Stop thinking about the things you want and just do them

By

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01/23/2024

Sendcloud is a leading European shipping platform that streamlines the shipping process for online retailers, offering integrated solutions with over 100 carriers and a wide array of shipping options

Could you please tell us about yourself and introduce Sendcloud to our audience?

I am Rob van den Heuvel, co-founder and CEO of Sendcloud, Europe’s #1 shipping platform. Founded in 2012, we are on a mission to solve shipping globally by automating the full shipping journey from checkout to returns. Connecting online retailers with 100+ carriers, 60+ integrations, and 4,000+ shipping options, we’re currently enabling over 25,000 customers to scale their shipping operations and deliver exceptional shipping experiences.

What inspired the concept of Sendcloud?

In 2012, the other co-founders, Bas and Sabi and I all ran an online store selling phone accessories. Things were great, and our businesses were growing. However, we all struggled with shipping: it was both time-consuming and expensive. After a few beers, we decided to come up with a solution ourselves and Sendcloud was born.

What motivated you to launch Sendcloud?

When we started looking for a solution to solve our shipping issues ourselves, we stumbled on various online forums where small business owners were complaining about the same stuff. Although payments were already automated at the time, this was not the case for shipping: you literally had to copy-paste every order, including contact details, addresses, etc, from the back-end of your store to the carrier’s software. When we figured lots of people were running into the same problem, we knew there was a bigger mission to accomplish than selling phone accessories online.

For e-commerce businesses, shipping costs rank as the largest expense. Meanwhile, consumers are becoming increasingly demanding, expecting to be able to decide for themselves when, where, and how to receive a parcel. Not only is shipping a complex and time-consuming process but consequently, merchants find themselves in a highly competitive environment where consumers don’t reorder if they experience any shipping issues. We believe we can close this gap and provide merchants with a shipping experience that is typically only reserved for the top 10 retailers in the market.

Could you share the core vision and mission of Sendcloud?

We like to set ambitious targets, so our ‘Big Hairy Audacious Goal’ is to annually process 1 billion parcels via our platform by 2025. The underlying idea is that parcel volume acts as a flywheel for our mission to solve shipping globally: with larger parcel volumes, we have a larger pool of data, allowing us to leverage AI and algorithms to enhance the efficiency and experience of shipping for our customers.

Can you talk about the initial challenges and difficulties you faced while starting up?

We started Sendcloud back in 2012, while we were in our early twenties and we had all just finished school. While we had our online store and knew what online retailers were up against in terms of shipping and expenses, we had no technical background or experience building a business whatsoever.

From cold-calling to negotiating contracts, we had to figure out everything ourselves. Along the way, we discovered that having a can-do attitude and the courage to make choices is exactly what has contributed to our success.

Who do you consider the primary audience for your services?

We are currently supporting more than 25,000 online stores spread across eight markets to deliver best-in-class shipping experiences. Examples include businesses ranging from enterprise clients like Boots and Intersport to marketplaces such as Catawiki, but also smaller merchants like Woodwatch.

What sets Sendcloud apart from other companies in the same field?

We believe delivering exceptional shipping experiences is key to building a successful e-commerce business. Most shipping solutions only solve part of the process, but we aim to solve the full shipping journey at scale – from checkout to returns. With Sendcloud, merchants get access to 100+ carriers, 60+ integrations, 4,000+ shipping options, and 390,000+ parcel points in just a few clicks.

Could you describe a typical day at work for you?

I get up around 4 a.m., take a cold shower, and start the day with a two-hour run. No, just kidding. I usually get up around 07:30, take a nice, hot shower, and have breakfast before heading to the office. I begin by carefully prioritising my calendar, making sure to tackle the top 3 priorities during the day. The rest of the day is filled with diverse meetings, ranging from job interviews and investor discussions to strategic planning sessions and customer meetings.

I end my day around 6 p.m., starting the wrap-up with replying to emails so that I can start the next day with a fresh inbox. Ideally, I squeeze in a workout into my calendar somewhere, as it helps to clear my mind from time to time.

Where do you envision Sendcloud and yourself in the next five years?

The industry has massive growth potential that we’re eager to tap into. The first milestone here is reaching our BHAG of 1 billion parcels by 2025, alongside the ambition to go public. An IPO would symbolise the company’s maturity, emphasising its ability to stand on its own. I’ve always aimed to build something big, mainly driven by the desire to learn and do new things.

As long as I keep evolving personally and contribute to our company’s growth, I believe I’m in the right place. Knowing that personal growth and development contribute to the overall advancement of the company, we aim to nurture these aspects within our team by promoting our three core values: no bullshit, grow & win, and fun.

What are three pieces of advice you would offer to aspiring entrepreneurs?

First, stop thinking about the things you want and just do them. Getting things done is an incredibly valuable skill. Too often, individuals try to make the perfect business plan and dedicate two years to it, when in reality, they should have implemented it years ago. Rather than planning it, you will learn more about your business and strategy while executing it. You learn by doing. If you’ve made a wrong decision, you can easily undo it, and making wrong decisions is better than no decision at all.

Second, make sure your founding team is in order. You’re basically married to your founding team and if you want to build a world-class company, you should treat them accordingly. We were advised early on to hold mediation sessions, which is basically a fancy word for the three of us having dinner and talking about all the things that bothered us in the past month. It’s crucial for us to stay aligned.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly: invest in a strong culture from the very beginning. People ultimately make your company. We, for example, value a “no bullshit”-culture, as open feedback is essential for growth. By acknowledging our mistakes and learning from the perspective of others, we aim to create successful teams. In the early years, I was therefore involved in all job interviews, but even after 10 years, the company culture remains a key priority for me as a CEO.

Thank you Rob van den Heuvel for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Define what your company does better than everybody else

By

StartupValley

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01/19/2024

0

Hostshare, a pioneering platform in the short-term rental market, is redefining the way hosts leverage their properties for mutual benefit and sustainable travel experiences.

Could you please tell us about yourself and introduce your startup, Hostshare, to our audience?

My name is Sean Wilkinson and I am one of the four co-founders of Hostshare. For those that don’t yet know, Hostshare is a huge travel hack for people who own or host short term rentals! It allows hosts to literally travel for free staying at vacation homes all around the world by simply utilizing last-minute vacancies across the platform.

What inspired the concept of Hostshare?

With all founders being owners of short-term rentals, like all other hosts, we would always be trying to figure out ways to fill the gaps in the calendar. But you can only fill so many! Between mid-week and offseason, you will always have a vacancy factor. When we came to realize that there are over 10 million STRs worldwide with an average occupancy of under 40%, we could hardly believe that all these beautiful homes sit empty over 60% of the year.

But what do you do when you are using all the tools available to fill your property with revenue nights and still have vacancy? This is what inspired the concept for hosts being able to trade their last-minute vacancies for vacations!

What motivated you to launch Hostshare?

The motivation for our team was multifaceted and largely fueled by personal desire for the product! We all agreed that being able to travel for free all for simply letting other hosts come and stay on vacant nights was a total win-win that we would all do in a heartbeat. We also got thinking at the major waste within the industry and how the lack of utilization for these assets was a shame.

Why should we go out and build another building when the others are only being used 40% of the time? Imagine the economic impact this also has on a local level. If these homes are empty, this limits how many people are in the community going to restaurants, shopping etc.

