27May

Going Global in the Best Way

May 27, 2016 by

Todd Crosland Startup SiteFew startup companies are able to become the perfect blend of profitable, unique, and philanthropic. Usually, they are just two of the three. However, some startups have created a product, and are driven by a mission, that helps them be all three. One such company is Proof Eyewear. This startup is run by three brothers from rural Idaho, who grew up around sawmills. Now, these brothers own a wooden eyewear company that has taken its mission all over the world.

The company was initially begun with the desire to create eyeglasses using sustainable materials. Having come from a family of sawmill workers, they were already quite familiar with raw materials. They first experimented with a pair of wooden sunglasses. The concept only grew from there. Proof morphed from a company operated out of a garage to one operating all over the world, and they launched in 2010.

One of the most interesting things about this company is that it is managing to make money in a world filled with eyewear companies using plastic. It is doing this by branching out from wood to use other sustainable materials as well. For example, the company produces glasses made from recycled aluminum and cellulose acetate as well. These materials allow eyeglass frames to be shaped in a number of different ways, as opposed to the blocky frames that are made with wood.

While Proof excels at product development and fundraising, it also has delved deeply into entrepreneurial philanthropy. It has adopted a give-back policy in which a percentage of its profits is donated to eye-based nonprofits and camps all over the world. It also partners with other eye-based companies all over the world, ones that are also making revenue, to provide a philanthropic service. Furthermore, it funds trips to the countries in which its philanthropy is practiced for all employees. The founders of the company believes it is important for their employees to be deeply entrenched in the mission of the company. Therefore, anybody in the company can go see the work Proof is funding firsthand.

This has created a company culture of sustainability, closeness, and giving back to the community. No wonder Proof was able to start a new line via the popular crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter. What is more impressive is that this global organization was started on just $15,000 dollars. Each of the brothers donated $5,000 of their dollars to get Proof up and running.
Proof’s business model is one for which more startup companies should aim. Their perfect blend of product, profit, and philanthropy has helped them a great deal with fundraising, and will most likely keep them generating revenue into the foreseeable future.

04Jan

Continuous Crowdfunding

January 4, 2016 by

Peak Design is a San Francisco-based startup company that generates accessories for small cameras. It recently just finished a Kickstarter campaign to launch its newest product, the Everyday Messenger Bag. The Kickstarter finished on a great note, with a countdown and celebration.

Interestingly enough, this is not Peak Design’s first Kickstarter campaign. In fact, it is its fifth. The company has been using Kickstarter to launch its new products since it first formed. The founder sees it as a great way to not only raise more money, but also to rope in initial customers who are already excited about the product. It seems to work, as Peak Design is doing very well.

Also, the company refuses to take on venture capitalists. This may seem counterintuitive, but Peter Dering, the owner of the company. wants to maintain his control of Peak Design. Their work model may not fit in with the work model of a venture capitalist, as Dering is constantly working from remote locations and employees are not given specific times in which they must be at work. They are encouraged to get out in the world and be active instead. Despite this, the company’s sales tripled in 2015 and, within its first year, Peak Design was profitable.

Dering’s launch of his company occurred at an ideal time. He created his first product, a clip that locks cameras to belts so they do not swing around, when Kickstarter was beginning to become a household name. Dering saw the investment platform as a built-in marketing plan for his products, and, $13 million in sales later, he still thinks along those lines.

Apparently, fully formed companies returning to websites like Kickstarter with new products is not an uncommon practice. However, Peak Design is part of the 1% that has gone back to the website 5 or more times. This is not for lack of trying, however. Peak Design got all it could with its credit out of a bank for its new product before going back to Kickstarter. The money from the bank would have only allowed them to order 5,000 bags, but using Funding Circle and Kickstarter gave them the money to order 45,000 bags. They would not have been able to do this otherwise without a venture capitalist, or having to sell a part of the company.

Overall, Kickstarter and platforms like it have proven to be a great resources for launching companies, and startup companies that have already launched. Startup founders like Dering prefer working in close-knit teams without any backer influence, which is exactly what crowdfunding has allowed him to do.

Whether or not this is sustainable in the long run has yet to be seen.

For more information on Peter Dering and Peak Design, check out this article in Forbes.

