I'm writing this review to share my experience at expert dojo and working with Brian. I wasted over $30k becoming a member of Expert Dojo and being coached by Brian. I have honestly grappled with the idea of writing this review for months. Please know that Brian will write a reply to this, it is his job as a business owner. I firmly believe in accountability and honesty. I paid Brian $1500 a month for one on one coaching and mentoring to launch my business. I left with an un-useable business plan, business deck, and more what not to do information than useful business information. Also both the business plan and deck I had to pay an outside vendor of Brian's to do in addition to his fee (one of the many red flags. You'd think a mentor either knows how to make them himself or has someone within his business to do it). My business plan was shredded to piece by a friends friend who owned a bank (yes owned). Thankfully I only paid half the amount they wanted for it, which Brian did help make happen, due to the sheer embarrassment of how awful it was. I was informed by the only two investors I formally met with through the Dojo that my business deck was "lacking the information they needed." Since leaving the Dojo I have learned what a real investor deck looks like and how a business plan is really made.
I joined the Dojo as I thought it would be great to have a mentor who "knew how to launch a business". Problem being Brian has no history himself of hardware products OR the cosmetic industry. I did get introduced to one manufacturer through another Dojo friend/member (I had, however, been connected to that manufacture years before through a friend who does business with them). I questioned Brian's ability to truly coach or mentor me and wanted to leave the Dojo after only a few months of paying $1500 a month for weekly one on one sessions. Brian convinced me to stay (trust me one thing he is good at is selling is his own business). While my product was still in prototype stage, Brian convinced me that it was time to hire people and get an office to make a better impression to "all" the investors he would be scheduling me to meet (note this office was a sublet of a lease Brian has and therefore meant I was just paying him even more money). I questioned this and wished I gone with my gut to not hire people or get an office. You do all these things once you are in the black, not the red!
Now to the investors and festival. I asked to meet with investors starting in early fall 2017. Due to the disastrous business plan it was delayed till January 2018. Brian told me he would have at least 12-15 investors for me to meet. When it came time, there were only 3. One I had been speaking to for over a year. The second, told me she doesn't invest in pre-revenue business, maybe in the future. The third I cancelled as I found out from Brian's employee at the Dojo I was not nearly prepared enough to meet that investor. The one company I know that raised alot of capital told me it took forever to get the investment and the meeting were more like being grilled. Brian had told me that that one investor just wrote a check after a meeting, like it all happened so quickly and easily, obviously from my own investigating I found out that this was false. Brian also continually assured me my company would be the fastest investment round they had ever done, 2-3 weeks max. So besides that being completely false, there was not 12-15 investors for me to meet. From my mtg with his employee they were struggling to find the right investors. I was asked by Brian, to compile a list of investors I wanted to reach out to from the beauty industry and they would do it for me, they did nothing with that list. I expect Brian to respond saying I didn't give it enough time or some excuse. Truth is he'd had since early fall to figure out which investors would be best and create a plan for meetings. The one investor I had a relationship with, Brain told me he wanted to make sure he took the he lead on it to make sure it went well. Worst advice ever. I did, over the year, at the investor festivals, meet many investors. However, even the Dojo team were skeptical about a few and whether or not they were real investors or if they were actively investing. The majority I met do not invest pre-revenue, very few into hardware products, and no one walks out of the festival with a deal in place, the meetings are minutes long, most deals unless you have a relationship with them or connection take weeks/months. Lastly, Brian insisted that a crowdfunding campaign was the way to launch my business. It was not. You have to spend serious money to have a big campaign and you need to have a bunch of test units ready to send out to get any good press. I left the Dojo immediately following the business plan/deck, investor nightmare, and a sexual harassment issue myself and a girl worked with me had to deal involving a male friend of Brian's / the Dojo. read more