Lastly, we got really excited about how much this could enrich the lives of hosts worldwide by taking the cost barrier out of accommodations for them and their families. And when they do travel with Hostshare, because they are saving on accommodations, we hope this will give them the freedom to spend more locally!

Could you share the core vision and mission of Hostshare?

We are on a mission to eliminate waste and enrich lives!

Can you talk about the initial challenges and difficulties you faced while starting up?

Just like most startups, there is a lot that goes into just getting from 0-1. The first challenge was getting the right team on board. The two of us that conceptualized Hostshare did not have a background in tech and we quickly realized that this was something we would need to outsource. About 2 months in while we were trying to get a start on things, we found partners that caught the vision for the platform and had the experience to get us to our minimum viable product.

There were many difficulties around curating exactly how the platform functions as well. Lots of questions such as, “how do you make it fair when some hosts have mansions on the coast and others have studio apartments in tiny rural areas?” or, “I like the concept but can I block out dates in my high season?”. Thankfully we found a path forward for all concerns so far!

Who do you consider the primary audience for your services?

Hosts and STR owners aiming to maximize the value they receive from their STR.

What sets Hostshare apart from other companies in the same field?

There are other “home-swap” platforms out there (ThirdHome, Home Exchange, Kindred etc). On all these platforms, you are typically finding a swap with someone else sometime in the future. Along with that, most of these swaps are done with a primary residence.

What sets Hostshare apart is that all properties on the platform are already STRs and we only support last-minute travel. Being that they are STRs, that means you are not going to someones personal home, everyone runs their property like a business already so there are usually great photos, cleaning protocol, reviews, and amenities. And being that all travel is last-minute, this means hosts are not hardly ever giving up revenue with blocking out dates in the future!

Could you describe a typical day at work for you?

Everyday is completely different when you are a small team all wearing multiple hats! One day is full of meetings with various team members talking strategy, development, marketing, etc. and the next day we are at a booth at a trade show across the country trying to connect with others in our industry.

Where do you envision Hostshare and yourself in the next five years?

Our goal in the next five years is to be serving 10% of hosts worldwide giving our users a value of over $4B ever year in free travel.

What are three pieces of advice you would offer to aspiring entrepreneurs?

Always question “the way things are done” in any industry. There often lies the biggest opportunities in my experience.

Define what your company does better than everybody else. If you are not #1 in what you do, then consider niching down further until you are THE best in that specific niche.

Get to market fast and start making revenue. You don’t truly know what people want until they use your product and tell you. You can spend a years building a product or a feature that people don’t even want but you are determined is needed for you to make it to market. Launch quick, get the data and adapt quick.

Thank you Sean Wilkonson for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

How Does Innovative Battery Technology Empower the Future?

By

StartupValley

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01/16/2024

0

About:Energy is pioneering the future of battery technology, addressing key challenges in the electrification industry and propelling the world towards a more sustainable and efficient energy landscape.

Why did you decide to found About:Energy?

The transition to electrification has been slower and more challenging than many companies predicted. Developing new battery technologies is incredibly complex, requiring extensive testing and refinement to meet cost and performance targets. Physical prototyping of battery cells and systems is expensive and time-consuming. It can take years to gather the data needed to fully optimise a design.

This has created a major bottleneck. Engineering teams lack the insights needed to quickly evaluate options and make informed decisions when selecting cells and integrating batteries into products. Extensive physical testing is required to characterise performance factors like fast charging, thermal behaviour, lifetime, and safety. This physical testing requires significant investment in lab infrastructure and personnel, presenting a barrier to entry or ongoing risk to industry. The resulting development costs and long design timelines hinder innovation and widespread adoption of electric mobility.

Myself and my co-founder Kieran O’Regan created About:Energy to provide digital tools address this problem by providing unmatched visibility into battery performance through advanced modelling and data analytics. We empower faster, better informed decision making across activities like cell selection, pack sizing, thermal design, lifetime prediction, and state-of-charge estimation. This unlocks major time and cost savings, accelerating development while enhancing the quality and competitiveness of electrified products.

What is the vision behind About:Energy?

Our mission is to accelerate the transition to electrification by providing the tools and data needed to optimise battery design. We aim to become the central hub for battery data, where any company can access the information they need to build the right battery for their specific application. By equipping companies with better data, we empower them to make more informed decisions that reduce development costs and time-to-market for battery-powered products.

From the idea to the start what have been the biggest challenges so far and how did you finance yourself?

I always wanted to start a company but the path to founding a business wasn’t clear. It was actually reading Elon Musk’s biography that inspired my eventual path. In the biography Musk describes how doing a PhD is a great way to start a business as you get paid a salary for 3-4 years whilst getting to learn from world-expert academics supported by having access to facilities with millions of pounds work of equipment. Best of all the business will have some technology defensibility which immediately improves the chance of success.

My PhD certainly provided an incredible foundation and over the course of my PhD I was able to apply for funding targeting commercialisation. In this respect I was lucky to receive both college funding and government funding which was enough to boot strap our way to our first customers.

The biggest personal challenge for me has been the change of decision-making mindset in the world of business. Unlike science and engineering, business is heavily situational and probabilistic. Often there is no clear best path and actually you need to make a decision based on the information you have to hand and keep revaluating based on new information coming in. An element of chaos keeps it interesting and literally nothing is a given.

How does About Energy’s solution work?

Our solution centres on gathering vital battery data through precise laboratory testing and using this to power advanced simulations. We have developed sophisticated techniques to safely measure commercial cells while minimising interference. These specialised tests capture electrical, thermal, mechanical, and aging characteristics needed to build high-fidelity virtual models.

Our battery software platform (The Voltt) seamlessly integrates this modelling capability into standard engineering workflows such at Matlab Simlink and Siemens StarCCM+. We efficiently gather the required data through tailored testing regimes. Powerful models then infer battery performance based on these measurements. Engineers access this capability through a user-friendly software interface providing actionable insights not available through typical methods.

This virtual prototyping enables holistic evaluation and optimisation early in the design process, long before costly physical prototypes are built. Organisations can rapidly assess options, reduce risk, enhance performance, and compress development timelines leveraging our state-of-the-art modelling and expansive cell data repository. We provide unmatched visibility into how batteries behave in the real-world operating conditions specific to the application.

Who is the target group of About:Energy?

We serve companies across the battery value chain including prominent automotive OEMs, cell manufacturers, aerospace leaders, and more. Our tools provide value to any organisation developing battery-reliant products, even those in smaller niches such as off-road vehicles, maritime, and e-scooters.

The types of people that would use The Voltt are Engineers across the battery supply chain seeking to enhance R&D and reduce development costs. This includes Modelling Simulation Engineers, Powertrain Engineers, Mechanical Design Engineers, Safety Engineers, Systems Architects, Thermal Engineers, Manufacturing Engineers, Electrochemists.

About:Energy, where does the road go? Where do you see yourself in five years?

In the next five years, we envision About:Energy becoming a pivotal player in the battery revolution. Our goal is to position ourselves at the very heart of this transformative movement, recognised globally not just as a technology company, but as a leader driving significant advancements in the field. We aim to have our products and services make a tangible, positive impact on society and the environment. By reducing the cost of battery technology, we anticipate playing a crucial role in accelerating the world’s transition to an electrified future.

