Rappi, the Colombian on-demand delivery startup, has brought in a new round of funding at a valuation north of $1 billion, as first reported by Axios and confirmed to TechCrunch by a source close to the company. DST Global has led the more than $200 million financing, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia — all of which were existing investors in the company.
Rappi kicked off its business delivering beverages and has since expanded into meals, groceries and even tech and medicine. You can, for example, have a pair of AirPods delivered to you using Rappi’s app. The company also has a popular cash withdrawal feature that allows users to pay with credit cards and then receive cash from one of Rappi’s delivery agents.
Rappi charges $1 per delivery. To help keep costs efficient, the company’s fleet of couriers use only motorcycles and bikes.
Simón Borrero, Sebastian Mejia and Felipe Villamarin launched the company in 2015, graduating from Y Combinator the following year. From there, Rappi quickly captured the attention of American venture capitalists. A16z’s initial investment in July 2016 was the Silicon Valley firm’s first investment in Latin America.
The new capital will likely be used to help Rappi compete with Uber Eats, which is active across Latin America.
The round for Rappi is notable for a Latin American company, as is its new unicorn status. Only one other Latin American startup, Nubank, has surpassed a billion-dollar valuation with new venture capital funding so far in 2018.São Paulo-basedNubankmakes a no-fee credit card and is also backed by DST.
Investment in Latin American tech continues to reach new highs. In the first quarter of 2018,more than $600 million was invested. That followed a record 2017, which was the first time VCs funneled more than $1 billion into the continent’s tech ecosystem during a 12-month period.
I say Instagram Stories and John “Colderice” Lawson is ready to jump into it on the latest edition of This Week in Small Business.
We kicked off this week’s show by talking about one of my favorite recent articles from Small Business Trends. This one from Alex Yong in which he interviews rising entrepreneur Nicholas Kirchner, who at 21 already owns his own marketing agency, got John going right away.
“I’m just starting to love it,” he says. “What it’s great for marketing is that you can actually tell a story. Or I could give you all the designs of a specific SKU. You can save that Story on your Instagram profile and people can get to it. It’s got a lot of functionality to it.”
Instagram vs Facebook for Business
I temper John’s enthusiasm a little when I put him on the spot — which should small businesses focus on more: Instagram or Facebook? Or both?
“I’m starting to skew Instagram a little more over Facebook,” he says.
To find out why John thinks you may want to spend more time on your Instagram marketing efforts, check out the full show above. We also discuss the even earlier Christmas shopping season — and how your business should respond — as well as how you can keep your expenses to a minimum while you’re on the road for business.
Truck Tonnage Index Increases by 1.9% with Much Work Going to Small Operators
The American Trucking Association just announced its advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 1.9% in July. And a portion of this includes work going to the nation’s small independent truck operators. July 2018 Trucking Industry Statistics According to the association, the index showed a noticeable increase compared to the 0.5% decline in June revised from 0.4%.
Finance
Give Employees the Power to Save for Retirement with Spave App
The way people save for retirement is shifting, particularly when it comes to employer sponsored retirement accounts. Today’s employees, millennials in particular, like to have control over their money rather than contributing to accounts set up by their employer. They also aren’t as likely to stay with the same employer for their entire career as those in past generations have done.
Marketing Tips
Consumer Email Use Up 17% Over Last Year, Is Your Business Engaging?
The fourth annual Adobe Consumer Email Survey has revealed consumer use is up 17% year over year. This is despite the fact there are now more channels available for consumers to interact and engage with their favorite brands. The survey points out consumers are checking their personal email an average of 2.5 hours on any given weekday. This is in addition to spending an average of 3.
82% of Marketers Report Increased Open Rates Through Email Personalization (INFOGRAPHIC)
Get this, 82 percent of marketers reported an increase in open rates through email personalization, while 75 percent believe that personalization yields higher click-through rates. This information and more is featured in a new infographic ActiveTrail, a company specializing in marketing automation.
Sales
LinkedIn Launches Pipeline Management Kit for Your Sales Team
While digital technology has improved commerce, it has also increased the complexities of the sales funnel. LinkedIn has introduced a Pipeline Management Kit for salespeople so they can remove blind spots from the modern sales process and manage the difficulties of B2B sales.
