Australian AI InsurTech Startup Creates U.S. Presence in Hartford

May 15 2019 Innovation Destination: Hartford IDH Global 0 comments Tags: CT global startups, CT startup, Hartford startups, launching a global startup in Hartford, launching a startup in Connecticut

Flamingo Ai Head of North American Operations Bob Hilborn at the company’s U.S. headquarters in the Upward Hartford building in downtown Hartford.

Bob Hilborn, Head of North American Operations at Flamingo Ai, spoke with MetroHartford Alliance Content Manger Nan Price about positioning the global artificial intelligence (AI) InsurTech startup in Hartford.

Flamingo Ai, provider of machine learning-based virtual assistants for financial services companies, was launched five years ago in Sydney, Australia, with a mission to improve customer experience using AI and machine learning. The company recently moved its U.S. headquarters to the Upward Hartford building in downtown Hartford.

NAN PRICE: Why did Flamingo Ai decide to have a presence in Hartford? Is it because Hartford is The Insurance Capital of The World?

BOB HILBORN: Well, it certainly has a lot of insurance companies! But, yes, the first years of the company’s sales efforts were mostly focused in and around the Asia-Pacific region. We had success down there, but we knew we needed to have a U.S. presence.

Flamingo Ai initially established our U.S. headquarters in New York City in late 2016. But we eventually realized that, as a young InsurTech company, we should be where our target customers are.

I happen to have been born and raised in West Hartford, but that’s not why we’re in Hartford. We’re in Hartford because of what you said: Hartford is a very influential financial hub. Everybody we need to talk with is right here. And many of them are right here in this building.

We’ve had a lot of success in the insurance arena, working with such companies as Nationwide, MetLife, Liberty Mutual, and Chubb. We just won a great contract with a large bank to use our Virtual Knowledge Retrieval technology, so we are now also getting traction in banking.

But, actually, the technology is “vertical agnostic.” Our product has been evolving and what we do today is a little different from what we did a year ago. We also see that we can target other industries besides financial services and insurance, such as manufacturing—another important industry to the Hartford area—and even higher education, utilities, and healthcare. That being said, our deep experience is in the FinTech vertical. So, where better to be than Hartford?

As a side note, we didn’t come to Hartford through a competition or because we received specific funding to create a presence here. We came because it was the right place for us to be—and it is the right time to come. That was one of the things we thought was really important. We feel strongly about what the Governor, the Mayor, and the Upward Hartford community are saying—and doing—about establishing Hartford as a high-tech hub. We’re here for all the right reasons, and we think there’s a tremendous upside to being in Hartford and in this space.

NAN: How did you connect with Upward Hartford?

BOB: I became aware of Upward Hartford because of my interest in startup pitch events, especially from many Israeli HealthTech startups. That’s what first got me interested in what was going on at Upward Hartford.

Flamingo Ai is my third pure startup. So, I’ve got that serial entrepreneur drive. I knew it was important to be near other companies in the same place in their evolution. Because that’s where we are. We’ve defined and developed our product. Now we’re working on how to sell the product and start to scale.

As I saw more HealthTech companies coming into Connecticut and sharing some of the things they were doing, I was intrigued by their technology. It got my entrepreneurial juices flowing again. I think that’s the concept of a serial entrepreneur—even when I was working in large organizations or somewhere that wasn’t a pure startup, to me it’s always been about maturing and emerging technologies and figuring out how to use technology to solve business problems.

NAN: Speaking of emerging technology, how do advances with Industry 4.0 impact AI?

BOB: A few years ago, there were dozens of players in this space, now there are 4,000 who say that, in one way or another, they “do” AI. I see a couple of different patterns emerging. On the one hand, I think we’re going to see a bell-shaped curve of participants in this space where, eventually, only those with the best and the brightest ideas are going to survive. But we also see movement toward the creation of AI “ecosystems,” where specialized AI solutions coexist in a friendly alliance to solve broad business problems.

The evolution of the technology is fascinating. I sometimes say, “AI is the new UI.” You’ll start to see more of that. So, it’s more around understanding the needs, finding the elements that solve the question, and then providing answers—and that’s not just providing a URL or a piece of data.

