ChargerHelp co-founder, CEO Kameale C. Terry is heading to TC Sessions: Mobility 2021

Thousands of electric vehicle charging stations will be built around the country over the next decade. ChargerHelp!, founded in January 2020 by Kameale C. Terry and Evette Ellis, wants to make sure they stay up and running.

The idea for the on-demand repair app for EV charging stations came to Terry when she was working at EV Connect, where she held a number of roles including director of programs and head of customer experience. She noticed long wait times to fix non-electrical issues at charging stations due to the industry practice to use electrical contractors.

“When the stations went down we really couldn’t get anyone on site because most of the issues were communication issues, vandalism, firmware updates or swapping out a part — all things that were not electrical,” Terry said in an interview with TechCrunch earlier this year.

After Terry quit her job to start ChargerHelp!, she joined the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, where she developed a first-of-its-kind EV Network Technician Training Curriculum. Shortly after, Terry and Ellis were accepted into Elemental Excelerator’s startup incubator and have landed contracts with major EV charging network providers like EV Connect and SparkCharge.

The company uses a workforce-development approach to hiring, meaning that they only hire in cohorts. Workers receive full training, earn two safety licenses, are guaranteed a wage of $30 an hour and receive shares in the startup, Terry said.

We’re excited to announce that Kameale Terry will be joining us at TC Sessions: Mobility 2021, a one-day virtual event that is scheduled June 9. We’ll be covering a lot of ground with Terry, from how she developed her EV repair curriculum to what she sees in the company’s future.

Each year TechCrunch brings together founders, investors, CEOs and engineers who are working on all things transportation and mobility. If it moves people and packages from Point A to Point B, we cover it. This year’s agenda is filled with leaders in the mobility space who are shaping the future of transportation, from EV charging to autonomous vehicles to urban air taxis.

Among the growing list of speakers are Rimac Automobili founder Mate Rimac,  Revel Transit CEO Frank Reig, community organizer, transportation consultant and lawyer Tamika L. Butler and Remix/Via co-founder and CEO Tiffany Chu, who will come together to discuss how (and if) urban mobility can increase equity while still remaining a viable business.

Other guests include Motional’s President and CEO Karl Iagnemma, Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson, GM‘s VP of Global Innovation Pam Fletcher, Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, Joby Aviation founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt, investor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman (whose special purpose acquisition company just merged with Joby), investors Clara Brenner of Urban Innovation Fund, Quin Garcia of Autotech Ventures and Rachel Holt of Construct Capital, Zoox co-founder and CTO Jesse Levinson.

We also recently announced a panel dedicated to China’s robotaxi industry, featuring three female leaders from Chinese AV startups: AutoX’s COO Jewel Li, Huan Sun, general manager of Momenta Europe with Momenta, and WeRide’s VP of Finance Jennifer Li.

Don’t wait to book your tickets to TC Sessions: Mobility as prices go up at the door. Grab your passes right now and hear from today’s biggest mobility leaders.

June makes product analytics more accessible

Meet June, a new startup that wants to make it easier to create analytics dashboards and generate reports even if you’re not a product analytics expert. June is built on top of your Segment data. Like many no-code startups, it uses templates and a graphical interface so that non-technical profiles can start using it.

“What we do today is instant analytics and that’s why we’re building it on top of Segment,” co-founder and CEO Enzo Avigo told me. “It lets you access data much more quickly.”

Segment acts as the data collection and data repository for your analytics. After that, you can start playing with your data in June. Eventually, June plans to diversify its data sources.

“Our long-term vision is to become the Airtable of analytics,” Avigo said.

If you’re familiar with Airtable, June may look familiar. The company has built a template library to help you get started. For instance, June helps you track user retention, active users, your acquisition funnel, engagement, feature usage, etc.

Image Credits: June

Once you pick a template, you can start building a report by matching data sources with templates. June automatically generates charts, sorts your user base into cohorts and shows you important metrics. You can create goals so that you receive alerts in Slack whenever something good or bad is happening.

Advanced users can also use June so that everyone in the team is using the same tool. They can create custom SQL queries and build a template based on those queries.

The company raised a seed round of $1.85 million led by Point Nine. Y Combinator, Speedinvest, Kima Ventures, eFounders and Base Case also participated, as well as several business angels.

Prior to June, the startup’s two co-founders worked for Intercom. They noticed that the analytics tool was too hard to use for many people. They didn’t rely on analytics to make educated decisions.

There are hundreds of companies using June every week and that number is growing by 10% per week. Right now, the product is free but the company plans to charge based on usage.

Image Credits: June

Following Pandemic, “Starting a Business” Now on More Bucket Lists

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed many aspects of work and life, including giving people the impetus to start their own business.

Fenetic Wellbeing, suppliers of mobility aids to support independent living, conducted research into what’s on people’s bucket lists post pandemic.

The study involved the collection of more than 100 bucket list ideas and the comparison of bucket list search terms made online from March 2020 to March 2021. The objective of the research was to see what has changed in relation to people’s bucket lists in the wake of the pandemic.

Starting a Business on More Bucket Lists

A key finding is that more people want to start their own business. The search volume for ‘start a business’ increased by 50% from March 2020 to March 2021.

Out of the top ten things to do before you die search term on Google, start a business came in third place. The two ‘things to do before you die’ ahead of start a business was to ‘lose weight’ and ‘visit the Great Wall of China.’

Over the 12-month period from March 2020 to March 2021, the search term ‘invest in a company’ increased by 21%.

The findings of Fenetic Wellbeing’s research show how significantly the pandemic has changed people’s attitudes to money and starting and running their own business.

As Fenetic Wellbeing notes in its report on the changing face of bucket lists post pandemic: “We found more people are adding money-related goals to their bucket list. During Covid-19, many people have lost their jobs, been put on furlough, or it has simply made them rethink their career aspirations and financial situation.”

Pandemic Has Motivated Entrepreneurs

Fenetic Wellbeing’s research follows earlier studies which also demonstrate how the 2020 health crisis has motivated a new breed of entrepreneurs. A study by Azlo, a banking platform for small business owners, freelancers and entrepreneurs, found that 96% of new entrepreneurs say the pandemic is motivating them to start their own business.