Small Business Operations
65% of Retailers Will Offer Same-Day Delivery by 2019 (INFOGRAPHIC)
Small businesses are always looking for ways to have a competitive advantage in the market. Now they are not only competing on price and customer service, but also on speed. According to a recent report by Go People, a Sydney-based on-demand delivery and courier startup, 65% of retailers will provide same-day delivery services by the year 2019.
Uber Freight Finds Small Businesses More Shippers
The trucking industry is undergoing a huge transformation with the integration of digital technology. Uber Freight is pushing this transformation with a new platform designed to connect shippers and carriers of all sizes more efficiently.
Startup
55% of Remote Workers Now Telecommute Full Time, Survey Says
Digital technology has upended the way we work and where we can work. And a new survey from AND CO and Remote Year has some insightful data regarding the state of remote workers in 2018. According to the survey, 55% of the respondents said they worked remotely 100% of the time.
Weebly Mobile Upgrades for Small Business Ecommerce
Weebly just unveiled a series of enhancements to its mobile app that could improve usability for ecommerce businesses. Sellers now have the ability to print and manage shipping labels, chat with customers, approve customer reviews, create coupon codes and edit listings right from their mobile device.
Technology Trends
SeePlus Manages Your Small Business’s Digital Files and Folders
The need to organize, manage and preserve a vast number of invaluable digital assets is paramount for any business. And this is especially true for small businesses lacking the time or manpower to stay perfectly organized.
Transform Your Business Back in Time – If Only for a Moment – with Windows 95 App
Who can remember 1995? Millennials born in the 1990s won’t remember that year, when the STS-71 Space Shuttle mission was launched to dock at the Russian Mir Space Station, and an unprecedented heatwave engulfed the Midwest, which saw temperatures exceed 104 degrees Fahrenheit for five consecutive days. Nor will they remember Windows 95.
PayPal Mobile Updates Make Small Business Payments Faster and More Secure
The latest development to the PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) mobile app will make it easier to send and request money. PayPal has become popular with consultants, freelancers and other small business operators as a quick and easy way to invoice clients and get paid online and a way for other small business owners who need those services to pay for them as well.
Splashtop Gives Small Buinesses Remote Access to At Least 2 Computers
With the launch of Splashtop Business Access Solo and Pro, Splashtop is expanding its offering of remote access for business professionals and teams. Splashtop Business Access Individuals and teams will now be able to access remote computers securely on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Chromebook devices.
No question about it, both Prince and Aretha Franklin were musical geniuses. But when it comes to their businesses? Well, maybe not as much.
According to recent reports, the late Queen of Soul – a mother of four who amassed a fortune of more than $80 million – left no will or trust, which means that a court had to appoint her niece as a “personal representative” and assign the mess to a Michigan judge to figure out. “I was after her for a number of years to do a trust,” Franklin’s long-time attorney told The Detroit Free Press. “It would have expedited things and kept them out of probate, and kept things private.” That guy got no respect.
Unfortunately, it’s the same story with Prince. The rock star, who died unexpectedly more than two years ago, left a reported $200 million estate that is still being fought over in the courts. The musical-but-not-business-genius left no estate plan and no will. There’s no executor. No beneficiaries. But one thing’s for certain: like Aretha, he also left a big mess. While his siblings wrangle over who gets what, the money lies untouched and attorney and court fees are accumulating fast.
I’m a big fan of both musicians. But let’s make no mistake about it: they were both business owners. Like you, they had organizations, employees, brands and partners that were intertwined in their lives. It’s hard to believe how ignorant they were about their finances. Are you making the same mistake?
Maybe you’re amassing millions like Aretha and Prince – or maybe not. But regardless of the value of your business, every dollar that you’ve accumulated over the course of your professional life has been the result of your own blood, sweat and tears. You will die someday. So what will happen with the assets that you worked so hard to create? Are you leaving the world in a better place? Or are you leaving a mess behind.