We are very much hoping to be a part of the evolution—that shift, that dynamic. We’re learning more about how to do that. I’m excited to be in this space and be exposed to that kind of thinking. Others in this building are also hoping to make these kinds of changes in the industry—and in the science and technology.

Connecticut in general has so many capabilities. Personally, moving Flamingo Ai to the Hartford area will enable me to reestablish connections with important entities like Connecticut Innovations, the Connecticut Technology Council, and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. These are people I’ve grown up with.

If you look around the Hartford skyline, I’ve worked in many of those tall buildings—as have many of the people who are now helping to lead this industrial revolution. It’s been really cool to reconnect with some old friends. We’ve all grown up. We have big, impactful jobs now and we can tap into that Hartford network, which is really well-positioned to continue to drive innovation.

Learn more about Flamingo Ai

VISIT: flamingo.ai
FOLLOW: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

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Global InsurTech Startup Creates a Presence in Hartford

May 02 2019 Innovation Destination: Hartford Startups 0 comments Tags: CT global startups, CT startup, Hartford startups, launching a global startup in Hartford, launching a startup in Connecticut

Aureus Analytics CEO & Co-Founder Anurag Shah. His FinTech startup is one of many working out of the Upward Hartford building in downtown Hartford.

MetroHartford Alliance Content Manager Nan Price spoke with Aureus Analytics CEO & Co-Founder Anurag Shah about how and why the InsurTech startup chose to create a presence in Hartford, CT.

NAN PRICE: You launched Aureus in 2014 in India. What brought you to the United States?

ANURAG SHAH: Two things brought us to Hartford last year, the Hartford InsurTech Hub accelerator, which is powered by Startupbootcamp, and VentureClash, which is run by Connecticut Innovations.

Aureus was in the first accelerator cohort, which is where we met Connecticut Innovations. They decided to invest in us, even before VentureClash 2018 began. Connecticut Innovations was interested in what we do, especially if we were willing to set up operations in Connecticut. So, we were preselected to participate in VentureClash. Given that our focus is insurance, it’s logical for us to be here in Hartford.

NAN: In “The Insurance Capital of the World.”

ANURAG: Exactly! To be honest, we explored other places to set up our operations in the United States. Hartford wasn’t initially our choice. But one of our potential customers encouraged us to visit and we figured we should follow the customer.

When we visited, we saw that we were probably going to engage with more insurance companies here than anywhere else. Another primary driver is the availability of people who understand insurance—whether it’s partners, consultants, or mentors. So, it made a lot sense for us to come to Hartford.

NAN: What did you gain from participating in the Hartford InsurTech Hub accelerator and VentureClash?

ANURAG: It was a very interesting experience. Through those programs, we met a lot of mentors, consultants, and investors—including David Bourque, Frank Sentner, and Lalitha Shivaswamy. It was a huge value add.

NAN: Have you been involved with any other local resources?

ANURAG: In India, we already have a lot of patents and intellectual property filed. So, we’re working with local patent lawyers to get some of those registered here.

NAN: How have your past experiences launching other startups helped shape where you are now?

ANURAG: This is actually the second or third venture for all the founders. We all have had previous businesses and successfully exited.

When we started Aureus, we were very clear that if we couldn’t find the right people to take the technology to the customer, we were not going to succeed. That led to us building the kind of team we have built so far.

NAN: How many people does Aureus employ?

ANARUG: We have 30 total, with two of us here setting up our U.S. presence. We’re building our team here, hiring people who understand specific lines of businesses within insurance for positions in business development and sales. Initially, there will be more senior hires. Then, as we then build the next set of team members, we’ll probably tap into the local universities and colleges for talent.

NAN: What’s next?

ANURAG: We’ve built a very strong connection with customers in the last year and a half. Our immediate focus is to start capitalizing and getting some customer traction going. Then we’ll add team around it to implement it and support it.

In India, Aureus Analytics is a known brand. We want to duplicate that here in the United States. The idea is, if anyone thinks of insurance, analytics, and AI they will think of Aureus. Our goal is to develop that kind of visibility with the ecosystem.

