren't going to bring you ideas and your investors aren't going
to bring you deals. So go out and take it, and only hire other people that will
go out there and take it too.”