What that means for me is anyone’s guess. My place in About:Energy will be decided in the future but what I am absolutely clear on is that I will do my very best to execute on its mission. Every day I am extremely grateful to have the chance to work on a technology so impactful surrounded by an incredibly talented team with some of the world’s top professionals as advisors. I am really excited about our future.

At the end: Which 3 tips would you give to future founders or business leaders?

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I can offer to future founders or business leaders is to learn through others’ mistakes. The path of entrepreneurship and leadership is riddled with challenges and while first-hand experience is a great teacher, observing and understanding the missteps of others can provide crucial insights without the direct cost of making those mistakes yourself.

Secondly, balancing confidence with humility is key. Confidence is essential to lead and make decisive choices, but humility allows you to remain open to feedback, learn continuously, and respect others’ contributions. This balance helps in creating a positive work culture and in making more informed and effective decisions.

Lastly, never underestimate the power of the right analogies. Analogies are not just communication tools; they are thinking tools. A well-chosen analogy can simplify complex ideas, bridge gaps in understanding, and can be incredibly persuasive. They help in aligning teams, explaining new concepts, and selling your vision both internally and externally.

Thank you Gavin White for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

The best way to stay adaptable, is to ask good questions

By

StartupValley

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01/15/2024

0

mintBlue SaaS solutions to store, share, monetise, and authenticate information in a peer-to-peer manner at an enterprise-level scale.

Could you please tell us about yourself and introduce your startup, mintBlue, to our audience?

Hello I’m Niels van den Bergh, Founder and CEO of mintBlue. After gaining more than 10 years of experience working for corporate tech companies like Google, my focus shifted towards the start-up scene, and with a strong interest in the concept of data ownership and governance infrastructure, I helped establish mintBlue.

mintBlue offers SaaS solutions to store, share, monetise, and authenticate information in a peer-to-peer manner at an enterprise-level scale. In short, our goal is for enterprises to become trusted organisations when it comes to data.

We take out all the difficult fuzz when integrating blockchain into existing systems. The opportunities with this technology are endless, from native file storage (on-chain), self-custody of your digital keys and cost-effective security, traceability, and much more.

What inspired the concept of mintBlue?

Our founding team worked in various sectors of the blockchain world, and we saw about 80% of every project required the same solutions. On top of that, we realised at some point that the original protocol, as published way back in 2008, was so much more powerful than anything being used. Each of us ‘followed the white rabbit’ in our own way, and Twitter (now X) is what ultimately brought us together, originally to compete in a Hackathon (in which we became a finalist!). The hackathon project back then was a “Zapier on the blockchain”, if you will.

From this experiment we started analysing why most proof of concepts and pilots on blockchain failed and we realised the real potential of what we had. Enterprises around the world would need to benefit from connecting to a single trust layer that is fast and cost-effective, much like the internet. So, we evolved into mintBlue, and the rest is history in the making!

What motivated you to launch mintBlue?

I grew up along with the internet, and I looked at the original promise of the public network where people could build freely and connect in a secure, private, and peer-to-peer manner.

Over time the promise faded and in the absence of better alternatives, private commercial entities inserted themselves between all of us as digital intermediaries. As we can see on the stock markets, the most valuable companies in the world are those that have formed closed ecosystems with strong lock-in that can trade in people’s data. These companies are anti-competitive and are taking our data hostage in exchange for ‘free’ services. This new business model has led to the attention economy and ‘surveillance capitalism’ which in turn leads to extreme polarisation tension in our democracy.

When I discovered blockchain I knew this could be the alternative that we missed a decade earlier. But a lot of the industry just seemed like a smokescreen, with immature technology, failing to live up to its promises or falling short of becoming commercially viable.

Interestingly enough, after delving into a variety of blockchain projects, it was clear that the original blockchain technology was capable of delivering on its promises and providing that sought-after commercial value.

The thing is that, if you want companies, governments, and startups to all build value-adding solutions, you need a technology that ticks a lot of boxes, not least of which is accessibility; and the original blockchain technology is highly complex.

So, if we wanted to build a platform that allows organisations to very easily build solutions, we needed to remove the complexity of the technology itself. This way organisations can focus on their own solution and business logic, instead of investing resources into building tech from scratch. It’s not like every webshop today is building its own payment infrastructure, right? The same will happen with using the public blockchain.

Taking all of the aforementioned into consideration the decision to get mintBlue off the ground was an easy one. Whether in the face of global data regulations or simply to create more capable data management systems, blockchain, and related technologies have incredible value.

Could you share the core vision and mission of mintBlue?

Our vision at mintBlue is to make the public blockchain as accessible as the public internet. We see a future where end-users have full control over their data – with no gatekeepers – enabling greater security and privacy, though not in a way that necessarily detracts from the data’s value as an enterprise, rather expanding its potential instead through portability, permissioned use, etc.

We deliver a high level of data security, interoperability, and traceability, making it an ideal choice for businesses that aim to innovate, future-proof, and thrive in our evolving digital landscape.

Can you talk about the initial challenges and difficulties you faced while starting up?

We ran into a lot of brain-tickling hurdles at the start. There weren’t really any examples of what we do and a blueprint for how we do it. Bringing something relatively unheard of, like mintBlue’s novelty, to the market is often more challenging since people’s biases will sometimes override the reality of a product or offer.

We faced a fair amount of scepticism about the practical applications of blockchain technology, which isn’t surprising given the hype cycles and failures of various blockchain techs.

We’ve also had to prove that the original protocol does in fact scale better than any other blockchain. We’ve had to prove that it can meet the promises, that it is indeed commercially viable. Luckily our team had a lot of fun in problem solving. So much so that we managed to set a world record for transaction processing earlier this year.

Who do you consider the primary audience for your services?

Our customers are primarily large enterprise organisations, leveraging our technology and the public blockchain to enhance operations and data governance.

Given the type of infrastructure we provide, the specific markets and use cases are relatively broad ranging:

Invoice portability and fraud prevention

File logging and traceability for government authorities

Personal data wallets for IoT device users

Automated carbon offsetting and nature preservation

These are just to name a few of our favourites, but we are working more and more with businesses that operate in heavily regulated industries and handle large quantities of sensitive information. These organisations can really leverage our non-custodial approach for security and privacy at an unprecedented level.

Our ultimate challenge and goal, however, is to reopen doors and conversations to industries that have already been burned by blockchain tech as developed in the crypto world, or as private chains. Logistics and supply chain companies are a particular example of an early-adopter industry that found these technologies too expensive and resource intensive to operate. Where by contrast, the public blockchain and our technology could provide more features at a fraction of the cost.

What sets mintBlue apart from other companies in the same field?

As a team we have a deep understanding of how to leverage this technology, both to create new features and opportunities, but also to future proof data management and governance. As a result, we’ve built a technology that is an almost infinitely scalable interaction with the public blockchain, and has an easy-to-use codebase for technical teams to rapidly prototype and develop enterprise solutions.

Our non-custodial approach ensures that end-users have full control of their data, providing enhanced security and privacy; and we deliver on blockchain’s original technical promises, including native file storage (on-chain), cost effective security and governance, peer-to-peer data exchange, traceability, and more.

Could you describe a typical day at work for you?

