Meet Ben Snow | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ben Snow and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ben, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Orbit was founded in March 2020, just as COVID-19 began to change life as we knew it. I was home from Spring Break during my Junior year of college and the reality of not returning back to school for the remainder of the semester was beginning to sink in. I was back in my childhood home, separated from all of my college friends and extended family. I found myself speaking almost every day to my longtime best friend and creative collaborator for both peace of mind and to keep my brain stimulated in a dark time.

It became clear to us that a new way of life has likely arrived. As an entrepreneur there is no greater opportunity to create something innovative than in turbulent times where change is happening on such a global and ubiquitous scale. This is when we realized the emerging reality of remote work and remote socialization. This is what inspired our companies purpose which is to create a scheduler that makes it a lot easier to stay connected with your loved ones, colleagues, and friends from a distance. We realized that in a pandemic world or in a hustle bustle modern world, it is common to find ourselves living at a distance from those we share a deep connection with. Just because someone is out of sight does not mean they should be out of mind.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Unlike most existing scheduling softwares, Orbit aims to ultimately be a super simple and user friendly experience. Most scheduling apps are designed for companies, independent contractors, and working professionals to conduct business and schedule appointments on. Our app is primarily designed for just regular people who want to stay in better contact with their remote loved ones, friends, and colleagues across the year, but struggle to do so because they are always missing each other via phone tag(largely due to unaligned working schedules, time zone differences, etc). Orbit also aims to present a more intentional communication experience where users can let their friends know the nature of the call beforehand(whether it is a personal catchup call or an emotional vent).

I think what sets my company apart from competition is the tight personal bonds of all of our co-founders and contributors. So in essence, our company culture. In a lot of company cultures, people are competing against one another for praise, raises, and promotions. People then seek to compete over collaborate, which I think is absolutely venomous to innovation, creativity, and genuinely good work getting done. All of my teammates have unique skills that they bring to the table and largely their own domain that they are responsible for (this largely insulates us from stepping on one another’s toes in the process). When we all converge on a difficult task/undertaking, we all have to put our heads together to find a solution. I believe that there is no problem hard enough to solve for or at least make breakthroughs on when you have a team of people with complementary skills by your side that can genuinely collaborate together.

I got to where I am today business-wise by FAILING. I believe that you truly internalize and learn something new when it burns you. When I started my first business, there were so many things I did not know, but needed the actual lived experience to fully grasp. From legal protocols all the way to product execution, I kind of winged everything the first time around. I do not look at that time in vain though because I learned some of the most important lessons that power and fuel my understanding of business today. You have to start from somewhere in everything in life and take that proverbial deep dive into the unknown. I think what stops many of us from taking that leap of faith is internal resistance and fear of failure or judgement from others in the outside world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
My current hometown is Los Angeles. When I entertain my closest visiting friends, my first and foremost goal is to make sure we all eat well. Some of my favorite restaurants here are Uovo, which serves up fresh imported pasta delivered that day from Bologna, Italy; Kazunori, which is an intimate sushi bar that prepares delicious handrolls ; and last but not least Sage Vegan Bistro which serves up classic comfort foods like wings, pizza, and nachos but all using the finest and freshest plant based ingredients. I think what I love the most about Sage is the reaction all of my friends have when they try the food for the first time and can’t believe the foods are fully plant based and vegan!

As far as places to hang out, I like to go over to Malibu for a beach day. It also makes for a nice road trip as the views on the Pacific Coast Highway are always just stunning. I am a homebody at my core and love to just get cozy and have nice one on one time with my visiting friends. I deeply enjoy meaningful conversations and quality time. Lastly, I enjoy giving my closest friends walking tours of my favorite places here in LA. There is nothing like walking the streets of one of the coolest and most iconic cities in the world.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my primary shoutout to my parents who have always pushed me to be the very best version of myself since I was a kid. That mentality has served me well and has been the fuel for my continued growth as a human being and entrepreneur. I would also like to thank Tamara Levitt of the Calm app and Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, for their wisdom and spiritual guidance which has really helped keep me more grounded and at peace in life.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-snow-0a0779a7/