Learn more about Aureus Analytics

VISIT: www.aureusanalytics.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | YouTube

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STARTUPS: Hartford-Based Creative Digital Agency

April 01 2019 Innovation Destination: Hartford Women In Business 0 comments Tags: CT startup, Hartford startup, launching a startup in Connecticut, launching a startup in Hartford, women-owned business

Lumi Agency Co-Founders, Cara Stellato (left) and Melissa Melonson (right) appeared on WTNH with Ann Nyberg to promote the launch of the weHartford website.

Melissa Melonson and Cara Stellato worked together at an agency years ago, after they both moved to Connecticut from New York. Both shared an entrepreneurial mindset and a vision for creating an innovative digital agency. They cofounded Lumi Agency in the summer of 2016.

Melissa and Cara talked to Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price about their entrepreneurial experience and finding a home for their agency in Hartford.

NAN PRICE: You both knew you wanted to own your own company, how did you decide to partner?

CARA STELLATO: I started a freelance development company while I was in college and continued for a short time after graduation. But I stopped and I started working full-time for a company because I realized I couldn’t do it alone. Wearing all those hats was difficult. I knew I was going to go back to it eventually, but I also knew I needed to find the right business partner.

Melissa and I had been talking about an idea she had for an app. Her business idea resonated with me and I saw a lot of my own ambition and hustle in what she was willing to do. I remember calling her and saying: If you’re serious about this, I want to do this with you.

MELISSA MELONSON: I told her I was very serious. Our long-term vision and our goals were very similar. We both knew we probably weren’t going to accomplish those things working for someone else.

From the beginning, we truly wanted to create an agency where we could allow ourselves to be as creative and innovative as we wanted. Some other agencies in the area are much more traditional. We have the freedom to create what we want, when we want, where we see a need. We can be agile for our clients and for ourselves. That’s been exciting and fun for us these first few years.

NAN: Why Hartford? Why did you choose to locate the business downtown?

MELISSA: We talked about whether to set up shop in New York City or New Haven or Stamford to be closer to New York City. In setting out and creating this agency, we knew we wanted a space where we and our employees could be happy and inspired to enjoy work. We felt we’d be able to create the right environment to build the agency we envisioned here in Hartford.

CARA: We wanted to have that city feel we loved about New York City—but New York City is very expensive and we knew the market was crowded there for digital agencies.

We read a lot about how Hartford was working its way back up. We thought: What better way to start and grow a new business than with a city that’s trying to be great too? Rents here are reasonable and Harford has that city feel. From the moment we started establishing ourselves in Hartford, we felt part of a community. People wanted to meet us, hear our story, and work with us. From there, we just became more ingrained.

MELISSA: We started working out of an office suite in a co-working space to test to waters. We met other local businesses and found the community extremely supportive. I think that was important to us in finding our home.

NAN: Did you tap into any specific Connecticut business resources as you were getting started?

MELISSA: We’ve been learning as we go. Recently, we’ve been trying to get involved with Upward Hartford. The MetroHartford Alliance was a valuable resource as we were getting up and running and we became an investor.

The Alliance was very supportive and gave us some guidance about the right types of people we should try to create relationships with and talk with to find business opportunities. They were helpful in navigating who’s who here in Hartford.

NAN: Let’s talk about weHartford, which is one of Lumi’s initiatives.

CARA: We created weHartford right at the onset of establishing ourselves in Hartford because we saw a need. Also, we were meeting others who were new to the area and wanted to learn more about it, so we created weHartford to help us navigate the area, but also to help us network.

MELISSA: weHartford started with us sharing interesting things we found in our travels as we were trying to meet more people and become a part of the community. In those conversations, we kept hearing great stories and seeing exciting new businesses opening. It kind of snowballed from there. People started reaching out to us asking to be featured or suggesting stories to be shared.

Now we have this community we’ve developed over time that’s hungry for more information. So, we have more of a responsibility to keep up with it and it’s much more strategic in terms of what we’re talking about and our mission and goals for the next few years.