As well as starting a business and investing in a company rating high in search terms related to bucket lists, retiring early has proven a popular search term since the coronavirus pandemic surfaced.

Improving credit scores and opening a saving account were among in the top ten search terms for top things to do before you die.

Research like that carried out by Fenetic Wellbeing confirms how the Covid-19 pandemic caused has led to many revaluating their lives and work.

For bold and agile entrepreneurs with an appetite to become their own boss, now could be the perfect time to take their venture by the horns and start the business they have always dreamt of.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "Following Pandemic, “Starting a Business” Now on More Bucket Lists" was first published on Small Business Trends

How a Tweet from Oprah Created $1M in Orders

Can you actually build a company based on a recommendation from Oprah Winfrey? Well, yes you can!

On The Small Business Radio Show this week, Gloria L. Williams at Footnanny reveals how her brand exploded after a tweet from Oprah. She has been her pedicurist for many years and has since appeared on Oprah’s favorite things for 7 years in a row.

Her mother was from Montgomery, Alabama, and always helped sick people by giving them a good old fashioned “Rub Down! Southern Hospitality Style”. Gloria says she paid close attention to mother who would take her along to help sick neighbors. She mimicked her technique; “My mother believed that certain foods, oils, and teas played a crucial role in the overall recovery of a person’s ailments. Mom would mix luxurious creams, ointments and oils, which we would then use to do the “Old Fashioned Rub Down” on those in need of a loving touch.”

Interview with Gloria Williams of Footnanny

As a professional, Gloria decided to create her own products with the right mix of cream and oil because she could not get the right “glide” on clients’ feet with what was being sold. Oprah had seen her product while she was servicing her feet with her signature pedicure and foot massage. Oprah loved it so much that she did a video tweet and introduced everyone to the product. Gloria explains that “it triggered 6,000 emails with so much support for the product.”

After the Oprah tweet, ramping up her production was a challenge since she had to go from a service-based business to a product one. As result of her success, people were trying to take advantage of her since she was building so fast. Gloria had to find a new chemist and a company that could do larger runs. She explains that “the demand was so overwhelming that I had to search immediately for better distribution”. During COVID, she had to expand to three warehouses. Since so many women were buying the product for men, Gloria also started a Men’s product line. As Gloria explains, “it’s the same product, it just says ‘men’ on the label”.

Listen to Gloria’s entire inspiration story on The Small Business Radio Show.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "How a Tweet from Oprah Created $1M in Orders" was first published on Small Business Trends

By working with home entrepreneurs, Jakarta-based DishServe is creating an even more asset-light version of cloud kitchens

Cloud kitchens are already meant to reduce the burden of infrastructure on food and beverage brands by providing them with centralized facilities to prepare meals for delivery. This means the responsibility falls on cloud kitchen operators to make sure they have enough locations to meet demand from F&B clients, while ensuring fast deliveries to end customers.

Indonesian network DishServe has figured out a way to make running cloud kitchen networks even more asset-light. Launched by budget hotel startup RedDoorz’s former chief operating officer, DishServe partners with home kitchens instead of renting or buying its own facilities. It currently works with almost 100 home kitchens in Jakarta, and focuses on small- to medium-sized F&B brands, serving as their last-mile delivery network. Launched in fall 2020, DishServe has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from Insignia Ventures Partners.

RedDoorz raises $70M to expand its budget hotel network in Southeast Asia

DishServe was founded in September 2020 by Rishabh Singhi. After leaving RedDoorz at the end of 2019, Singhi moved to New York, with plans to launch a new hospitality startup that could quickly convert any commercial space into members’ clubs like Soho House. The nascent company had already created sample pre-fabricated rooms and was about to start leasing property when the COVID-19 lockdown hit New York City in March 2020. Singhi said he went on a “soul searching spree” for a couple of months, deciding what to do and if he should return to Southeast Asia.

He realized that since many restaurants had to switch to online orders and delivery to survive the pandemic, this could potentially be an equalizer for small F&B brands that compete with larger players, like McDonald’s. But lockdowns meant that a lot of people had to pick from a limited range of restaurants close to where they lived. At the same time, Singhi saw that there were a lot of people who wanted to make more money, but couldn’t work outside of their homes, like stay-at-home moms.

DishServe was created to connect all three sides: F&B brands that want to expand without spending a lot of money, home entrepreneurs and diners hungry for more food options. Its other founders include Stefanie Irma, an early RedDoorz employee who served as its country head for the Philippines; serial entrepreneur Vinav Bhanawat; and Fathhi Mohamed, who also co-founded Sri Lankan on-demand taxi service PickMe.

The company works with F&B brands that typically have between just one to 15 retail locations, and want to increase their deliveries without opening new outlets. DishServe’s clients also include cloud kitchen companies who use its home kitchen network for last-mile distribution to expand their delivery coverage and catering services.

“The brands don’t to have to incur any upfront costs, and it’s a cheaper way to distribute as well because they don’t have to pay for electricity, plumbing and other things like that,” said Singhi. “And for agents, it gives them a chance to earn money from their homes.”

Hangry, an Indonesian cloud kitchen startup with plans to become a global F&B company, closes $13M Series A

How it works

Before adding a home kitchen to its network, DishServe screens applicants by asking them to send in a series of photos, then doing an in-person check. If a kitchen is accepted, DishServe upgrades it so it has the same equipment and functionality as the other home kitchens in its network. The company covers the cost of the conversion process, which usually takes about three hours and costs $500 USD, and maintains ownership of the equipment, taking it back if a kitchen decided to stop working with DishServe. Singhi said DishServe is usually able to recover the cost of a conversion four months after a kitchen begins operating.

Home kitchens start out by serving DishServe’s own white-label brand as a trial run before it opens to other brands. Each can serve up to three additional brands at a time.

One important thing to note is that DishServe’s home kitchens, which are usually run by one person, don’t actually cook any food. Ingredients are provided by F&B brands, and home kitchen operators follow a standard set of procedures to heat, assemble and package meals for pick-up and delivery.