“For many business owners, their business often comprises a meaningful part of their assets and/or future cash flow,” Carol Roth, the owner of FutureFile, which provides a system for documenting one’s legacy and wishes, told me. “So, what happens to the business financially can affect your family. It also affects all of the other stakeholders in your business- from partners and co-investors to employees to vendors and customers. And, while the technical ownership of the business is critical to have clear plans for, there is so much more to think through that isn’t covered by traditional wills or estate plans.”
Roth’s company is part of a growing industry of estate planning services. FutureFile uses a proprietary system that creates “roadmaps” for legacy planning and affairs. Her clients use the system to organize their wishes and important information so that their loved ones’ financial and emotional needs are addressed and thought out beforehand.
What types of things does a typical business owner need to consider? Incapacitation. Medical emergencies. Immediate needs after a passing. Estate and financial planning of assets. The handling of personal effects, digital accounts, and private files. Directions and wishes for the handling of both personal and business properties. To Roth, it’s all critical.
“Planning is the best legacy you can leave your loved ones,” she said, noting that it’s essential to minimize the issues that a family encounters as they try to fulfill the wishes of a departed family member. “It’s also essential for making sure your business continues-or even winds down-in a manner that honors you and your work as an entrepreneur.”
So why didn’t Aretha Franklin or Prince do these very important things? Who knows? But one thing’s for sure: if you love your family then it’s your responsibility to make sure you have a plan. The last thing you want is to leave your spouse and children with headaches. They should be mourning your loss, not battling over your assets. Even if you have no family or don’t desire to leave your asset to them then you still have a chance to do something good with your wealth. Perhaps a charity. Or a great organization. Or hey…maybe I can leave you my phone number?
Communications workflow company Mynewsdesk is acquiring French startup Mention for an undisclosed sum. Norwegian business media group NHST currently owns Mynewsdesk.
Mention lets you monitor keywords around the web. It’s a good way to hear what customers are saying about your brand on their blog, on Twitter, on Facebook or anywhere that is public.
You can also use Mention to generate reports, study competitors to see if people are talking about them and find influencers who use your products. It can be a useful tool for PR and marketing companies for instance.
Mynewsdesk wants to be an all-in-one tool for PR agencies. It can also help you track media coverage, but it goes a bit further than that. You can organize your media contacts in the service and segment your distribution list, write and distribute press releases and measure your campaigns.
It’s clear that Mention fits well with Mynewsdesk. Mention will stick around as a standalone product for now. But it feels like the monitoring feature of Mynewsdesk could benefit from Mention’s expertise in this area.
Mention currently has 750,000 users, including 4,000 customers. It generates $6 million in annual recurring revenue with a 35 percent growth rate year-over-year. Investors include eFounders, Alven and Point Nine Capital. Mention co-founder and CEO Matthieu Vaxelaire is becoming COO at Mynewsdesk.
The Bi-Annual Trends Report from Small Business Expo was just released, and more than half or 51% of respondent in the survey say there is too much government regulation.
The report looks to gauge small businesses sentiment to gain insight into the challenges and trends currently affecting this segment. This is the first of the bi-annual reports, and the data represents what has taken place in the first half of 2018.
The impact of regulations is disproportionately higher for small business owners. According to the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the cost of regulations to small businesses with 50 employees or less is almost 20% higher than the average for all firms.
While the Trump administration has gotten rid of many regulations, small businesses owners still feel the impact of some of those remaining on the books.
It is important to note just as the Small Business Expo survey points out, businesses owners agree with many regulations. Forty-two percent of the owners say there are just enough regulations along with another seven percent who say there isn’t enough. The problem is the consequences of the regulations are more severe for small firms.
Zachary Lezberg, owner of the Small Business Expo said in the press release, there are considerable challenges and benefits in running a small business. Lezberg added, “Starting your own business has long been the American dream. However, there is a reality about owning your own business that is not always discussed. The goal of our Bi-Annual Trends Report is to help shed light on the more challenging aspects of owning a business while also highlighting the benefits.”
The data for survey comes from 400 U.S.-based small business owners across industries in retail, manufacturing, education, non-profit and government agencies.
Small Business Expo has the largest small business networking and educational events with more than 100,000 small business professionals and entrepreneurs participating every year.