CARA: Other than the Make Hartford Yours video series, we haven’t really put any spend behind weHartford. In the beginning, we were focusing on the restaurants and places Melissa and I liked. But, as we saw the series grow and we started speaking more to the community, we realized we need to expand a little bit beyond just what we like and showcase more things the community would like to learn about and experience.

MELISSA: And showcase what really makes Hartford amazing. So many people come to work in Hartford every day, but they leave as soon as work is over. They don’t take the time to explore and get to know what’s beyond their office. In the Make Hartford Yours series, we’re trying to educate those people and show there’s so much more to Hartford. Take a look. Go explore. Take the time to learn about all the people and things happening here.

NAN: You’re going into your fourth year as a business. Tell us a little about the evolution.

MELISSA: When we first started, it was just Cara and me. We outsourced anything we needed using designers, developers, and strategists and managed that process 100% between the two of us. Pretty quickly on we hired two interns who helped us through our first summer. At the end of that summer, we were able to start hiring our full-time employees. Our first year we quickly grew up to 14 employees. And we landed some pretty large clients including Google, Kamen, and Prudential.

The evolution was interesting. We had to do a lot of learning in terms of how to run the business—all the back-of-house type things and front-of-house, business development, managing employees.

CARA: We’ve also evolved in terms of business creation. When we were doing our Upward Hartford presentation, we saw the in bio Upward had written about us that we had created four business in three years. We looked at each other and thought: We did that?!

Lumi Agency's Lead Designer, Kevin Tiernan, works in the spacious studio overlooking Pratt Street in downtown Hartford.

I think a lot of times you’re just doing and moving forward constantly without really taking a step back to look at what you’ve done. With regard to creating those businesses, it came down to what our customers needed from us and then what we were seeing as holes in the market.

From Lumi Agency, where we wanted to be this creative, disruptive, innovative, fun, startup-type of agency, we heard that our hospitality clients wanted a hospitality agency, and we had enough clients to help support that. We started hiring employees who were experts in the hospitality industry and understood it well just to work on those clients. From there we created Lumi Luxe.

MELISSA: We love coming up with creative solutions and ideas for businesses. We enjoy putting the work into branding them and figuring out how to build them and get them out into the world. But of course, that takes resources and a good, solid team.

The natural first step was creating a solid foundation and a business that could quickly generate revenue, which was Lumi Agency. We built a creative digital agency that could do this kind of work for clients, which we still enjoy doing. We try to look for opportunities where clients are thinking more about creating innovative new products or solutions that will reach their audiences.

Long-term we want to create more internal businesses with different solutions. Our first product is Crate, a software as a service (SaaS) application for small businesses with a monthly subscription fee.

CARA: Crate is its own business. It wasn’t a product we anticipated creating, but we saw a need for it in the market and we decided to launch it as our first product-based venture. Our dream is to be able to build and maintain additional products, release them to the public, and then constantly enhance them.

NAN: In terms of Lumi’s team growth, how have you found employees?

CARA: When we were looking at basing our business in Hartford, we got a lot of feedback about tapping really good local talent—from marketing to development. The resources are out there. Obviously, the University of Connecticut has a big stronghold, and a lot of people we interview to work for us are from UConn. But there are so many other excellent schools in the area.

Some Connecticut natives may go to school in another state but return to Connecticut because they loved growing up here and living here so much. There’s a lot of opportunity for those people to find great places to work here—and those places can find skilled local talent. We have been very lucky to find the great core team we have now.

Learn more about Lumi Agency

VISIT: www.lumiagency.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

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Making Yourself Known as a Startup

September 13 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Entrepreneurial Insights 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, CT startup, entrepreneur, startup, startup tips, tips for startups

Checkmate was honored as "Murphy's Innovator of the Month" in August 2017. Founder Tom Nassr (right) accepted the award from Senator Chris Murphy.

How are you making yourself known? When you are starting out as an entrepreneur, sharing your name and idea with the world can be a good thing. There are advantages to marketing yourself, but there are some disadvantages as well. If you need help figuring out if making yourself known is a good idea for you, here are some of the things I’ve learned from building a startup.