Between my team, our clients, and a curious crowd of blockchain enthusiasts, I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by tech experts all the time.

As a CEO, this means my days largely consist of connecting the dots between all the parties at the table. Making sure that we, as a company, as well as our customers are realising their full potential with this technology.

I take great pleasure and pride in what we do, so I also still enjoy doing the admin-heavy things like leading sales efforts, brainstorming on our marketing strategy, testing and iterating on our strategy for both internal and external communications. It’s everything that being an entrepreneur should be, with the weight of responsibility balanced by the great pleasure of seeing our product come to life in the hands of our customers. It’s great fun!

Where do you envision mintBlue and yourself in the next five years?

I think a lot is going to change in five years, with AI data concerns, and especially for companies in the EU. With new data regulations rolling out now and over the following three plus years, we’re going to see a huge shift in requirements for record keeping, personal data storage, ownership and access, transaction file logging, traceability and much, much more.

As much as our customers are realising their need for us now, there is going to be a massive cultural shift in data management, and we plan to be at the forefront of supplying a concise and powerful solution to this problem.

Of course, we also aim to see mintBlue recognized as the leading blockchain infrastructure globally. We’ll be expanding our reach, and continue to empower more businesses to embrace the future.

What are three pieces of advice you would offer to aspiring entrepreneurs?

I was very fortunate in my career to work as part of a team that ran behavioural studies on entrepreneurs and startup accelerator programs all over the world. So I got to see a lot of what works and what doesn’t for founders, regardless of industry, culture, bias, etc.

The number 1 thing any founding team should focus on is building something that solves a real, felt, and valuable problem that they can prove exists through customer voices.

But the 3 lessons that hold true every day for me and remain important tenets of our leadership team are:

Adaptability: Startups can be stressful, with a huge number of unknowns and surprises. Founders need to roll with the punches, accept when their ideas or assumptions are wrong, and be willing to embrace what works or, flying in the face of that knowledge, be transparent with their choices to take calculated risks.

Ask good questions: The best way to stay adaptable (ie. tip 1), is to ask good questions. Both internally and externally. As part of internal 1 on 1’s, external sales, or actual customer research, there is no more powerful toolkit for leaders (in my opinion) than asking good questions; and whenever possible, asking those questions without bias or judgement. With a readiness to embrace what’s being said, read through answers to the next question and you can usually go a lot further, a lot faster.

Learn to trust: A dedicated team that shares your vision and commitment is crucial for a startup’s success. But it’s almost too easy to knee-cap motivation, purpose, intent or desire by not trusting someone. Leaders often need to trust people, even when they very much don’t actually trust them. It’s one of the quickest ways to learn how someone works, and whether they can continue to work with you. There are many arguments for more top-down, traditionally corporate leadership styles, but it’s all about context. In a startup, with a million balls to juggle, if you can’t trust the person next to you to catch some of the falling items, you’re unlikely to get very far.

Thank you Niels van den Bergh for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Planning a marketing campaign on TikTok? Create video explainers!

By

StartupValley

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01/11/2024

0

TikTok is the fastest-growing social media platform in the UK. Organic social media is the most used marketing channel among British people who run their own businesses and side hustles, and TikTok’s expansive reach and effective algorithms have allowed small businesses the opportunity to go viral overnight through a single post.

Video tutorials – also known as explainers – are one of the primary types of content drawing British consumers in, with 7 in 10 people stating that they would rather learn about products or services by watching an explainer video. With bite-sized clips delivered by entertaining content creators, it’s also no wonder that people are beginning to search for information on TikTok instead of Google.

According to iStock’s VisualGPS consumer survey, 62% of Brits use social media to stay informed about their favourite brands, with over half of Brits (51%) seeing it as a place to educate themselves. This number is even higher for digital-native Gen Z (76%) and Millennials (67%). People of all ages are using social media to deepen their hobbies, interests and brand knowledge so small businesses have a real opportunity to engage audiences, using video to connect consumers to their brands and products.

A source for education and upskilling

Our data shows that searches for “professional development” content in the UK increased by 333% year on year, showing that SMBs are exploring the broader context of development and education. While images can certainly capture this context, video as a format can show the actual process associated with learning something new.

While a full explainer video is user-generated, the ideas and feelings surrounding this TikTok phenomenon can certainly be conveyed by mixing b-roll clips with original video. Moments that highlight eye contact with the viewer emphasise personality and connection, and tell unique and surprising stories via panning shots, low angles or extreme close-ups. Additionally, think about using editing transitions that mimic the feeling of finding out new information on a social media platform – for example, TikTok users swipe up.

Keep it light and amusing!

The popularity of TikTok shows that short-form videos are an effective way to connect with target audiences on a deeper level. With 80% of British consumers stating that watching video content on social media makes them laugh or some, small business owners can use an explainer video to show their personalities and humanise their business.

Incorporating humour and entertainment in videos can be more memorable and easier for viewers to digest. Be inspired by meme culture and capture off-the-cuff and unexpected moments of fun that are unfolding. Pre-shot visuals that look hand-held also resonate better with audiences, as this comes across as more candid.

With social media videos, less is more

Recent studies show that the average Brit is more likely than not to feel that their attention span has grown shorter, due to the volume of content they are bombarded with online. VisualGPS suggests that the majority of Brits spend between 30 minutes to one hour a day on social media. Additionally, half of TikTok users say that videos that last longer than a minute are stressful.

To stand out from the crowd, create short clips that are straight to the point with just enough visual information to demonstrate the topic at hand. Adding background music to a video can also boost engagement. It can help fill in any annoying gaps, cut out all background noise, and keep viewers hooked and wanting to know more.

Autor: Jacqueline Bourke, Senior Director of Creative for EMEA at Getty Images & iStock

As Senior Director of Creative for EMEA at Getty Images & iStock, Jacqueline heads up a team of researchers, that curates creative insights and regionally relevant content based on worldwide communications and analyze social, cultural and technological data.

Combined with Getty Images’ invaluable access to customer buying patterns, the team’s work helps identify and shape visual trends that better connect customers to brands under Getty Images’ VisualGPS offering.

Credits: Credit Xavier Lorenzo-iStock

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Mastering the Art of Multi-Faceted Entrepreneurship: Insights from a Leading Influencer on Blogging and Business Ventures

By

StartupValley

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12/27/2023

0

How to Successfully Develop Your Blog and Start Multiple Businesses: Polina Nioly on Blogging and Entrepreneurship

Polina Nioly, an influencer, recently surpassed the milestone of 1.5 million followers on her Instagram blog. In addition to her blogging endeavors, she manages two other businesses: an agency and a lingerie brand. We asked Polina to share insights on successfully growing a blog and simultaneously launching multiple projects.

Polina, how did you decide to start not just one, but several businesses—an agency and a women’s lingerie brand? We know that the presentation of Nioly Underwear is scheduled for Milan Fashion Week in February 2024.

Yes, that’s correct. I believe that the best business is one you create to solve a problem that personally affects you. I initiate all my projects because I see the pain points people experience, and I want to make their lives easier. For instance, the idea for Nioly Underwear came to me when I was buying lingerie and getting disappointed with the quality. Unfortunately, many brands produce uncomfortable, unattractive, or overly sexualized lingerie. Additionally, manufacturers often use inappropriate materials for women’s underwear. I want it to be not only beautiful but also comfortable, and that’s what I’m working on right now.