Key Findings in the August 2018 Small Business Expo Bi-Annual Trends Report
When it comes to the current administration and its support for small businesses, only 30% of the respondents agreed. Almost half said they disagree or strongly disagree, with a little over 20% staying neutral on the issue.
At the same time, more businesses owners are confident about their business, with over 60% agreeing or strongly agreeing with this sentiment.
This is being driven by the current state of the US economy as indicated by 42.5% of respondents who said it is a factor in the success of their business. And an almost equal number or 41.4% said they feel optimistic about the future of the US economy in the next 12 months.
As to what they consider to be the factors in the success of their business, the majority said the resources available to them. This was followed by cash flow, the state of the economy and location.
You can look at the rest of the data in the survey here (PDF).
Sometimes a cartoon just hits you out of the blue. No hearing something on the radio. No reading something in a book. No running across a phrase in conversation.
Just … BAM! Here’s a cartoon for you!
This was one of those.
They don’t happen often, but when they do you just draw it up and back away slowly.
In my career as a startup founder I’ve discovered 10 traits that a unicorn marketer must possess in order to be a major asset in marketing campaigns.
Unicorn marketers are magical creatures that help your company bloom into a billion-dollar business.
If you’re ever lucky enough to find a unicorn in the wild, you want to hire that unicorn as soon as you can.
What Makes a Great Marketer?
Here are 10 traits that the best of the best marketers will possess.
Analytical
Unicorn marketers love to analyze data and trends, and they use to inform their strategy and messaging.
Whether it’s diving into sales reports or pouring over site analytics, they’re eager to use every scrap of data they can find.
Good Storyteller
At their core, unicorn marketers are good storytellers. They know how to captivate the attention of their audience and influence them.
No matter how complicated the service or product, they can break it down into something users can not only understand, but get excited about.
Sincere
People can spot insincerity a mile away. Millenials are particularly adept at spotting inauthentic messaging, and are immediately turned off by it.
Unicorn marketers craft messages that are sincere and transparent, and in doing so, earn the trust of their audience.
Resourceful
You’ll never hear a unicorn marketer say something can’t be done.
They will always find ways to accomplish goals are set before them, even if there’s a shoestring budget or a tight deadline.
Stays Relevant
Whether it’s Facebook Messenger marketing or creating Instagram stories, the best marketers find out where their audience is and meets them there.
That includes diving into unfamiliar territory.
Objective
No matter how large the workload, unicorn marketers are clear on their objectives.
They are adept at prioritizing their tasks, and are able to reassign priority as needed.
Driven and Motivated
The best of the best possess an inner drive and fire.
They give every project everything that have, and are always looking for ways to improve, learn and grow (no hand-holding required).
Humble and Open-minded
Unicorn marketers are confident, but they’re also humble and open-minded.
They’re willing to take constructive criticism, and are always thankful for the opportunity to improve.
Audience in Mind
The best marketers have one thing in common: their audience is always at the forefront of their mind.
They conduct persona research and every message they write is crafted with those personas in mind.
SEO-Minded
You can have the best marketing campaign in the world, but it won’t matter if no one sees it.
That’s why unicorn marketers optimize their content for search so that their messaging is seen by everyone.
If you encounter a marketer that possesses all of these qualities, you’ve found yourself a rare unicorn. Hire them as fast as you can and watch your company grow!
Coworking space provides great opportunity to interact with others, while at the same time save money. use these tips to get the most out of coworking space.
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E-books have become enormously popular in the last 10 years. many entrepreneurs have become successful selling them online even without writing a single word.
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To set up your business for long-term success requires hard work, careful planning and little but of luck. These tips can help you position your business to be around for the next 50 years.
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Contactless payments are revolutionizing the way in which people are making payments today. giving rise to number of options for customers and merchants alike to conduct transactions.
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Demand for sustainable coffee is growing, a boon for socially conscious coffee lovers — but many small growers are missing out because they lack the ability to verify that their coffee beans are grown using fair labor and eco-friendly practices. In fact, verification is often accessible only to large coffee estates or cooperatives. Enveritas wants to change that. The nonprofit, which recently completed Y Combinator’s accelerator program, uses geospatial analysis to make the process more efficient, enabling it to offer free verification to small farms.