Why Should You Make Yourself Known?

Telling people about your ideas does more than simply get your name out there. As you talk with others and introduce yourself, you will have the opportunity to make connections. Maybe the person you just met will know someone you should pitch your idea to next. They might know a network of people who could offer you advice and support or they could become your mentor or partner. If your venture doesn’t work out, you will still have accumulated relationships and established trust that can carry on to your next venture, even after a failure.

An early venture of mine was an app where users could post temporary tags on a shared map to discuss what was going on in their area. Before I even had a product, I openly shared my thoughts with a favorite professor of mine. The app I wanted to make had attributes, but a weak use case or purpose at the time. My philosophy professor realized the alignment my idea had with resources for refugees. Refugees were always spread out and could move or disappear at a moment’s notice, so we started thinking about how Kricket could be used to give refugees useful, real-time information.

Through my discussions with my professor, I was connected with the Nobel Summit for Peace Laureates. Although my product was not finished or ready to be used, my sharing it led to many more doors being opened for me in the humanitarian space and I made a lot of great connections with people I’m still in touch with today. None of this would have happened if I had kept my startup to myself until I felt it was the “right time” to share it with the world.

When Should You Make Yourself Known?

Although it would be nice to know the “right time” to start putting yourself out there, the reality is that there is no right time. Everyone wants to do things when they feel ready, but we are always thinking of what is happening in the future. It’s a lot like skydiving. You get up in the plane, you think about the drop, you become afraid and you don’t want to jump anymore. You forget that you have a parachute until the instructor jumps out with you and pulls the cord or you want to pull it before you’ve even jumped.

Although there is no right time (or even a wrong time) to start making yourself known, the best time is when you are just as ready to see your idea fail as you are to see it succeed. If you are too early, you risk appearing as if you are not committed to the idea. If you are too late, then you’ll likely have wasted time and missed valuable customer feedback. The “Goldilocks Zone” is when you have a sense of momentum in your endeavors. Even though failure is an option, the desire to try and the action to go through with your idea is further than most people go.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Aside from building up a network, there’s the opportunity to go to conferences or events related to your venture. You could find like-minded people who are just as passionate about your idea as you are or, most importantly, learn things that you didn’t know that you didn’t know.

That said, it may still be tempting to operate as a stealth startup, especially if you’re concerned that someone you share it with will steal it. However, the positives of getting your idea out there likely outweigh the risks. Aaron Patzer, founder of Mint and other ventures, promotes the idea of being as open as possible with your business. “Tell anyone and everyone your idea without fear they’re going to steal it,” Patzer said at a 2010 Future of Web Apps conference in Miami, pointing out that the chance of someone stealing your idea is very small while the benefits of receiving a lot of feedback early on are invaluable. This early feedback will let you address your market’s pain points before you start building your product, and you will be able to refine it to be more in line with your market’s needs as you build.

If you are still afraid of someone trying to take your idea for themselves, explore some provisional patents or use NDAs, or better yet, mutual NDAs. Doing so will give you some peace of mind while also giving you the freedom to discuss your idea with people who can help.

Getting your name out there is one way to build a startup, but it is not the only way. If you think it is a good idea for you, go to events, accelerators, maker spaces, etc., and introduce yourself to others. Start making connections, because you never know the potential of the person sitting next to you on a train, plane or at an event. The people who you meet will be the ones helping you along, and they will be the ones to decide if your idea is good enough to thrive. Yet it is on you, and only you, to take that first step out of the plane.

About the Author
Tom Nassr is CEO at Connecticut-based Checkmate Digital, which architects, designs, and engineers custom software products with startups. He is a member of the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invitation-only, fee-based organization comprised of entrepreneurs aged 40 and younger. YEC members represent nearly every industry, generate billions of dollars in revenue each year, and have created tens of thousands of jobs. In partnership with Citi, the YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program.

Interested in learning more about Tom and his entrepreneurial endeavors?