Following the same principle, I established Nioly Media Group. I observed that social media is essential for everyone: for businesses, it’s the only way to survive in the market today, and for public figures, it’s the only option to stay in the spotlight and increase popularity. This led me to create an agency for the promotion and monetization of social media, helping people build their online and offline presence, launch new businesses, and earn income. Our main feature is the successful combination of marketing tools and PR that provide rapid and guaranteed organic growth.

My approach is simple: identify a problem and find a solution. This is what truly brings results.

Did your blog help you in the development of your businesses?

“Undoubtedly. I perceive my blog as a business project where I understand my audience, create valuable content, and showcase my life and values. I gather like-minded individuals who aspire to achieve similar results through my projects. The blog affords me a freedom that many business owners lack—the ability to shape a business the way I want, without concerns about marketing budgets, finding clients, or entering the market.

Moreover, social media platforms not only help me generate income but also enable me to reinvest it and launch more offline businesses, creating additional revenue streams. When millions of people worldwide know your name, launching any project becomes considerably easier.

Social media is founded on an audience interested in you. It effortlessly becomes the most valuable asset, generating income based on your uniqueness as an individual.”These adjustments aim to enhance the flow and coherence of the text while maintaining the original meaning.

Polina, how do you juggle being a blogger and overseeing multiple businesses? Share your secret with our readers.

The key to managing everything is delegation. Building a large-scale business while handling every process independently is impractical. Hence, I delegate as much as possible to professionals—both for household duties and work tasks.

This approach instills confidence that all business processes are automated and operate smoothly without my direct involvement. Consequently, I can devote more time to personal interactions with clients and the development of strategic ideas for company growth.

These adjustments aim to enhance the overall flow and readability of the text while maintaining the original meaning.

What are your plans for the future? Do you intend to scale and expand?

In the future, I aspire to become the female counterpart of Richard Branson, envisioning the ubiquitous Nioly brand. I aim to establish a multitude of businesses centered around social media. I reinvest income from the blog into the business, enabling the launch of exciting new projects every month.

For example, in November, we introduced the Nioly Talent Agency. This agency promotes talented musicians, influencers, actors, and athletes while shouldering the responsibility for their income. More significantly, we simultaneously enhance their social media presence, manage PR, and even aid in promoting or establishing businesses from scratch, assisting them in realizing their dreams.

Hence, I am unequivocally committed to scaling, growing, and creating my own ecosystem. Thanks to social media, I possess all the resources necessary for this endeavor.

Thank you Polina Nioly for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Revolutionizing FinTech: A Deep Dive into Innovation, Leadership, and Growth Strategies

By

StartupValley

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12/22/2023

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Dmitrij Pruglo serves as the pioneering CEO of Finyard, an innovative software solutions provider helping global brands offer cutting-edge applications to their clients. Five years ago, the founding team began building their first products focused on blockchain technology and digital assets. This experience laid the foundations for what would become Finyard today – one of Europe’s fastest growing fintech software developers.

In this exclusive interview, we will discuss Finyard’s origins, Pruglo’s leadership philosophy, how the company innovates, and key insights for other FinTech firms looking to make their mark.

To begin, please take us back to Finyard’s beginnings. What motivated you to start this company and what were those early days like?

My co-founder Tim and I initially started by identifying the huge potential in blockchain and developing a platform called Covesting in the emerging digital asset space. This company was one of the first to attain a coveted Distributed Ledger Technology licence. However, we decided to broaden the spectrum of services and products offered. This pivot marked the birth of Finyard; a truly global software development firm that focuses on creating innovative bespoke SaaS solutions, suitable for the modern and ever-changing finance and technology landscapes.

You place immense importance on company culture and values. Why this focus and how do you nurture it?

People achieve incredible things when energised by shared purpose. I knew unlocking our team’s potential required an inspiring culture where everyone feels empowered to create, take risks and grow. We actively nurture this through open communication, transparency, celebrating innovation and professional development investments.

What would you say are Finyard’s most important company values?

First is daring ambition – we set hugely audacious goals then equip our teams to achieve them. Second is caring deeply about people, including employees, partners and clients. When you show genuine care, you build trust and community. Third and finally is continuous learning and growth at both individual and company levels. Complacency kills innovation so we stay hungry.

As a younger firm, how are you able to attract top talent to compete with more established players? What is your strategy here?

We realise we can’t match the brand prestige or compensation levels of a Goldman Sachs yet. So we compete on culture, vision and potential for impact. Top professionals want inspiration, autonomy and growth. By fostering a highly empowering, entrepreneurial and learning-focused culture, we become magnetic for ambitious talents seeking to transform finance on their own terms without bureaucracy constraints. Our agility and bold vision excite those hungry to drive real change.

What are some signature elements of Finyard’s culture that set it apart?

One is exceptionally open, candid communication across all levels. Every voice matters here. Another is constantly pushing ourselves into uncomfortable zones of high challenge, high support where incredible growth happens. Finally, I’d say aggressive goal-setting and innovation. We move boldly which builds momentum.

Finyard develops a lot of proprietary solutions. Walk us through your approach to innovation.

We immerse deeply to understand clients’ needs and industry dynamics, then ideate without restraint. Every idea, no matter how outlandish, gets recorded during brainstorms. The best solutions often seem crazy at first! Then we rapidly test concepts before constructing minimal viable products and immediately testing those with users. Quick cycles of conception, feedback and evolution yield outstanding results.

What emerging technologies or market needs are you most excited about?

I’m fascinated by decentralised finance which expands access and control. Embedded banking also holds promise to integrate financial services directly into apps and platforms. And solutions leveraging AI for personalisation and predictive insights will continue disrupting investment and wealth management. We plan big investments here.

Many of your solutions utilise cutting-edge technology like AI, big data and blockchain. Why the focus on advanced tools?

If we only offer “me too” solutions, we waste our talents while competitors overtake us. We attract incredibly smart technical and creative staff hungry to build the future. So we foster a “science lab” environment for them to tinker. Our teams get energised solving complex problems with emerging tech. This lets us continuously deliver unprecedented innovations.

What are the biggest challenges you see for FinTech firms today when it comes to innovation?

First, balancing advanced capabilities with accessible, friendly user experiences – complexity scares people. Second, effectively leveraging troves of data for personalisation while respecting privacy. Third is building trust and transparency so clients understand solutions. And finally, cybersecurity threats are growing exponentially so firms must vigilantly protect systems and data.

Partnerships with larger institutions seem crucial to Finyard’s model. How do you form these mutually beneficial relationships?

Absolutely, partnerships amplify our impact. We target players needing agile, rapid innovation but lacking internal digital expertise to achieve it alone. Our track record and client outcomes speak loudly. But relationships still depend on trust and perceived shared values. We invest substantially in culture messaging and materials to convey our purpose, principles and caring for people.

What advice would you give other founders in FinTech looking to grow partnerships with larger brands?

Start by thoroughly understanding target partners’ pain points, objectives and constraints. Articulate clearly how you’ll further their goals. Co-create solutions so they feel invested in outcomes. Build relationships championing your partnership inside their organisation. Convey your trustworthiness through materials showcasing values, social impact, transparency, etc. And importantly, overdeliver on initial projects to build authority.