Screenshots of DishServe’s apps for home kitchen operators and customers

DishServe makes sure standard operating procedures and hygiene standards are being maintained through frequent online audits. Agents, or kitchen operators, regularly submit photos and videos of kitchens based on a checklist (i.e. food preparation area, floors, walls, hand-washing area and the inside of their freezers). Singhi said about 90% of its agents are women between the ages of 30 to 55, with an average household income of $1,000. By working with DishServe, they typically make an additional $600 a month once their kitchen is operating at full capacity with four brands. DishServe monetizes through a revenue-sharing model, charging F&B brands and splitting that with its agents.

After joining DishServe, F&B brands pick what home kitchens they want to work with, and then distribute ingredients to kitchens, using DishServe’s real-time dashboard to monitor stock. Some ingredients have a shelf life of up to six months, while perishables, like produce, dairy and eggs, are delivered daily. DishServe’s “starter pack” for onboarding new brands lets them pick pick five kitchens, but Singhi said most brands usually begin with between 10 to 20 kitchens so they can deliver to more spots in Jakarta and save money by preparing meals in bulk.

DishServe plans to focus on growing its network in Jakarta until at least the end of this year, before expanding into other cities. “One thing we are trying to change about the F&B industry is that instead of highly-concentrated, centralized food business, like what exists today, we are decentralizing it by enabling micro-entrepreneurs to act as a distribution network,” Singhi said.

Indonesian cloud kitchen startup Yummy gets $12 million Series B led by SoftBank Ventures Asia

New Data Reveals the Best Dog Breeds for Remote Workers

Remote work can be a lonely, unthankful task, leaving those working from home pining for company and affection. In walk a fluffy little Shih Tzus pup, hailed the best breed of dog for remote workers.

The purchasing of pets, dogs in particular, has skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Dog shelters, rescue centers and breeders have reported increased demand as Americans attempt to fill the emptiness of lockdown with canine companions.

For those working in isolation from home, a dog can be the perfect way to stave off loneliness and assist with mental health and wellbeing.

A new study by Small Business Prices, providers of transparent pricing analysis designed to help small businesses, analysed 30 of the most popular dog breeds and the most suitable types of dogs for home working environments. It explored the cost to buy or adopt different breeds and how their popularity has changed during the pandemic.

Shih Tzus the Best Dog for Remote Workers

The study ranked the different breeds on various aspects including adaption to flat living, tolerance for being alone, trainability, energy levels, and exercise needs.

Being highly adaptive and with low energy levels meaning they won’t distract their owners, Shih Tzus were found to be the ultimate dog for remote working.

In second place was the Doberman Pinscher, which has a low tendency to bark, meaning important video calls won’t be interrupted by a noisy, attention-seeking dog!

Ranking in third position was the Havanese breed, which has a great tolerance for being alone and has a good trainability score, meaning work time won’t be devoted to training a disobedient dog.

Helping to Overcome the Challenges of Working from Home

Working from home comes with many benefits, such as a better life/work balance and improved productivity. However, it is not without its challenges. Studies show that having a dog around helps improve both physical and mental health. In the remote working era, having a furry friend can be the perfect excuse to take regular breaks walking the dog and generally fighting off feelings of loneliness.

That said, it is important to get the right dog so that your new companion doesn’t turn into a nightmare when you’re trying to get work done.

As the authors of the Small Business Prices note: “While getting a furry friend is particularly tempting during a lockdown, not all breeds are suitable for a remote working environment. If you’re looking to transition to a hybrid-working system as the UK comes out of lockdown, you’ll want to ensure your pup is also tolerant to being alone.”

How Covid-19 Impacted the Cost to Buy a Dog

Of course, the cost of a dog will play an influential role in how what type of breed of dog many homeworkers decide to buy.

According to Small Business Price’s research, as a result of the puppy boom during the pandemic, the cost to purchase a dog has increased by an average of 130%.

Shih Tzus Remains an Affordable Breed

As well as being the most suitable breed for homeworkers, Shih Tzus is one of the most affordable types of dog on the market. Other more affordable breeds include the Mastiff, Australian Shepherd, Beagle and Brittany.

The study also uncovered the most expensive breeds, with the Bulldog, Bernese Mountain Dog, Havanese, Great Dane and French Bulldog coming out as least affordable.

The study confirms the escalating popularity among remote workers to own a dog. It also shows the importance of researching different breeds to ensure your new furry friend ticks all the boxes in the suitability and affordability stakes.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "New Data Reveals the Best Dog Breeds for Remote Workers" was first published on Small Business Trends

For startups, trustworthy security means going above and beyond compliance standards

Oren Yunger Contributor

Oren Yunger is an investor at GGV Capital, where he leads the cybersecurity vertical and drives investments in enterprise IT, data infrastructure, and developer tools. He was previously chief information security officer at a SaaS company and a public financial institution.

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When it comes to meeting compliance standards, many startups are dominating the alphabet. From GDPR and CCPA to SOC 2, ISO27001, PCI DSS and HIPAA, companies have been charging toward meeting the compliance standards required to operate their businesses.

Today, every healthcare founder knows their product must meet HIPAA compliance, and any company working in the consumer space would be well aware of GDPR, for example.

But a mistake many high-growth companies make is that they treat compliance as a catchall phrase that includes security. Thinking this could be an expensive and painful error. In reality, compliance means that a company meets a minimum set of controls. Security, on the other hand, encompasses a broad range of best practices and software that help address risks associated with the company’s operations.

It makes sense that startups want to tackle compliance first. Being compliant plays a big role in any company’s geographical expansion to regulated markets and in its penetration to new industries like finance or healthcare. So in many ways, achieving compliance is a part of a startup’s go-to-market kit. And indeed, enterprise buyers expect startups to check the compliance box before signing on as their customer, so startups are rightfully aligning around their buyers’ expectations.

One of the best ways startups can begin tackling security is with an early security hire.

With all of this in mind, it’s not surprising that we’ve witnessed a trend where startups achieve compliance from the very early days and often prioritize this motion over developing an exciting feature or launching a new campaign to bring in leads, for instance.

Compliance is an important milestone for a young company and one that moves the cybersecurity industry forward. It forces startup founders to put security hats on and think about protecting their company, as well as their customers. At the same time, compliance provides comfort to the enterprise buyer’s legal and security teams when engaging with emerging vendors. So why is compliance alone not enough?