15Dec

Japan Rethinks Startups

December 15, 2015 by

The startup industry in Japan is struggling. The country is known for its large companies such as Toyota and Nintendo, but such large companies make it difficult for newly-formed companies to distinguish themselves. Younger people in Japan are more likely to take jobs at established firms, as they value having stable career paths and do not like the risk involved in starting their own companies. Therefore, startups do not thrive in Japan, as funding is difficult to come by. The government, however, is looking to turn this around.

The government is hoping to change many things related to their startup industry. They have already been attempting to encourage the launch of small businesses, but now they are paying more attention to companies that support the small businesses as well. For example, the government is focused on venture capital firms, as well as on creating a supportive startup environment and attempting to change the mindset of the less adventurous younger generation.

Obviously, this will take time and a lot of change.

The Japanese government is looking to start by instituting entrepreneurial classes in some schools, to encourage students to think outside of the box in terms of career paths. This will take a large amount of extra education, as much of the young Japanese population is hesitant to get into a precarious financial position.

The government is also working alongside Japan’s Venture Capital Association to push investors into making venture capital investments. Having large companies work with startups will, they hope, encourage professionals to take risks in starting new companies, as the professionals will now have some support. A large portion of this partnership is educating younger people on how venture capital works. They believe a better understanding of venture capital will lead more people to see venture capital investment as an option.

The government is also pouring a lot of money into the startup industry. They have put billions of dollars into helping the industry for the last two years, and the number appears to be rising every year. Events pairing startups with investors have become a trend as well. Basically, the government is working all possible angles to try and make their startup industry competitive.

The Japanese government wants its companies to be able to tap further into the global market. Their efforts to expand their startup culture will assist them in their goals overall, but they certainly have a long way to go.

For more information on Japan’s startup industry, I encourage you to go to this article in The Japan Times.

24Nov

Startups Embracing Washington as Simply Part of the Job

November 24, 2015 by

In the early days, tech companies like Google and Microsoft could make it a point of pride not to be involved with Washington politics. They were companies perceived as independent from, or even above politics and politicians. Now, in the golden age of the tech startup, leaders are having to not only accept Washington lobbying as a part of their operation, but embrace it.

According to the New York Times, startups have received a special kind of attention this year. Uber and AirBnb, two immensely popular convenience apps and startup companies have been in the public spotlight after facing a barrage of questions about their operations. Uber in particular ended up in long legal battles with the taxi companies of various cities. Startups that focus on large-scale innovations have gotten the message and are folding it into their day-to-day. Zenefits for example, an online benefits manager, is only two years old but is a member of two trade groups and has hired lobbyists and public relations strategists from the Obama administration.

“For these new companies, the scale of innovation is so big and impactful they necessitate interacting with Washington writ large,” said Kenneth Baer, a former spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget who now advises Zenefits. “There are huge amounts of questions that society has to grapple with that didn’t exist before.”

While overall money spent lobbying has decreased slightly over the last five years, for startups and young tech companies, it has tripled to $47.5 million. It’s hard to say what the effect has been so far, but for Uber and AirBnb at least, it has let them keep growing. For many startups though, the goal of lobbying in the short term is simply to create good will.

Coinbase, a digital currency platform, is one company who knew they would need to look for help in Washington right away. Knowing that finance is a highly regulated industry, they hired John Collins, former senior advisor to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee as their 50th employee. He is now their head of government affairs.

Mr. Collins has to prepare talking points about Bitcoin and regularly meets with officials at the Treasury Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Trade Commission and multiple congressional committees. Every month he and the company’s chief executive meet with government officials. “So much of what I do day in and day out is not even advocating for anything necessarily but talking to folks about the technology,” Mr. Collins said. Bitcoin remains a largely misunderstood concept among people and almost exclusively receives negative media attention.

Startups and tech companies are having to get into conversations with Washington earlier and earlier. Marcela Sapone, co-founder of Hello Alfred, has said she wants lawmakers to consider new regulations that would relieve companies from providing some costly benefits. Such a large change requires careful handling.

“Why are we engaging so early? Mostly because we had to,” she said. “We have no choice but to get into these conversations.”