Read our interview: Connecticut Startup Helps Future Startups

Get more entrepreneurial tips from Tom in his Innovation Destination Hartford blog: Successfully Failing: What I Learned from Failing My First Startup

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CT Startup Provides Innovative Technology to Banks

July 10 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Innovation, Tech 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT, CT startup, entrepreneur, innovation entrepreneurship, startups

Payrailz, LLC CEO Fran Dugan and VP of Marketing Marvin (Mickey) Goldwasser told Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price about what it’s like to launch and work in and on a tech startup in Connecticut.

NAN PRICE: When did you launch Payrailz and how did you develop the business concept?

Fran Dugan is CEO of Glastonbury, CT-based Payrailz, LLC.

FRAN DUGAN: We launched the company publicly in November 2017. It’s my second startup. I started my first company in 2010. It still exists although I’m no longer involved.

The idea for Payrailz had been brewing for a while. Deciding to launch a startup was a big leap for someone like me, who had a very steady bank career from the time I graduated college until now.

I’ve been in banking for 30 years. Most recently I was with Webster Bank here in Connecticut. Having been through all the back-end pieces of banking, I understand how it works and I thought: There has got to be a better way to do this. Technology could be used to be used to help banks transfer money. I had some ideas and talked to some other people, who all agreed we can make the process much better.

NAN: I’ve heard that from other entrepreneurs—their idea sparks from thinking they have a better approach.

FRAN: I’ve always been one of those people who thinks there’s a better way of doing things. Before launching my own company, I had a lot of roles as an “intrapreneur”—an entrepreneur who works inside a company. For example, at Webster Bank we built our own online banking system, which at the time was kind of unusual.

Being in the corporate world things were going well, but I experienced a lot of frustrations, mostly because I would see all these things and think: We should do this and why can’t we do things quicker?

NAN: When you’re in a startup versus a large corporation you can be nimbler. And you can see your efforts more quickly.

FRAN: Absolutely. That’s the benefit. It’s a plus and a minus. Working in a startup there are huge highs and huge lows—and a lot of sideways.

In this world, one day we’ll all be celebrating something we just accomplished and the next day you get a phone call and you think: What happened? That’s something you just have to roll with. And I have found since being in the entrepreneurial environment that I love it. It’s not for everybody. There are definitely times where I think: What am I doing?!

NAN: Mickey, as an employee what makes you want to come into a startup situation?

Marvin (Mickey) Goldwasser is VP of Marketing at Payrailz, LLC.

MICKEY GOLDWASSER: That’s a great question. I’ve been in that conservative banking environment Fran mentioned, where things are pretty predictable. I’ve also worked for other startups. It’s exciting when it’s not predictable because you get to move fast and make a lot of decisions. But also, at the end of the day, you can go home and say: I did something. We’re doing this together. We win or lose together. We succeed together. That feeling is hard to duplicate in the corporate world.

As Fran said, working for a startup isn’t for everyone. And it is a roller coaster. You learn over time to kind of level it out. You also learn to fail fast. What I mean is, there are a lot of ideas and sometimes they’re not going to work, so it’s having that ability—almost the luxury—to be able to take those experiences and keep moving forward.

NAN: Fran, you mentioned the highs and lows. Anything else about being an entrepreneur that’s been unexpected? Anything you wish you’d done differently?

FRAN: The speed at which things happen is so much greater both in a negative and a positive. In my particular role, the amount of decisions I make in a day is phenomenal. But, when you’re an entrepreneur and you get into that mode of speed, it can be extremely frustrating when the rest of the world isn’t at that pace.

NAN: When it comes to decision making, how do you develop that kind of entrepreneurial leadership?

FRAN: I’ve had the benefit of coming out of that corporate world, where things can be analyzed to the bitter end. Some decisions you’re sort of forced into. It’s a learning thing. I don’t think you jump into being an entrepreneur and suddenly become that way, but you realize decisions must be made.

I think I learned a lot from launching my first startup, so the second time through I’ve been better prepared. For example, knowing to start now thinking about something we need in a month. You can’t wait until you need it.