Enveritas’ goal is to end poverty in the coffee sector by 2030. Before founding Enveritas in 2016, CEO David Browning and head of operations Carl Cervone worked at TechnoServe, a nonprofit that serves businesses in developing economies. Browning led TechnoServe’s global coffee practice, while Cervone advised coffee growers in Africa, Asia and Latin America about sustainability trends.
Browning tells TechCrunch that TechnoServe’s coffee team spent a lot of time working with small farmers, many of whom don’t have access to sustainability verification because their farms are too remote or small. The typical coffee grower served by Enveritas has less than two hectares of land, lives on less than $2 a day and relies on cash crops for their family’s income.
“The existing solutions work well for large estates and it can also be effective for farmers organized into cooperatives, but many of the world’s coffee farmers are smaller farmers and not organized into estates,” Browning explains. “For those farmers, the existing solutions can be more difficult to access.”
Part of the reason is because many verification solutions rely on field workers who visit farms and track sustainability standards using pen and paper, a time-consuming and costly process.
To develop a more efficient and scalable system, Enveritas uses geospatial and machine learning to identify coffee farms through satellite imagery and monitor for issues like deforestation. Though it still relies on local partners to visit farms and confirm that sustainability standards are being followed, its technology enables Enveritas to provide verification services for free.
Enveritas checks for 30 standards, which it divides into three categories: social, environmental and economic. “Social” includes no child labor and workers’ rights; “environmental” checks for problems like deforestation, pollution or banned pesticides; and “economic” covers fair wages, ethical business practices and transparent pricing, among other standards.
The organization currently operates in 10 countries, including Uganda, Indonesia, Ethiopia, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, with plans to expand into more markets.
Sustainable coffee isn’t just in demand by caffeine lovers with a penchant for social justice. Many of the world’s biggest coffee companies, including Illy and Starbucks, have launched sustainability initiatives as part of their corporate responsibility measures. Offering coffee grown using fair labor or environmentally friendly practices also helps differentiate their products in a crowded marketplace. Research by the National Coffee Association, an American trade group, recently found that many millennials prefer sustainable coffee, with up to two-thirds of 19 to 24-year-olds surveyed said they pick their coffee based on whether it was grown using environmentally friendly practices and fair labor.
While coffee is currently its main focus, Browning says Enveritas’ system can be applied to other agricultural products that need more visibility in their supply chains. For example, it also can be used to verify the sustainability of cocoa, cotton and palm oil.
As a nonprofit, Enveritas faces different funding challenges from other tech startups. Browning says it is currently at the equivalent of being ready for a Series A. Much of its backing comes from coffee companies (Enveritas can’t disclose which ones) that hope to benefit from Enveritas’ solutions.
“One of the advantages of this system is that it reduces the cost for coffee companies relative to the traditional pen and paper system, but it’s also simultaneously free for farmers,” Browning says. “That’s one of the most compelling innovations, so it’s a win-win for both.”
Clinc is expanding its focus on fintech into new verticals that could take advantage of its conversational artificial intelligence. The Ann Arbor-based company recently took the wraps off its new system that aims to provide quick service restaurants like McDonald’s and Taco Bell with a voice assistant in the drive-through window.
I got a demo of the new system. For the most part, even in its early state, it works as advertised. Want a double cheeseburger without pickles and mayo with a side of fries and a Coke? With Clinc’s system, a person can order food as if they were talking to a human. Have questions or want to make changes to the order? Again, the person ordering the food does not have to modify their speech pattern or use a voice menu tree — just talk to the system normally.
This is Clinc’s second implementation of it conversational AI system. This isn’t Siri or Alexa. This technology is from the next generation.
The company started with a solution for fintech and currently has several contracts with major banks such as USAA, Barclays and S&P Global. In most cases, when integrated into the bank’s system, Clinc’s technology emulates human intelligence and can interpret unstructured, unconstrained speech. The idea is to let users converse with their bank account using natural language without pre-defined templates or hierarchical voice menus.
