Startup Diaries
The NextWomen Technology Theme.
Yifan Zhang tells us about the early days of her tech startup, which has been funded and supported by Techstars, Startup Chile and Resolute.VC.
One of the most common questions I get asked about my startup GymPact is, “How did you come up with that?” I take pride in hearing that because to me it means we’re doing something so innovative that people can’t imagine even thinking up the idea. After all, GymPact gives cash rewards to those who meet their exercise goals – paid by the non-exercisers!
Three years ago, I was a senior at Harvard College. I had just written a paper for my behavioral economics class on loss aversion, which says people hate losing money 2.5x more than they like gaining the same amount. I could not stop thinking about this idea, and I wondered if this stronger motivator of loss could impact hard-to-change behaviors like exercise. (yes, this is what I spent senior spring doing).
The winner of The NextWomen Pitch Event tells her story about leaving the legal sector to fulfil her ambition to start her own business with her brother.
In a past life I was a commercial lawyer, advising clients ranging from startups to multinational corporations on commercial, contract, advertising and IP issues. I enjoyed the work, loved my boss but in terms of my vision for the future, as the months ticked by I found that I never aspired to be a partner in that organisation.
And, if you don’t aspire to be the top dog in the place you work then my view is that you are probably in the wrong place.
Carin Luna-Ostaseski fulfilled a personal dream when she launched her own brand of Scotch, , which she funded using Kickstarter. If you've ever wondered how to create a successful campaign on this popular funding platform, look no further than her comprehensive guide.
SIA Scotch Whisky was successfully funded in November exceeding my goal of $39,000 for production of my first run. Many friends and strangers asked me how I did it? Well, here you go….
First off, I should say, my situation is quite unique. There are very few projects on Kickstarter for spirits brands. The challenge here is most people are used to pre-ordering a product they are funding, and they receive the product as a reward for their contribution.
The NextWomen Technology Theme.
Serial entrepreneur Jackie Hutchings shares some invaluable tips, and useful examples, on how to write the second most visited page on your company's site.
Writing web copy is an art form. Online consumption means that browsing and skimming are the name of the game and you need to adjust your copy accordingly.
So, with that in mind, by the time you pay attention to writing your About Us page (from here on referred to as AUP) page, it’s often one of the last pages written. People naturally focus on their home and product pages.
And that's why I wanted to talk to you about your AUP. Did you know that it’s the second most visited page (unless you`re a known brand)? It was a stat that surprised me too. But, when you think about it, it’s really not surprising at all.
I’m a big fan of Quibb. A social sharing tool that lets you offer articles you’re reading to a hand selected community, I love knowing what inspires others. The Quibb community’s article shares add value to my own work, as many address concerns I share.
Emma Agese, Founder of Agese Oils counts down her top five tips for staying motivated against corporate giants.
5. Stay Diligent
Diligence can be defined as “giving the degree of care required for a specific task”. This however should not be mistaken for hard, laborious work. (The two are not the same). In basic words it is smart, persistent work.
For instance, a tree surgeon embarking on felling a large tree can go about it two ways. In one hand he has an axe and in a few hours of arduous and sweaty labour he might have succeeded in bringing it down. However in the other hand he has a chainsaw and, in a matter of minutes and maybe a few sweat drops, he could have the same tree crashing to the earth with far less force exerted from him and much greater precision and efficiency. This in my eyes is diligence.
Leah Goold-Haws explains how she came to create a boardgame which teaches entrepreneurialism and has been featured in Forbes Online Magazine.
Though I come from a family where my father was a multiple small venture entrepreneur, after my divorce, I struggled to determine what type of job would be best for me.
I knew, despite my fears, that I wanted employment that would give me the flexibility I would need as a single parent. I also feared that a traditional 9-5 would leave me at the mercy of an employer and being over 40, I didn’t think I would have as many potential economic opportunities as self-employment could offer.
So I dove in – starting a marketing firm – LGH Marketing/Strategy, as it was a background I’ve always worked in. I had one client and a lot of motivation. The client itself was a collaborative I brought together, stemming from a conversation about the need for increasing higher educational aspirations in our rural community.
It's a moment that many entrepreneurs have experienced: telling the boss that you're leaving to start your own venture! Jules Coleman, co-founder at Teddle, found that her boss' reaction, like that of her friends and family, surprised her.
It is almost 18 months to the day since I sat my boss down and told him I wanted to take a career break to start my own business.
I was beyond nervous. I had only been with the company a year. I had just been promoted to be a Senior Manager. I had current projects underway. I had junior staff I was in the middle of mentoring. This was not going to go well.
Eventually I summoned the courage to tell him why I had asked him to meet me for lunch. Dry mouthed, stumbling over my words, I managed to rattle off something along the lines of:
"I'm really sorry and I know you and the company have been great to me but there is something I've been meaning to tell you I've decided that I really want to try my hand at starting my own business and I'm worried that if I don't do it now that I may never get the chance but I don't want you to think that I'm ungrateful but I really need to do this…"
The NextWomen Fashion & Retail Theme.
When I was a little girl, my parents owned a hotel in the Scottish Highlands, where I grew up. My most prominent memory from that time was the tartan pillbox hat that my mother prescribed to me as uniform, to accompany my role as bell girl.
Growing up in and around the hotel, it must have come as quite a shock when I joined the army at 17 as a trainee nurse. Having a mixed heritage (mother is Chinese, father is Scottish) I was fortunate to have been brought up with a mixture of cultures and this only fuelled my passion for adventure and travel. During my time in uniform I met my husband, Doug, an Australian Naval Officer and we settled in Australia.
Finding myself in Sydney and pregnant with my daughter Kitty, we purchased a Federation period house in which my husband and I renovated. This encouraged me to tap into my creative side and instead of me picking up my Clarinet, I picked up a sewing needle.
The NextWomen Fashion & Retail Theme.
My life has been full of change. British born, I spent most of my youth between Canada and Jamaica before returning to the UK an adult. I've moved careers from a St Martins trained Fine Artist to Accessories Designer, Physiotherapist to Period Costume Designer.
Throughout my life I have always desired to be more independent and run my own business but didn’t believe I had the ability or skills to do so. It took dealing with the diagnosis of cancer to see I hold transferable skills and experience useful to develop a start-up business, and so began my journey to design & manufacture confidence-boosting swimwear to supply the growing global community of women living with breast size differences or imbalances.
Whilst working on a project making Victorian-style costumes for Selfridges Christmas windows, I found the lump in my right breast. Missed by all medical screening, my clinicians decided my lump was not cancerous as I was ‘too young’ and sent me home.
However I knew something didn’t feel right and insisted the lump be removed. It was found to be cancer. My life changed.
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