First, compliance doesn’t mean security (although it is a step in the right direction). It is more often than not that young companies are compliant while being vulnerable in their security posture.

What does it look like? For example, a software company may have met SOC 2 standards that require all employees to install endpoint protection on their devices, but it may not have a way to enforce employees to actually activate and update the software. Furthermore, the company may lack a centrally managed tool for monitoring and reporting to see if any endpoint breaches have occurred, where, to whom and why. And, finally, the company may not have the expertise to quickly respond to and fix a data breach or attack.

Therefore, although compliance standards are met, several security flaws remain. The end result is that startups can suffer security breaches that end up costing them a bundle. For companies with under 500 employees, the average security breach costs an estimated $7.7 million, according to a study by IBM, not to mention the brand damage and lost trust from existing and potential customers.

Second, an unforeseen danger for startups is that compliance can create a false sense of safety. Receiving a compliance certificate from objective auditors and renowned organizations could give the impression that the security front is covered.

Once startups start gaining traction and signing upmarket customers, that sense of security grows, because if the startup managed to acquire security-minded customers from the F-500, being compliant must be enough for now and the startup is probably secure by association. When charging after enterprise deals, it’s the buyer’s expectations that push startups to achieve SOC 2 or ISO27001 compliance to satisfy the enterprise security threshold. But in many cases, enterprise buyers don’t ask sophisticated questions or go deeper into understanding the risk a vendor brings, so startups are never really called to task on their security systems.

Third, compliance only deals with a defined set of knowns. It doesn’t cover anything that is unknown and new since the last version of the regulatory requirements were written.

Enterprise security attackers are one password away from your worst day

For example, APIs are growing in use, but regulations and compliance standards have yet to catch up with the trend. So an e-commerce company must be PCI-DSS compliant to accept credit card payments, but it may also leverage multiple APIs that have weak authentication or business logic flaws. When the PCI standard was written, APIs weren’t common, so they aren’t included in the regulations, yet now most fintech companies rely heavily on them. So a merchant may be PCI-DSS compliant, but use nonsecure APIs, potentially exposing customers to credit card breaches.

Startups are not to blame for the mix-up between compliance and security. It is difficult for any company to be both compliant and secure, and for startups with limited budget, time or security know-how, it’s especially challenging. In a perfect world, startups would be both compliant and secure from the get-go; it’s not realistic to expect early-stage companies to spend millions of dollars on bulletproofing their security infrastructure. But there are some things startups can do to become more secure.

One of the best ways startups can begin tackling security is with an early security hire. This team member might seem like a “nice to have” that you could put off until the company reaches a major headcount or revenue milestone, but I would argue that a head of security is a key early hire because this person’s job will be to focus entirely on analyzing threats and identifying, deploying and monitoring security practices. Additionally, startups would benefit from ensuring their technical teams are security-savvy and keep security top of mind when designing products and offerings.

Another tactic startups can take to bolster their security is to deploy the right tools. The good news is that startups can do so without breaking the bank; there are many security companies offering open-source, free or relatively affordable versions of their solutions for emerging companies to use, including Snyk, Auth0, HashiCorp, CrowdStrike and Cloudflare.

A full security rollout would include software and best practices for identity and access management, infrastructure, application development, resiliency and governance, but most startups are unlikely to have the time and budget necessary to deploy all pillars of a robust security infrastructure.

Luckily, there are resources like Security 4 Startups that offer a free, open-source framework for startups to figure out what to do first. The guide helps founders identify and solve the most common and important security challenges at every stage, providing a list of entry-level solutions as a solid start to building a long-term security program. In addition, compliance automation tools can help with continuous monitoring to ensure these controls stay in place.

For startups, compliance is critical for establishing trust with partners and customers. But if this trust is eroded after a security incident, it will be nearly impossible to regain it. Being secure, not only compliant, will help startups take trust to a whole other level and not only boost market momentum, but also make sure their products are here to stay.

So instead of equating compliance with security, I suggest expanding the equation to consider that compliance and security equal trust. And trust equals business success and longevity.

58% Regret Making Purchases on Buy Now-Pay Later Terms

When it comes to buy now-pay later, consumers seem to have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the deal.

Research shows that more than half of customers regret buying something on buy now-pay later terms. Yet at the same time, 60% of consumers admit to making purchases through this type of deal.

These statistics involving buy now-pay later deals are uncovered in a report by C + R Research, a market research company that delivers insights on consumer habits. In its ‘Buy Now, Pay Later Statistics and User Habits’ report, C + R Research surveyed 2,005 online consumers via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk survey platform. The survey was conducted in late-March and early-April 2021.

Buy Now-Pay Later on the Rise

51% of consumers surveyed say they have used a buy now, pay later service during the Covid-19 pandemic.

59% admit to having purchased an unnecessary item on these types of deals that they otherwise couldn’t afford.

The research looked at the items most commonly bought on buy now, pay later deals. It found that clothing and electronics are the most common types of products to be purchased in this way, with 47% of consumers buying clothing and 44% purchasing electronics respectively.

Small Business Retails Should Take Note

The survey provides valuable insight into the habits and demands of today’s consumers for small business retailers. For businesses considering offering this payment service, they should be mindful that customers can regret purchasing in this way, especially for ‘non-essential’ and expensive items.

On the other hand, a large majority are opting for buy now-pay later deals, so such services should not be overlooked by businesses.

Providing customers with the chance to purchase something and pay for it later can be an effective way for businesses to sell items, providing they are aware of the cost of the product so that customers are not cajoled into buying something they can’t really afford.

As C + R Research advises: “More than half (57%) of users say they have regretted making a purchase through Buy Now, Pay Later because the item was too expensive. Obviously, when consumers buy an item outside of their budget this can lead to missing payments; about half say they are currently behind on a payment, and almost the same proportion say they are likely to make a late payment within the next 12 months.”

Credit Cards vs Buy Now-Pay Later

The survey also explores the future of these types of payments. According to the survey, 38% of users believe buy now, pay later services will eventually replace credit cards. More than half (56%) say they prefer buy now, pay later compared to using credit cards for purchases.