Regulation and compliance are major obstacles for FinTech firms. How do you efficiently navigate these while remaining focused on innovation?

We’ve built formidable legal and compliance teams who efficiently handle complex regulatory demands across markets. They form guardrails enabling innovation teams to create within established boundaries. We also take an educational approach – all employees undergo immersive compliance training so they can self-govern day-to-day. This frees our experts to rapidly vet innovative ideas and new products.

Looking ahead, what emerging innovations in FinTech most excite you? How will these shape financial services?

Several macro trends electrify me. Embedded banking where financial tools integrate directly into other apps and sites to provide tremendous convenience. Open data ecosystems allowing unprecedented personalisation. Democratised investing thanks to micro-investing apps and social trading platforms. And AI which will eventually enable near-instant complex problem solving to optimise portfolios.

If you gaze into the future, where do you see FinTech in 5-10 years? What role does Finyard play in this landscape?

Financial services will transform into seamlessly embedded, hyper-personalised experiences fully integrated into our digital lives. Finyard will lead this revolution through boundary-pushing innovations enhancing access, understanding and control. We will infiltrate partnerships across sectors to spread prosperity. And our solutions will amplify prosperity worldwide, especially for disadvantaged communities.

How will global events like inflation, recession fears, supply chain issues, etc. impact FinTech innovation? Do obstacles spur more innovation?

Turbulence breeds opportunity. Crises force reinvention and pull innovative solutions from adversity. While challenging periods can constrain spending, leading firms focus investment on products driving differentiation and efficiency. Supply chain woes have spiked interest in predictive analytics, scenario modelling, even blockchains for transparency. And economic worries make personal financial apps essential.

ESG initiatives are increasingly important to investors and consumers. How big a priority is this social impact for Finyard?

Social impact lives at our core, guiding all we create. Our solutions promote financial inclusion, transparency, economic mobility and security. We actively support non-profits closing opportunity gaps with technology. And our culture and policies ensure sustainable, ethical operations. Doing good and driving change matters profoundly here. Our people demand and drive it.

You seem to put tremendous emphasis on professional development and learning. Why is this so integral to Finyard’s culture and performance?

Continuous learning guarantees relevance and excellence. Given FinTech’s blistering pace, skills and knowledge must constantly upgrade. We invest substantially in development while encouraging employee-driven education through collaboration. Expertise sharing becomes a force multiplier, amplifying individual and collective capabilities over time. This pays perpetual dividends through innovation.

Diversity and inclusion are growing focuses across the tech sector. How do you foster this within Finyard’s culture and policies?

Diversity powers innovation so we actively nurture inclusion. Our talent teams strive for representative hiring across gender, ethnicity, age and thought. We constantly review policies and benefits to support different groups and life stages. Training raises cultural consciousness. Employee resource groups share experiences, ideas and connections. And we benchmark compensation to ensure equal opportunity. Progress remains imperfect but we are committed to keep advancing diversity, equity and belonging.

If you had a single piece of advice to offer other founders of FinTech firms hoping to leave their own mark on the industry, what would it be?

Never lose the fire that forged your company despite growing in scale. The drive and hunger that compelled you to take risks and chase audacious dreams must persist despite success. Instil this restless innovation spirit across your culture. Safe is doomed – stay boldly curious, creative and even a bit crazy as you scale. This above all else sustains magic.

Special thanks goes to Dmitrij Pruglo for this insightful discussion on Finyard’s journey, culture, and future vision. Those interested to learn more about the company’s innovative FinTech solutions that deliver efficiency, transparency and financial access should visit the Finyard website.

With advanced proprietary offerings across data analytics, digital transactions, banking infrastructure and cutting-edge areas like AI and Blockchain, Finyard stands poised to continue disrupting the industry under Pruglo’s ambitious and purpose-led leadership. We look forward to witnessing the next chapter unfold in this promising firm’s trajectory.

Thank you Dmitrij Pruglo for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Stay resilient, enjoy the entrepreneurial journey, and let your passion inspire others

By

StartupValley

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12/21/2023

0

CityQ specializes in creating small, car-like electric bikes for sustainable urban transportation.

Please introduce yourself and your startup CityQ to our readers!

I’m Morten Rynning, an experienced technology entrepreneur from Scandinavia and the founder of CityQ, a company that makes small car like ebikes. We design and produce multiple models of light weight 4-wheel electric bikes that provide car-like capabilities for transporting people and cargo, while being over 80% more sustainable than a regular electric car.

How did you get the idea of CityQ?

Where I come from, everybody has an electric car and 80% of new cars sold are electric. But we still have severe issues with congestion and lack of car parking. As well as a need for more car charging.

And the policy of all European cities is to restrict car traffic and push for shift towards more cycling. Even though I enjoyed cycling (and had 5 bikes and e bikes) I still didn’t cycle as often as I would have liked. With 239 days of rain and frost – my car was still the most comfortable option.

CityQ was launched to provide a greener and more sustainable transportation in congested urban areas. Compared to cars, our vehicles take up significantly less road and parking space, produce a fraction of the emissions, and require no special car-charging infrastructure.

Why did you decide to launch CityQ?

I founded CityQ because I believe we need more practical and appealing electric bike options to encourage a shift towards cycling, even in poor weather or when carrying passengers or cargo. I realised that by downsizing an electric car into a lightweight four-wheeled e-bike, we could provide similar comfort, safety and capability as a small urban vehicle, while retaining the sustainability benefits of ebikes.

Specifically, by reducing the weight from a 2,000kg electric car to a 100kg e bike, we can cut CO2 emissions by almost 90% while eliminating concerns over charging infrastructure and parking. Our ebikes aim to make the switch from car to cycle more enticing for more people, reducing congestion and emissions in urban areas.

What is the vision behind CityQ?

Our vision is to develop the lightest car-like electric vehicles and provide a production platform enabling mass adoption. We want to make small vehicles attractive and easy to innovate and implement for all cities.

How difficult was the start, and which challenges did you have to overcome?

Launching CityQ has seen us overcoming certain challenges, even as the demand for sustainable transportation surges. Prior to the pandemic, the market seemed primed for our technology and vision. But COVID-19 brought even greater interest as lockdowns subsided and people wanted to get outside again. Requests now far outpace our production capacity, coming from organisations across the globe.

However, creating our flexible vehicle platform at the quality level we envision is an ongoing challenge. We aim to achieve unparalleled transportation efficiency and to deliver the same vehicle weight to passenger weight as the equivalent of a Tesla carrying 60 passengers. This extreme optimisation requires immense engineering efforts across design, materials science, manufacturing techniques, and testing reliability.

Who is your target audience?

Initially we are targeting businesses requiring last-mile delivery solutions and inner-city services. In the second phase of our business plan, our focus expands to encompass all urban commuters seeking comfortable and efficient transportation. Our goal is to provide sustainable alternatives for both businesses and individuals, emphasising the convenience and efficiency of our electric vehicles.

What is the USP of your startup?

We are the first company to truly enable downsizing from a car to an electric bike form factor while retaining car-like capabilities. Our car-like seating position, cockpit weather protection features, stable chassis dynamics, reverse gear capability, mirrors for checking surroundings, automotive-inspired lighting packages, easy acceleration are just some of the ways that we make our e bikes more car like than others on the market.