There are things I put in place this time that alleviate some of that, knowing you’re going to need to make some of these decisions. And hiring good people. This time around, I have good investors and I knew upfront I was going to hire some good people. That cost money, but it makes the business work. Lesson learned from the first time: You can’t do it all yourself.

MICKEY: What I like about the entrepreneurial environment Fran has created is that there is no box. You can’t say: Here’s our culture unless you live that culture. As a leader, Fran’s door is always open. I like the collaboration this company brings. Everybody in the room has an opinion that’s heard. I think that’s what an entrepreneurial environment encourages.

NAN: Tell us about what Payrailz does. What differentiates you from other companies and makes you innovative?

FRAN: Payrailz provides technology solutions to banks and credit unions. What makes us different than what others is we are incorporating artificial intelligence into our platform to deliver smart payment solutions in what we call the “do it for me world.” The real innovation behind it is leveraging data and using automation to help banks provide more value for their customers.

NAN: In terms of these customers and your clients, how are you marketing?

FRAN: From a marketing standpoint, we go direct to some financial institutions. We also use reselling partners—there are other groups that sell technology to banks and credit unions—we can be part of their suite. We market a lot through social media, public relations, tradeshows/conferences and word-of-mouth. In this industry everybody knows everybody. So, when something new comes along, it tends to be a little viral and we’re kind of in that storm right now.

NAN: Does being in Connecticut play an important role in your business?

FRAN: That’s a good question. One of our founders lives in Florida, so we debated where to locate the company. Many of us are coming from financial services in the New England area.

I moved to Connecticut about 20 years ago and I think it’s a great place because we’re growing our business around the concept of family. We’re very big on our culture. At a lot of startups, it’s row faster, row harder because they’re trying to make that next dollar for their investors. Our company is not that way. We have good investors, but our focus is to be a place people want to work, where they can have life balance and build careers they know they can grow in. That’s fundamental to our company.

NAN: Let’s talk about funding.

FRAN: We are a startup and we are a technology company. A good amount of capital is required to build the types of capabilities we’re developing. We have some strong investors including Webster Bank, Live Oak Bank, Woodforest Bank, and First Data Corporation, which is one of the world’s largest card processors. We like to have clients as investors—banks and unions—so they get the benefit of using our services, but also the benefits of being an investor. That way our visions are aligned.

NAN: With an eye toward the future, what is your ideal vision for the company?

FRAN: We think we’ve got a new approach to payments and our vision is catching on within the market. We didn’t just want to be just another “me too” company and we believe we can bring innovation to the industry with a solution that simples lives and adds value.

In April 2017, Payrailz moved to a larger facility located at 95 Glastonbury Boulevard in Glastonbury, CT.

To this end, we’re growing pretty fast. We’re now up to 21 people. It’s going quick and we’ve got some very large clients. In April we moved to a larger facility in Glastonbury. That’s a sign of growth.

As we grow, I want to keep that small company family feel. To me it’s not always about making money. It’s about building a great company by providing a great product backed by great service. The question for our team is: Can everybody have a sense of accomplishment, feel good about who they’re working with, and have fun? I’d be happy if my employees can say: I’ve had my whole career here and I have a great life.

At this point, we’re moving along according to plan. In the future, we will have proven ourselves and we will have people who are saying great things. I’d like to think in a couple of years you’re going to hear not from us, but from others about what a great company we are, what great services we provide, and what great people we are to work with.

NAN: As a technology company, how will you continue to innovate?

FRAN: It’s always hard. I look at us as suppliers of technology, so I’m not going to invent artificial intelligence. It’s more about understanding how things work and thinking about using new technology in new ways. One way to do that is by listening to what your clients tell you. What are users doing?

It’s not always about doing something outlandishly wild much as it is understanding where the world is going. And it’s going to toward this do it for me world, so we think we have a long road there. But I’m never worried about not having a new idea. My staff would probably tell you they wish that would stop! I’ve never met a whiteboard I didn’t like!

MICKEY: Fran is an entrepreneur who has created an opportunity for people like me who have the same kind of vision where we can almost start with a blank slate, but also take all our experience and match it with the newest technology. What we are trying to do for banks and credit unions is enable them to simplify lives and add value.