It could prove a savvy move for small business merchants to make buy now, pay later services available on their products. However, it is also important not to leave customers disgruntled about their purchases and facing stress and anxiety about making the regular payments.

It is therefore vital to reiterate the message to customers that they should only make purchases this way if they can afford the payments. Businesses should also be mindful of what items they offer these deals on, as offering it on expensive products could potentially heighten the issue of consumers being unable to make the repayments.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "58% Regret Making Purchases on Buy Now-Pay Later Terms" was first published on Small Business Trends

Why is an LLC so Popular? Watch This Free Webinar to Find Out

A Limited Liability Company or LLC as it is more commonly known is one of the most popular business entities for entrepreneurs. This is especially true for first-time business owners. In addition to tax benefits, an LLC protects the members of the company from personal liability for business debt. If the business doesn’t perform as planned, your personal assets will be protected.

The “What Business Structure is Right for You?” webinar will go into detail about LLC and other forms of business structures to highlight the pros and cons of each one. And knowing how each structure can affect your business and personal finances is extremely important. As the first big legal decision for new business owners, you should get as much information as possible before you choose your business structure.

Nellie Akalp, the CEO of CorpNet.com and Anita Campbell, Founder and CEO of Small Business Trends LLC, will be hosting the webinar and sharing their decades of business experience.

Click the red button and register to attend this free webinar on Jan 17, 2021, at 2 p.m. (EDT).

Register Now

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WEBINAR: What Business Structure is Right for You?
June 17, 2021, Online

Picking a business structure is usually the first big legal decision for a new business owner and one of the most confusing. However confusing, it is an essential step to protecting your personal assets from any liabilities of the company. In this webinar, Nellie Akalp CEO of CorpNet.com, will share insight on business entities to help guide you to the best decision for your new venture.

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WEBINAR: Best State to Incorporate
July 28, 2021, Online

Some say Delaware, others say Nevada while someone else may say your home state. What is the best state to register a business in? What if your business is expanding into new territory? At what point should you Foreign Qualify? Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, will go in-depth to answer these questions and more in this webinar.

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Win Corporate Clients: The Real Deal 2021
October 4, 2021, Fort Lauderdale, Florida

What if you could rapidly scale your consulting, coaching, professional services, outsourcing, certified diverse company or other corporate supplier business with lucrative B2B clients…clients who buy from you month after month, year after year, with a well that never runs dry. That’s exactly what we’ll show you how to do when you join us!

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WEBINAR: Steps to Start Your Business
October 20, 2021, Online

Starting a business can be an exhilarating time, where everything seems full of potential and purpose. But navigating the logistics of launching a business can be daunting. In this webinar Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com, will outline the steps necessary to legally start a business and get up and running on the right foot.

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• The Beauty Trends & Innovations Conference
  September 15, 2021, London, UK
• DigiMarCon South Africa 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
  September 29, 2021, Johannesburg, South Africa
• DigiMarCon Africa 2021 – Digital Marketing, Media and Advertising Conference & Exhibition
  October 7, 2021, Cape Town, South Africa
• TECHSPO Dubai 2021 Technology Expo (Internet ~ Mobile ~ AdTech ~ MarTech ~ SaaS)
  October 12, 2021, Dubai, UAE

More Contests

• SINET16 Innovator Award Application
  June 1, 2021, Online

This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends.

You can see a full list of events, contest and award listings or post your own events by visiting the Small Business Events Calendar.

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This article, "Why is an LLC so Popular? Watch This Free Webinar to Find Out" was first published on Small Business Trends

The exit effect: 4 ways IPOs and acquisitions drive positive change across the global ecosystem

Laura González-Estéfani Contributor

Laura González-Estéfani is the founder and CEO of TheVentureCity, an international, operator-led venture acceleration model designed to make the global entrepreneurial ecosystem more diverse, international and accessible to fair capital.

More posts by this contributor

• Miami won’t be the next Silicon Valley because we don’t need another one

For many VCs, the exit is the endgame; you cash in and move on. But as we know, the startup world is evolving, and that means the impact of investment is no longer limited to how much money is made.

As investors, we’re looking further into what each investment means to human beings, at interlinking our mission with our money. And yet, one of the events that generates the most momentum for long-term impact — the successful exit of a portfolio company — is not being harnessed.

When leveraged properly, an exit can be the beginning of a firm’s true impact, especially when we’re talking about giving all founders equal opportunities and empowering the best ideas. The investment sphere is slowly shaking off its “America first” approach as foreign products take the world by storm and international businesses become the norm.

When leveraged properly, an exit can be the beginning of a firm’s true impact, especially when we’re talking about giving all founders equal opportunities and empowering the best ideas.

Investors will be driving forces in enabling the highest-potential companies to build products that countries everywhere will benefit from — no matter where they were conceived. The way they play the game can transform the industry into one in which a founder from across the ocean has as much of a chance to change the world as one from next door.

We know the basics of how to do this with cash: Investing in underrepresented founders is a necessary first step. But who’s talking about the power of exits to change the playing field for diverse founders? We must consider the psychological motivation of seeing a huge buyout on other entrepreneurs, what that startup’s ex-team members go on to build, and what the achievements of one citizen does for that nation’s reputation.

Last year, 41 venture-backed companies saw a billion-dollar exit, totaling over $100 billion, the highest numbers in a decade. We have an unprecedented amount of clout to do something with those power moves and four ways to turn them into a domino effect.

1. Competitor effect

When a foreign entrepreneur raises money from U.S. firms and sells to a U.S. company, other immigrants see that. Regardless of how groundbreaking their product idea might be, immigrant Americans will always be more wary of putting their eggs into the entrepreneurship basket, at least as long as 93% of all VC money continues to be controlled by white men.

This, despite research suggesting that immigrants contribute 40% more to innovation than local inventors.

What these foreign entrepreneurs most need is confidence, role models and success stories proving other people who look like them have made it, especially when those founders are making waves in the same industry as them.

So a big, well-publicized exit will create momentum in the industry for other foreign founders to give fuel to their venture and seek to take it to the next stage. Not only that, it will instill more self-assurance when it comes to fundraising, and investors will value that.