Our technology is also our USP. Our ebikes feature advanced vehicle domain control and AI-based management, ensuring a seamless and intelligent operational experience. The modular chassis and drive train provide an exceptional riding feel, offering versatility and customisation.

So, how do you achieve this?

To achieve our vision, we’ve already taken substantial strides. Our platform is currently in production, showcasing the tangible results of our commitment to innovation. We’ve successfully secured partnerships with global brands specializing in last-mile delivery of parcels, food, and city services. This strategic collaboration not only validates the practicality and efficiency of our electric vehicles but also positions us as a trusted solution provider in the market.

Can you describe your typical workday?

Certainly! My typical workday involves a balance of online meetings with our team and customers, ensuring effective communication and collaboration. We also gather in person once a week to strategize for our growth, solidifying plans and addressing challenges. This combination of virtual and face-to-face interaction is key to maintaining a dynamic and cohesive work environment as we continue scaling our operations.

Where do you see yourself and your startup CityQ in five years?

In five years, I see CityQ as a global presence, operating worldwide with streamlined production, sales, and a unified fleet. Our focus is on implementing advanced technology for remote maintenance and upgrades, ensuring optimal performance globally.

Additionally, we’re actively exploring new applications of our technology, particularly within subscription offerings, and developing innovative vehicle types. Our commitment extends to also introducing remote services and enhancing the overall user experience.

In essence, CityQ aims to be a leader in sustainable urban transportation, offering diverse solutions and cutting-edge services on a global scale.

What 3 tips would you give to founders?

1. Identify high-demand areas and build an international team to make a real impact.

2. Stay resilient, enjoy the entrepreneurial journey, and let your passion inspire others.

3. Secure initial customers and investors before fully committing resources to product development.

More information you will find here

Thank you Morten Rynning for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.

Innovations, Milestones, and Industry Leadership

By

StartupValley

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12/19/2023

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Wiremind’s Annual Chronicle

For over nine years, Wiremind has been committed to product excellence and driven by bootstrapped innovation. As a reliable provider of advanced inventory, distribution, and optimization solutions, the company reflects on numerous achievements and milestones attained in the past year. This highlights Wiremind’s dedication to delivering value-adding solutions to its clients.

New Customers & Strategic Partnerships

Wiremind is concluding 2023 with remarkable success, having experienced zero client churn.

Over the last 12 months, Wiremind has grown quickly, with ten new clients joining its clientele. Currently, 52 clients make up Wiremind’s portfolio and, after addressing the needs of numerous industries, Wiremind continues to raise the standard for value.

LE TRAIN, the first private French rail operator to offer a high-speed service, adopted Wiremind’s PAXONE to streamline its IT infrastructure, thereby optimizing the company’s long-term travel offerings.

Regarding contributions to the aviation sector, Wiremind added Flair Airlines, Canada’s leading independent ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC), to its clientele. Flair Airlines is set to leverage Wiremind’s Revenue Management (RM) solution, CAYZN, to make data-driven capacity and pricing decisions.

With the help of Wiremind’s SKYPALLET solution, Aeromexico Cargo was able to maximize flight capacities, improve cargo management, and reduce capacity waste. Similarly, Qatar Airways Cargo has chosen to implement CARGOSTACK Optimiser, the revenue optimization suite from Wiremind Cargo – spanning Revenue Management, Overbooking, and SKYPALLET modules.

Furthermore, Wiremind grew EVENTORI’s client base. The product’s goal is to increase revenue and/or ticket sales by implementing robust ticketing data management. EVENTORI has gained prominence as the preferred partner for ticketing among esteemed organizations such as AS Monaco Basket and Rodez AF, consolidating Wiremind’s commitment to delivering dynamic ticketing solutions.

Long-term clients have continued to work with Wiremind, highlighting the company’s reputation as a reliable industry partner.

France’s national state-owned railway company, SNCF, chose to extend its partnership with Wiremind. This marks a collaboration of six years and counting! As a loyal client utilizing Wiremind’s CAYZN Tracking solution, SNCF underscores the longevity of the partnership between the two entities.

Product Developments

Investments in research and development have solidified Wiremind’s expertise in advanced technologies such as Machine Learning and AI- integral elements that have defined the company’s product suite right from its inception. A team of 51 talented Software Engineers, including 6 experts in the Data Engineering team and 9 skilled individuals in the Data Science team, forms the backbone of Wiremind’s technology department and is instrumental in these product enhancements.

In 2023, Wiremind welcomed 31 new members to their tech departments. Among these additions are 3 individuals in Data Science, 17 in Software, 4 in Machine Learning, and 3 in Optimization Engineering. This strategic expansion underscores Wiremind’s commitment to delivering forward-thinking solutions to clients.

With regards to machine learning technology, Wiremind’s products conduct 7 600 predictions every minute.

CAYZN, which processed about 640 000 pricing decisions every day and handled about 180 million passengers in 2023, serves as an example of the capabilities of Wiremind’s solutions.

Turning the focus to CAYZN Tracking, the system showcases its capabilities by collecting a remarkable 249 million data points scraped per month in 2023.

EVENTORI sees considerable success, as evidenced by the sale of 217 thousand tickets this year. These transactions encompass tickets that are created, paid for, and persist without cancellation.

Meanwhile, SKYPALLET demonstrates its efficiency by conducting 12 744 calculations per week. This signifies the optimization it brings to the handling of packages within this timeframe.

This year alone, Wiremind’s CAYZN, a Revenue Management Solution (RMS), extended its capabilities with three transformative modules: CAYZN Recovery Engine, Ancillary Management, and Horizon. The CAYZN Recovery Engine addresses spilled services, seamlessly integrating them to identify revenue opportunities and optimize pricing strategies. Ancillary Management taps into hidden revenue from additional services, utilizing real-time visualization and advanced analytics. CAYZN Horizon, tailored for C-level executives, integrates with other modules, offering a macro view for swift decision-making and strategic planning. These additions mark CAYZN’s evolution into a comprehensive Commercial Performance suite, aligning with Wiremind’s commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions in the transportation industry.

Over the past year, Wiremind has channeled efforts into enhancing its existing product suite. These enhancements revolved around improving the user experience, scalability, and integration capabilities. Notably, CAYZN Tracking, recognized for its real-time competitor monitoring and pricing insights, garnered attention. The integration of ancillaries’ tracking in CAYZN Tracking enables users to monitor the prices of each additional service offered to travelers, such as extra seats, WiFi, and additional baggage. This feature provides users with a real-time overview of their competitors’ ancillary fares, offering a substantial competitive advantage in the market.

CARGOSTACK combines sophisticated optimization and revenue management systems with an extensive feature set. It is designed for small to medium-sized airlines embarking on digital transformations, and its key features include maximum flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and an API-native architecture that facilitates future integration with other systems. Recent technical enhancements to the CARGOSTACK CMS include the introduction of new IATA-standard message types, supporting FSU (Freight Status Update) messages, an improved booking page display, and the addition of a configurable alerting/flagging system, empowering airlines to manage flights at scale. Furthermore, CARGOSTACK addresses data accessibility concerns by providing complete access to all stored data through its data warehouse, ensuring data availability.