Clinc was founded by University of Michigan professor Jason Mars and Johann Hauswald, PhD.
Mars tells me Clinc spun up the quick service restaurant (QSR) product in about two weeks. He explains that Clinc’s platform allows programmers to drag and drop a restaurant’s menu to add items to the voice service.
I watched a Clinc engineer use the system for about an hour. Over and over again, the system processed the order correctly, but occasionally it got it wrong. It seems changing an order is just as easy as placing one though, and the engineer was able to modify the order on the fly.
When using the system, it’s obvious a computer is speaking. Good or bad, if implemented by restaurants, this could be one of the largest barriers to adoption by consumers. For the most part, ordering from a fast food restaurant is an easy affair but occasionally it gets complicated and Clinc’s system has to be able to handle everything — or have triggers that cause the system to connect the orderer with a live person to resolve the issue.
The QSR product is coming to market at a critical time. Fast food restaurants are increasingly looking for ways to reduce the number of workers in their stores while also looking for new ways for customers to order food. It’s clear this product can be modified to address other voice-heavy industries, too, such as call centers and appointment booking services.
The fourth annual Adobe Consumer Email Survey has revealed consumer use is up 17% year over year. This is despite the fact there are now more channels available for consumers to interact and engage with their favorite brands.
The survey points out consumers are checking their personal email an average of 2.5 hours on any given weekday. This is in addition to spending an average of 3.1 hours checking their work email.
Suffice it to say, email is not going anywhere anytime soon. This includes small businesses looking for an affordable and effective marketing tool.
According to Campaign Monitor, email delivers the highest ROI for marketers and it beats social by 40X for customer acquisition.
Kristin Naragon, head of Adobe Campaign, explained why email continues to be one of the best marketing tools for marketers. On the company blog, Naragon said, “Why is email so ingrained in our lives? One reason may be that it’s so manageable—we can sort, file, filter, and generally get things done. It’s also a known, safe quantity. We’re familiar with how to make email work for us, and we feel confident about the privacy of our data.”
For small business owners, it means being able to launch targeted campaigns without breaking the bank while seeing real-world results.
The survey was carried out with the participation of 1,000 white-collar workers to look how consumers are communicating across email and other channels.
Consumer Email Statistics
The 17% year over year rate represents a steady growth in the use of email. So much so, 85% of the respondents said they check it before they go to work and close to a quarter look at their email before they even get out of bed in the morning.
This type of engagement shows email is still highly relevant for brands by a long shot. When it comes to interacting with brands through email, 50% said it is their preferred channel.
Direct mail is next at 20%, followed by a phone call, text message/SMS, and social media channels at an equal 7%. Although chat bot use is up by 200%, it only represents 3% of the way consumers interact with brands.
Email is effective, but it has some drawbacks as consumers are quick to pull the unsubscribe button if they are not happy.
The survey said 45% of respondents unsubscribe because they get too many emails. This can be solved by being more diligent when brands interact with their customers.
One third or 33% said, not recommending products that match their interests is a big enough reason to unsubscribe. Another 22% said sending offers that have already expired is an issue, while 17% said misspelling their names is equally problematic.
Email in the Workplace
When it comes to using email in the workplace, consumers between 25 to 34 years old spend more time in their inbox with 6.4 hours per day. This is compared to 5.8 hours for those 18 to 24 years old and 5.2 hours for those over 35 years of age.
Email has also become a preferred way for workplace communication, as it ties face-to-face conversations at 31%. Phone communication comes in at 16% and instant messaging is at 11%. This is followed by file-sharing services, enterprise social network, and video conferencing at four, three, and 3 percent respectively.
Email for the Small Business Owner
For the small business owner, email is an affordable option to increase their presence by interacting and engaging with their customers. Adobe says the solution it provides helps entrepreneurs with tools for delivering the maximum impact with their email marketing.
This includes: predicting the best time to send emails; intelligently segmenting emails based on individual engagement; simplifying email creation; obtaining and acting on more granular insights; creating multilingual push messages, and scaling and delivering contextual emails
You can take a look at the rest of the data here on SlideShare.