I was inspired to write this column after Returnly, a fintech founded by a fellow immigrant from Spain based in San Francisco — which, for full transparency, I invested in as an angel investor, and then for Series B and C via my fund — was acquired for $300 million by Affirm.

While there was undoubtedly a personal financial gain worth celebrating, the success of a foreign founder who persevered against the odds in such a competitive ecosystem as Silicon Valley, raised large rounds from U.S.-based investors, and was finally acquired by a U.S. company served as a moment of inspiration for other diverse founders around the world. We saw this in the amount of media attention it received in both business and mainstream press in Spain and the floods of connect requests and congratulations that followed on LinkedIn.

The impact of an exit is greater when it shows foreign entrepreneurs that there are globally minded organizations helping startups like theirs get equal access to funding. That means having VC firms that spotlight international entrepreneurship and foster global expert networks.

As investors, we can maximize the impact of our exits in the industry by highlighting the foreign origins of our founders in a big way when it comes to promoting the exit, including narrating the challenges and opportunities they encountered on their journey. We can use the victory to drive the point home to our fellow investors that diverse and international entrepreneurship is an undervalued gem. We can personally take the win to boost our brand as one that empowers foreign entrepreneurs in that niche, attracting more to seek funding with us in a positive reinforcement cycle.

2. Wealth effect

The windfall from a big exit puts all previous investors in a privileged position, and it’s unlikely that money will sit around for long. They’ll look to reinvest in other high-potential companies — probably ones that look a lot like the one that was just sold.

But in addition to those investors multiplying the positive impact in their own portfolio, they will rally other investors to behave in a similar way.

Each exit — good or bad — sets a precedent for that niche and that type of company. Other investors will follow suit if they sense that one of their peers is onto a cash cow. Because foreign and ethnic minority founders are still underrepresented in startup funding, it makes this field less competitive while harboring huge potential. VCs who have an eye out for unique opportunities will spot when an investor has made a hefty profit from an unconventional startup, especially if they continue to invest in others in that same field.

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To help this along, angels and VCs who’ve been behind a recent exit and are reinvesting in similar founders should publicize those knock-on investments, explaining how their previous success motivated them to support similar ventures. They can also be vocal within their network about their decision to raise up certain entrepreneurs because they’ve seen it works.

Returnly’s founder recently offered to put some of his earnings back into our fund, enabling more foreign entrepreneurs like himself to access capital. If as investors we foster meaningful relationships with our funders and truly care about empowering diverse entrepreneurs, we’ll see more of that wealth circle back into our mission.

3. Team effect

The PayPal Mafia is a set of former PayPal executives and employees — such as Elon Musk, a South African, and Peter Thiel, a German American — who have gone on to seriously disrupt not one but multiple industries across tech. Among the companies they’ve founded are YouTube, LinkedIn, Yelp and Tesla, and they’ve even been named U.S. ambassadors. That’s just one company. Imagine what other diverse and driven teams can do with the influx of cash and inspiration that comes with a big exit. There will be a ripple effect of team members eager to start out on their own who feel empowered by the success of someone who believed in them.

Their ventures will be more likely to “pass it on” when it comes to giving equal opportunities to people regardless of origin and will generate more jobs for people with their mission. Take Thiel, who has to date backed over 40 companies in Europe alone.

As VCs, we can capitalize on this team effect by keeping our eye on any spinoff ventures that arise and supporting them when possible (with experience and contacts, if not with capital). But beyond this, you can also consider encouraging these people to join the investment sphere, maybe even within your firm. Many successful startup founders and executives go on to become investors — the PayPal Mafia has contributed to some of the most notorious funds out there today. The origin story of these former team members will make them more prone to supporting underrepresented founders they can get behind. In turn, new entrepreneurs will draw more value from their personal experiences.

4. Reputation effect

Although Returnly is headquartered in San Francisco, its founder is Spanish and many of its employees were based in Spain.

That means that the impact of Returnly’s exit will be felt on the other side of the Atlantic as well as among co-nationals in the United States. The same is true of other notable sales, like AlienVault, which was founded in Spain and had multiple offices there. AlienVault was acquired by U.S. telecommunications giant AT&T for $900 million. Or IPOs — earlier this month, the Spanish-origin payments company Flywire filed for an IPO that could value the company at $3 billion. One startup’s success boosts the reputation of its entire team, and with it other founders and talent with their same country of origin, background, education and drive.

It follows that investors and other stakeholders will be more inclined to back opportunities among founders from the same home country if it says something about the mission, expertise and culture they bring to their startup.

At the same time, growing startups will be more interested in hiring the talent of evidently successful teams. That doesn’t just mean hiring more foreign experts in the United States, but seeking to outsource farther afield. We’re already becoming far more comfortable with remote teams, and it’s more capital-efficient for one half of the team to be working while the other half sleeps. But founders will always gravitate more to countries where local talent and innovation is already seen to be thriving. Open up that conversation with your portfolio companies.

VCs have the power to change an industry forever, to connect startup ecosystems across continents and to see startups expand worldwide. But this is about staying relevant as an investor as much as it’s about ensuring this next stage in the startup world is a positive one.

Investors who don’t recognize that the future of startups is global and diverse in nature won’t be in sync with the best opportunities — and won’t be selected by the best founders. Rather than trying to play catchup, help build that ecosystem.

10 Different Strategies to Consider When Growing Your Small Business

From improving SEO to outsourcing, there are plenty of strategies you can use to grow a business. But which ones are right for your company? Here, members of the online small business community share their top tips. Go through the options and choose the strategies that are most relevant to your team and your operations.

Find the Best Credit Cards for Your Small Business

Money is an essential element of growing a small business. So credit cards can be a lifeline for many. And they can even help you build up credit in the early days. In this Acuity post, Kenji Kuramoto lists some of the best options for startups.

Use These Hacks for a Successful Product Launch

Launching a new product can be an effective way to grow your business. But not all launches are successful. So how can you prepare for this activity? Molly Stovold shares some helpful tips in this Process Street post.

Consider Going International

One of the best ways to expand a small business is to enter new physical markets. But it’s not for everyone. And it can be even more complicated during times of uncertainty. In this Sales Hacker post, Jake Rheude dives into the pros and cons.