EVENTORI introduced several features in 2023. The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system was successfully launched, offering enhanced tools for managing client interactions. Additionally, an Extraction module was implemented, allowing the seamless extraction of comprehensive data. Another advancement includes the introduction of a Pay-in-Installments option on the front end, providing flexibility for users. Moreover, the integration of a Scan with PDA for Android (Personal Digital Assistance) further elevates the ticketing experience.

EVENTORI’s modern user interface also underwent improvements with the rebuilding of application interfaces, incorporating a fresh logo and design elements. Access Control capabilities were expanded, enabling the management of multiple scan processes across different points in a stadium or venue.

The platform integrated new payment processors, Stripe and Payline, enhancing payment options. Users can now sell various options online, ranging from merchandise to additional services. Additionally, the ability to download tickets a specified number of days before the event and a mobile version for improved accessibility to key performance indicators and diverse payment methods were implemented.

EVENTORI also introduced features like Open Seating configuration, providing organizers with increased flexibility in managing seating arrangements. Events can now be nominative, adhering to legal restrictions and ensuring all tickets are registered to specific individuals. Moreover, the platform now allows organizers to limit the number of tickets in a single order, providing better control over ticket distribution and sales.

Industry Awards

PAXONE, a solution designed to simplify and integrate with the entire IT landscape, has garnered recognition and financial support. Acknowledging the challenges faced by operators dealing with disparate systems managed by various service providers, PAXONE integrates functions like inventory, sales, CRM, and RM into a unified system, streamlining operations and enhancing the user experience.

PAXONE secured public funding through the i-Nov innovation contest in France, a program aimed at accelerating the growth of companies with global potential. Wiremind participated in the 10th contest under the “Numérique” and “Transports, mobilités, villes et bâtiments durables” themes, with BPI funding 45% of the total project cost. Beyond the financial support, being an i-Nov laureate serves as a strong recognition of PAXONE’s transformative potential in passenger transport.

Picture Colin Girault Matz

Source PRLab B.V

Determine what makes you different and better vs. the competition

By

StartupValley

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12/19/2023

0

Whimstay offers guests the best deals on last-minute vacation rentals across North America

How did you become CEO of Whimstay?

I previously served as President at a payments company called Yapstone, where we built and operated Vrbo’s end-to-end FinTech experience, serving over 100 million travelers globally and over 1 million property owners in North America and Europe. We also integrated with major vacation rental software companies, powering payments for thousands of vacation rental property managers worldwide. It was through that experience and working with a private equity firm in 2021 focused on travel that I was introduced to Ben Jamshahi, the founder at Whimstay.

We hit it off immediately. I brought with me 10 years of relationships and operating experience in the sector, and Ben had built this amazing foundational product and go-to-market strategy. I was so excited about Whimstay that I spent the first half of 2022 working with Ben as an advisor thinking through where we could take the business together. He hired me as COO in Aug 2022, and I was then appointed CEO in Jan ‘23.

What is the vision behind Whimstay?

Prior to Whimstay, there was no place, no site, that enabled guests to find the best deals on last-minute vacation rentals. There were tons of options for hotels but nothing for vacation homes, villas, condos, and other alternative accommodations. At the same time, vacation rental property managers were becoming marginalized on the major OTAs at the expense of travelers and individual property owners, where they had limited control of the guest experience or ability to demand better economics.

We’ve built a proprietary solution that solves these problems for these two distinct yet inextricably linked groups, travelers and property managers. We identified these large, completely unserved segments of the $200 billion short-term rental industry, and then decided to go fill those needs because we had such strong market pull from both sides.

From the idea to the start, what have been the biggest challenges so far and how did you finance yourself?

The industry is laden with juggernauts like Expedia, Booking.com, Airbnb, and Vrbo, who have tremendous resources and capabilities. The three biggest challenges we’ve begun to overcome have been, (1) can we build something that is truly different and better than what exists currently in the market? (2) can we hire the right people to build, operate, and grow the business? and (3) can we do (1) and (2) in an extremely capital-efficient manner? We’ve answered yes to all three.

Guests can see and find value (deals) on our site they can’t get anywhere else. We’ve become that differentiated channel partner to professional property managers. The team we have in place is reflective of a much larger, more advanced company, who share critical core values. We’ve grown the business from 40k users in 2021 to 1.5m users today, 50 property managers to 800 property managers, and 150,000 properties over that same time period, and bookings are up 400% vs. last year. In a sector where fundraisings and capital investment are measured in hundreds of $millions and $billions, we’ve gotten to this point on $10m raised from individual investors.

Who is the target group of Whimstay?

We’ve learned everyone likes a great deal, let alone the best deals, whether you’re looking for a $2,000 per night, 8-bedroom villa on the beach in Cabo or a $100 per night, one-bedroom condo several blocks from the ocean in Myrtle Beach. We serve Gen Z to Boomers. Of those who booked on Whimstay in 2023, 14% are ages 18-24, 25% are 25-34 yrs old, 22% are 35-44 yrs old, 18% are 45-54 yrs old, 21% are over 55 yrs old, and 16% are international travelers.

How does Whimstay work? What are the advantages? What makes you different from other providers?

We’re able to offer the best deals to guests because we do two things, (1) we receive exclusive discounts from property managers on a large percentage of our properties for bookings made less than 30 days prior to arrival, and more importantly (2) we’re the first site to dynamically price total cost of the trip. Any site can offer discounts on nightly rates. We’ve built the capability to price total trip cost to account for a nightly rate, mark-ups and discounts to nightly rate, all the fees that each OTA charges the guest, and the myriad of fees the property managers or Hosts charge the guest.

Then we do a real-time check at booking to validate that our total cost is less than other OTAs. In addition, we only work with professional property managers, so our accommodations are more curated, and our guest experience is more consistent, reliable, and enjoyable.

Whimstay, where does the road go? Where do you see yourself in five years?

We’re done a great job in marketing to a point now where millions of travelers associate Whimstay with great deals on last-minute vacation rentals. In five years, we expect Whimstay to be a household name for guests worldwide. We’ll continue to introduce product offerings that will make the travel experience easier, more flexible, and lower cost, and we’ll include more services and experiences in our offering.

We intend to broaden our inventory footprint throughout North America and expand into Europe, Australia, Asia, and Latin America. We’ll continue to improve our value prop relating to the best deals on vacation rentals to include more differentiated pricing and have the best deals apply to longer booking windows beyond 30 days. In just two years, we’ve gone from 100% of our bookings being made within 30 days prior to arrival to 75% of bookings this year. We expect this trend to continue.

At the end: Which 3 tips would you give to future founders or business leaders?

Determine what makes you different and better vs. the competition. Then maniacally continue to build that delightful experience for customers and stay true to who you are as a company. Maintain that edge and focus.

Hustle, be scrappy, work harder than your competition, collaborate, ask for help, and it’s absolutely critical to have a short-term memory. Don’t get too high on how great you are, and at the same time, you have to be able to seamlessly move on and power through setbacks, failures, and other disappointments. Have conviction.

Build a great team. People you can trust to execute on a shared vision. Hire those who share common core values and common work values. Yes, your product, customer experience, value prop, go-to-market strategy, etc. are critical factors…but great people make these things happen…great people foster, nurture, and improve these things…great people make great companies.

Thank you David Weiss for the Interview

Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.