 

06Feb

Google Launchpad for Indian Startups

February 6, 2015 by

Todd-Crosland-Startup-Google-LaunchpadGoogle recently tested its startup mentorship program in Israel and is now shifting its focus to Indian startups. Due to the developing interest in Indian startups, Google has decided to implement its startup program, Launchpad, in India. Monday was the start of the first of four weeks long programs. So far, Launchpad has a shortlist of 20 startups and 1,450 venture capitalists to fund the projects. Most of these companies are in the education and healthcare industries Representatives from Google and other companies will mentor and coach developing startups looking to grow.

This will be beneficial for Google for investment purposes in the future as well as emerging itself in the bolstering digital economy in India. Google Ventures has already invested in a real estate customer support tool, Commonfloor and Freshdesk.

Launchpad is set to mentor close to 100 companies in India. Launchpad started in Israel three years ago, and is currently in 20 different cities around the world. As the digital economy grows, so does Google because companies spend money on Google to obtain a larger customer base. Last year, Google increased online advertising spent by e-commerce companies by 47% year-on-year.

All companies that Google aids in their startup program will be consolidated under Launchpad. Google’s Launchpad is seen as a platform to train developers on how to turn their product into a startup company. While most of Launchpad’s activities will be focused in Bengaluru, Google’s startup mentorship program plans to situate itself in 50 different cities all over India.

Google is not the only company entering India’s digital economy. A couple of months ago, Microsoft launched their business accelerator program Microsoft Ventures in India. From 2013, venture capital funding in India is up 261% or $3.86 billion. Venture capital companies form all over the world are intrigued by India’s bolstering digital economy, as Japan’s Softbank plans to invest $10 billion in India’s startup industry.

30Dec

Xiaomi: The Fastest Growing Startup in the World

December 30, 2014 by

Todd Crosland Xiaomi StartupThe Chinese smartphone startup, Xiaomi, has raised $1.1 billion from venture capitalists in the last four years. The company has been valued at $45 billion. The company’s co-founder, Bin Lin, made the news public on Facebook. Xiaomi has surpassed Uber for the fastest growing startup in the world, and is currently ranked 3rd among global smartphone producers. Xiaomi attributes its continued success to their lower-cost products.

In an industry where many of Xiaomi’s competitors are taking huge hits, the Chinese smartphone startup was able to take advantage of the opportunity in the market. Their current valuation is more than four times their valuation in 2013. The startup company has surpassed other smartphone makers, such as Samsung Motorola, and HTC.

Although the company has endured a vast amount of success in the early stages, there are still some foreseeable challenges. As Xiaomi continues to expand, they face intellectual property issues when entering developed markets. A smartphone producer based out of Sweden, Ericsson, has sued Xiaomi for copyright infringement, banning the sale of their product in India for a short-while. Apple’s design chief, Jony Ive, accused Xiaomi of being lazy and stealing the Apple design.

Xiaomi differs from Apple in their business plan. Whereas Apple makes their profit from selling high-cost products with exceptional margins, Xiaomi’s business goals cater to making small profits on each product shipment. Their margins, therefore, are much smaller, but the demand is greater due to the products low cost. Xiaomi’s goal is to have their phones in as many people’s hands as possible. After this, they can sell their software and apps to generate a greater opportunity for profit.

The startup company focuses their business mantra on creating the best user experience. Xiaomi’s most notable investors include DST Global, Yunfeng Capital, All-Stars Investments, and Hopu Investment Management.

09Oct

Bootstrapping for Young Startup Entrepreneurs

October 9, 2014 by

Todd Crosland Young Startup EntrepreneurA recent article in Young Upstarts deliberates the developmental phase that every startup company goes through: taking the idea and implementing it into a real, tangible product that creates revenue. A lot of young entrepreneurs might turn to accelerator programs, venture capital, or angel investing. However, this leads to sacrificing equity and freedom at an early stage of their company, which isn’t necessarily ideal.

The term bootstrapping is where young entrepreneurs will max out their credit cards and turn their homes into permanent working locations where they work late nights and early mornings. The article continues to give five pieces of advice from entrepreneurs who have gone through the bootstrapping process and come out the other side.

The first words of advice are from Samuel Huber, founder of Betify. He states, “Budgeting is king.” It is important to know exactly how long your company can last without revenue and external investments. Huber says to create a month-by-month revenue log and multiply that by 1.5 to be on the safe side.