Start Outsourcing in Your Business

At some point while growing a small business, it becomes difficult to do everything on your own. If you want to grow further in 2021, it may be time to outsource. Rishi Khanna explores the concept in this Borderless Mind post. And members of the BizSugar community chimed in here.

Keep Your Supply Chain Running Smoothly

A quality supply chain can help your operations run smoothly as your business grows. But issues tend to come up from time to time. So how can you keep things functioning as intended? Ivan Widjaya dives into the subject in this Funding Note post.

Leverage Trending TikTok Content to Grow Your Business

TikTok has grown exponentially in the past couple years. So leveraging this content for your business may help your brand experience a similar surge. If you’re looking to leverage this trending content, read this Social Media Examiner post by Michael Stelzner.

Consider Adding a Statutory Agent

As your business grows, you might register it as an LLC or corporation. And a statutory agent may come in handy as you consider various legal implications. In this CorpNet post, Nellie Akalp goes over this concept and how it may impact businesses of various sizes.

Improve Your SEO in 2021

SEO is an important element of any online marketing plan. But the concepts affecting this strategy are always changing. Learn how to improve your efforts in 2021 in this THGM post by David Leonhardt. Then see what BizSugar members had to say about the post here.

Build Your Social Media Strategy for 2021

Social media has been an essential element of many small business marketing strategies for years. But if you haven’t updated your tactics in a few years, it may be time to rethink some things. Christian Zilles shares tips in this Social Media HQ post.

Boost Your Productivity at Work

Growing your business starts with improving personal productivity. Some entrepreneurs and professionals struggle to get things done from day to day. But the tips in this Startup Professionals Musings post by Martin Zwilling may help.

If you’d like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to: sbtips@gmail.com.

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This article, "10 Different Strategies to Consider When Growing Your Small Business" was first published on Small Business Trends

6 investors and founders forecast hockey-stick growth for Edinburgh’s startup scene

Scotland is slowly but surely drawing attention in the UK’s startup space. In 2020, Scottish startups collectively raised £345 million, according to Tech Nation, and with nearly 2,500 startups, it has the highest number of budding tech companies outside London. Venture capital fundraises are also consistently on the rise every year.

Scotland’s capital Edinburgh boasts a beautiful, hilly landscape, a robust education system and good access to grant funding, public and private investment. It’s also one of the top financial centers in the U.K., making it a great place to begin a business.

So to find out what the startup scene in Edinburgh looks like, we spoke to six founders, executives and investors. The city’s tech ecosystem appears to have a robust space for machine learning, artificial intelligence, biomedicine, fintech, travel tech, oil, renewables, e-commerce, gaming, health tech, deep tech, space tech and insurtech.

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However, the city’s tech scene is apparently lackluster when it comes to legal tech, blockchain and consumer-facing technology.

Breakout companies that were founded in Edinburgh include Skyscanner and FanDuel. Notable among the current crop are Desana, Continuum Industries, Parsley Box, Current Health, Boundary, Zumo, Appointedd, Criton, Mallzee, TravelNest, TVSquared, Care Sourcer, Stampede, For-Sight, Vistalworks, Reath, InfraCost, Speech Graphics and Cyan Forensics.

The Edinburgh business-angel community appears to be quite strong, but it seems local founders find it difficult to get London-based investors to take an interest. Scottish investors are said to be “pretty conservative and risk-adverse” with some notable exceptions.

We surveyed:

• Wendy Lamin, managing director, Holoxica
• Andrew Noble, partner, Par Equity
• Danae Shell, co-founder and CEO, Valla
• Allan Nelson, co-founder and CEO, For-Sight
• Lysimachos Zografos, founder, Parkure
• Bertie Wilson, co-founder in stealth mode

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Wendy Lamin, managing director, Holoxica

Which sectors is your tech ecosystem strong in? What are you most excited by? What does it lack?
It’s strong in space, biomedicine, fintech/insurtech, AI.

What are the tech investors like in Edinburgh? What’s their focus?
The Scottish business-angel community is said to be the largest in Europe. It’s difficult to get London-based investors take an interest in Scotland — investors can tend to look at where companies are based. It is hard for “underrepresented founders” to get investments in Scotland and beyond.

With the shift to remote working, do you think people will stay in Edinburgh or will they move out? Will others move in?
Stay. Not always easy to get people to come and live in Scotland. Edinburgh, there are lots of prejudices, despite it being one of the best cities to live in in the whole of the U.K.

Who are the key startup people in the city (e.g., investors, founders, lawyers, designers)?
Good to see more focus on impact investing. Par Equity is one of Edinburgh’s biggest investors, whereas Archangels is one of the biggest angel investors. Poonam Malik is great for diversity and female entrepreneurs, and she is on the board of Scottish Enterprise, and is a social entrepreneur and investor. Garry Bernstein is also an investor — he leads the Scottish chapter of Tech London Advocates and Global Tech Advocates, and as such is the founder of Tech Scot Advocates.

Where do you think the city’s tech scene will be in five years?
Thriving. The government is doing its best for the tech sector. Education in tech is currently an issue, though. Hope Brexit won’t be too much of an issue.

Andrew Noble, partner, Par Equity

Which sectors is your tech ecosystem strong in? What are you most excited by? What does it lack?
Strong in fintech, health tech, data science, deep tech. Excited by quantum computing, advanced materials, AI in Edinburgh. Weak in blockchain and consumer.

Which are the most interesting startups in Edinburgh?
Current Health, InfraCost, Speech Graphics and Cyan Forensics.

What are the tech investors like in Edinburgh? What’s their focus?
Good at seed stage up to £1 million, okay for pre-series A (£1 million to £3 million) and non-existent for Series A (£3 million-£10 million). Quality of investors is improving. Par Equity is leading the way.

With the shift to remote working, do you think people will stay in Edinburgh, or will they move out? Will others move in?
Experiencing influx of new talent due to COVID-19. Edinburgh is a highly desirable city to live in. Recent new residents include Aaron Ross (Predictable Revenue) and Jules Pursuad (early employee at Airbnb and now VP at Omio).