The next word of advice is from Martin Brinkmann, founder of Deez.io. His word of advice is “prioritize.” Prioritizing funds and development is crucial to getting the product out on the market. A lot of time could be wasted nitpicking on “your baby” when the product is ready to hit the market.

Steven Lammertink, founder of cirqle.nl, tells us to master the pitch. The products pitch is how an entrepreneur will let investors and high-profile individuals know about the product. It is important to have a strong pitch to act as a good first impression. The pitch should include what the product is, the market opportunity, and value propositions.

Entrepreneurs should take on investors on their own terms, says founder of chekk.me, Pascal Nizri. A startup needs to be at the right stage of development to take on investors. Entrepreneurs are ready to take on investors if they want to expand their business or receive mentorship. Bankruptcy and last resort should not lead an entrepreneur to seek investors.

The last piece of advice is from our very own, Todd Crosland, founder of Seed Equity Ventures. His advice is to preserver. Nowadays there are thousands of venture capitalists controlling the startup industry, but soon enough individual investors from all around the world will start influencing the startup industry more and more. There are more funding options in the future, so there will be plenty of more opportunities for entrepreneurs in the near future.

05Sep

Impressive Startups in Emerging Markets

September 5, 2014 by

Todd Crosland startup global entrepreneurshipForbes recently came out with a group of new tech startups that have the edge in their own perspective emerging markets. Seedstars World, an affiliate venture capital firm to Seedstars, created this list of emerging markets and dominating startups associated with these markets. There were 19 startup companies mentioned in the article in varying emerging markets.

The first emerging market mentioned is the fast-growing finance infrastructure market. The two startups mentioned for this industry were Accra and Remit.ug. Accra is a Ghana based startup that is developing an online payment platform based on Bitcoins. Remit.ug, based out of Uganda, is building a money transfer platform that allows people from all over the globe to transfer money to people in Africa with a simple click of a button.

The mobile is the next emerging market written about in the article. Many new startups are developing mobile at the beginning of their development stages now that mobile has fully developed as an emerging market. The startups mentioned in this emerging market were Blocks, ChannelKit, Manads, OkHi, StudyPact, and Krowdpop. Blocks is a Tehran based startup that developed their own smartwatch. ChannelKit, from Moscow, is Pinterest for links. Manads is based out of Baku, Azerbaijan and developed advertising for after call screens. OkHi, based out of Nairobi, is developing physical addresses for every cell phone. StudyPact is a Tokyo-based startup that pays students for meeting their study goals, while charging them for not reaching their study goals. Krowdpop is a crowdfunding platform for pop music in South Korea.

Another emerging market in the discussion is mobile delivering services. These services make it easier for the consumer to obtain a good or service by just using their cell phone. Washbox24 is based out of Bangkok, and they use communal locker locations as drop-off points for customer’s laundry.

Fixing world-class issues is another emerging market that multiple startup companies are focusing on. These companies are replacing old technology with new technology to fix the bigger problems facing certain environments. The startups in this category are Khusela, KinTrans, myVLE, and Green Energy. Khusela is based out of Cape Town and is developing a low-budget fire alarm system for slum environemnts. KinTrans, based out of Dubai, is working on their platform that translates sign language in real time, into voice and text. MyVLE, in Casablanca, is an online learning platform that uses SasS. Green Energy, in Nigeria, is developing the process that transforms solid waste into electrical energy and petroleum.

E-commerce is the final emerging market discussed in the article. With fast-growing economies, e-commerce is necessary for fast paced production. The startups for this category include Prisync, Triip, Scandid, Freesheh, Poeyek, and TorQue Workspace. Prisync, based out of Istanbul, is a b-to-b company that offers pricing analytics and tracking. Based out of Ho Chi Mihn, Triip is is a crowdsourcing platform for tours. Scandid, based out of Bangalore, allows its users to compare barcodes using their app. Feesheh is based out of Amman and allows its users to shop online for musical instruments. Poeyek, based out of Darkar, is developing a business management platform for small businesses. TorQue Workspace is a software company based out of Rwanda creating a platform to help wholesalers manage their distribution.

All 19 of these companies are developing their technologies in these emerging markets to hopefully obtain the global edge over their competitors.