Who are the key startup people in the city (e.g., investors, founders, lawyers, designers)?
Par Equity (investor), Paul Atkinson, Alistair Forbes, Mark Logan, Lesley Eccles, Chris McCann, CodeBase.

Where do you think the city’s tech scene will be in five years?
One to two new unicorns. Promising number of high-growth tech companies. A much more sophisticated investor scene in the Series A space.

Danae Shell, co-founder and CEO, Valla

Which sectors is your tech ecosystem strong in? What are you most excited by? What does it lack?
Edinburgh is strong in fintech because of our proximity to so many financial services companies and banks. Also, there are some exciting games tech companies because of our history of games companies. We’re pretty weak in law tech, Valla’s area.

Which are the most interesting startups in Edinburgh?
Vistalworks for consumer tech; Sustainably for fintech; Reath for sustainable tech.

What are the tech investors like in Edinburgh? What’s their focus?
As a rule, Scottish investors are pretty conservative and risk-averse. The only real exception is Techstart Ventures, in my experience.

With the shift to remote working, do you think people will stay in Edinburgh, or will they move out? Will others move in?
I think more people will come to Edinburgh from London because the quality of life and cost of living are both so much better here.

Who are the key startup people in the city (e.g., investors, founders, lawyers, designers)?
Calum Forsyth and Mark Hogarth at Techstart Ventures; Janine Matheson at CodeBase; Jackie Waring from the Investing Women angel syndicate; Jim Newbury is a very well-respected developer and coach, and my co-founder Kate Ho is also well known. Also Danny Helson who runs the EIE event with the Bayes Centre.

Where do you think the city’s tech scene will be in five years?
We’ve had a few exits in the past few years (Skyscanner, FreeAgent), which means that talent is spreading out across the ecosystem here and we’re getting some fantastic new startups kicking off. In five years, that first crop should be coming into the Series A stage so we could see a lot of super exciting businesses!

Allan Nelson, co-founder and CEO, For-Sight

Which sectors is your tech ecosystem strong in? What are you most excited by? What does it lack?
Strong in fintech, travel tech, health, oil, renewables, e-commerce, gaming (both video game and gambling tech). Excited by all bar oil (great driver of revenue, but not the future).

Which are the most interesting startups in Edinburgh?
Boundary, Parsley Box, Appointedd, Criton, Mallzee, TravelNest, TVSquared, Care Sourcer, Stampede, For-Sight.

What are the tech investors like in Edinburgh? What’s their focus?
Big fintech scene here. Travel tech is growing too, with Skyscanner’s influence strong.

With the shift to remote working, do you think people will stay in Edinburgh, or will they move out? Will others move in?
Most will stay, as it’s a very attractive city to live and work in. It’s a globally recognized and unique city. Very international flavor as evidenced by the makeup of our team.

Who are the key startup people in the city (e.g., investors, founders, lawyers, designers)?
Ex-Skyscanner people including Gareth Williams, Mark Logan, etc. Ian Ritchie, Alistair Forbes, the FanDuel’s founders and the CodeBase founders.

Where do you think the city’s tech scene will be in five years?
A lot bigger, as tech is a key growth target of the Scottish government and is underpinned/influenced/inspired by Skyscanner and FanDuel.

Lysimachos Zografos, founder, Parkure

Which sectors is your tech ecosystem strong in? What are you most excited by? What does it lack?
Strong in machine learning/AI/digital. Weak in deep tech discovery, especially in biotech/therapeutics. Excited by the rise in adoption of AI in drug discovery — all these ideas that were sci-fi 20 years ago are now adopted in £B deals.

Which are the most interesting startups in Edinburgh?
Pheno Therapeutics.

What are the tech investors like in Edinburgh? What’s their focus?
Conservative angels and a few tech seed VCs.

With the shift to remote working, do you think people will stay in Edinburgh, or will they move out? Will others move in?
Move in.

Who are the key startup people in the city (e.g., investors, founders, lawyers, designers)?
Investors: Archangels, Techstart Ventures and Epidarex.

Where do you think the city’s tech scene will be in five years?
Growing.

Bertie Wilson, co-founder, “Stealth mode”

Which sectors is your tech ecosystem strong in? What are you most excited by? What does it lack?
I don’t think there are any sectors that stand out — it’s fairly evenly split. A good strength of the city is the talent that comes from the universities. There are some really good engineers that come from Edinburgh, Heriot Watt and Edinburgh Napier. The main weakness is that the ecosystem doesn’t favor the most ambitious founders. Most investors in the region are angels and aren’t interested in finding outliers that could grow 1000x and are more interested in backing companies that are less risky but might 5x their money. If you want to find investors that will back risky (but very ambitious) plans, it’s easier to find that elsewhere.

Which are the most interesting startups in Edinburgh?
Desana, Continuum Industries, Parsley Box, Current Health, Boundary, Zumo.

What are the tech investors like in Edinburgh? What’s their focus?
I would say it’s getting better, but there are still a lot of issues with the ecosystem. It is being helped in Scotland by the likes of Techstart investing at the earliest stages with high conviction and term sheets that are more similar to London VCs. Outside of this, though, it’s easy for founders to end up with a messy cap table due to the number of angels and lack of VCs looking for VC-type returns — the messiness of these cap tables can then make it hard to raise venture funding down the line. This is fine for a lot of companies that aren’t aiming for a venture-scale return (which admittedly is a lot), but it can hurt those that are.

With the shift to remote working, do you think people will stay in Edinburgh, or will they move out? Will others move in?
I imagine and hope others will move in. It is a great place to live with a very high quality of life, and this should be a natural attraction for people who want a good standard of living but want to remain in a city.

Who are the key startup people in the city (e.g., investors, founders, lawyers, designers)?
SEP (investor), Techstart Ventures (investor), Gareth Williams (founder/investor), MBM Commercial (lawyers), Pentech, Bill Dobbie (investor), Jamie Coleman.

Where do you think the city’s tech scene will be in five years?
Optimistically, I hope that there will be a good number of companies that are at the Series B/Series C stage, which will invite a lot more interest from investors outside of Edinburgh (London, Berlin, Paris, New York, San Francisco, etc.) to start investing more actively in the city at the earliest stages as well as these stages.