NAN: Any advice for others on their entrepreneurial journey?

FRAN: You have to have a thick skin. I also say life is short, so if you think you might to do it, do it. You can’t worry about all the things. If it doesn’t work the first time, the second time, or the third time, it doesn’t mean the fourth time won’t be the charm.

People ask me if I wish I’d started my own business earlier. I don’t know if I have any regrets about starting when I did, but I’m glad I did it. Anyone who has a good idea or thinks they want to try it, just know you have to do a lot of work. You’re not going to come up with an idea that will earn you $10 million in a week. You’ll be lucky if you do that. If nothing else, pick something you enjoy, find good people to work with, and you’ll have fun. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s about.

Learn more about Payrailz, LLC

VISIT: www.payrailz.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

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CT Entrepreneur Creates NEAT Solutions

July 04 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Women In Business 0 comments Tags: Connecticut entrepreneur, Connecticut startup, CT entrepreneur, CT startup, entrepreneur, startup, The Refinery

Connecticut entrepreneur Heidi Worcester created NEATsheets, an innovative solution to napkins, clothing protectors or bibs.

Heidi Worcester, Founder and Owner NEATgoods, spoke with Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price about the process of taking an idea, iterating it, and bringing it to market.

NAN PRICE: I read that the concept behind NEATsheets was developed by your father “a perennial businessman” and mother who came up with the idea for a car napkin/bib after a long road trip. How did the business concept evolve?

HEIDI WORCESTER: I took the idea a step further to meet the needs of my aging grandmother. I was looking at products available for her beyond just a bib. I thought: This market needs some good design. I started gaining momentum in my thought process as to how I could develop the concept.

Our first product is NEATsheets, but we expanded to the bigger concept of NEATgoods. The idea is to create exceptionally designed products for everyday uses. We’re taking products that typically aren’t designed and giving them an element of dignity and attractiveness. We launched about three years ago.

NAN: At what point did you realize your idea was marketable and you could start a company manufacturing the products?

HEIDI: I came up with a way to design a solution to using napkins or bibs. I researched the paper and the manufacturing. As I was talking about the concept, people reacted by saying: I get it. And they asked: Have you thought about using it this way? It had a snowball effect of people telling me new ways they thought the products could be used. I thought that showed there were some viability to the concept.

NAN: What steps did you take to get the startup going?

HEIDI: I went to a conference and met Jennifer Gabler, who was co-founding an entrepreneurial accelerator group for women in Connecticut called The Refinery. I was in their first class of students. They were willing to take me on even though I wasn’t far in the process because they thought my concept was strong.

NAN: What did you get out of that experience? Did The Refinery help with your business plan?

HEIDI: The Refinery provided a great support system. They helped with all different business aspects—marketing, finance, branding. We were kept very busy refining our business models. We had assignments, we attended lectures, we were meeting accomplished business people who mentored us.

As I went through the program and kept developing the product, I found that what I thought was going to be our biggest market—which were commuters and people in their cars—was probably a secondary market. I realized there was this whole senior market with a real need for these types of products.

NAN: Did you utilize other startup resources in addition to The Refinery?

HEIDI: After The Refinery, I felt like I was being pushed out of the nest. I realized: I’m on my own and I’ve got to find my legs.

I learned to take advantage of what’s out there. Because if you have a great idea and you want to see it get somewhere, you’ve got to go out and explore the resources available. If you sit at home and try to do it in your own little cocoon, it’s just not going to work.

I connected with Milena Erwin, Program Manager of the Women’s Business Center at the University of Hartford’s Entrepreneurial Center. I’ve worked on my marketing plan with Anne DiFrancesco at the Women’s Business Development Council in Stamford. And I have a fantastic mentor through SCORE, Buz Sawyer, who helps me structure my business.

There are resources available to support you and encourage you. It took a while to learn that, but now I find I’m constantly pushing myself to get out and network. I have to because, while I have a product, and it’s selling on Amazon and it’s doing nicely, I need to sell more. And it’s not my nature to sell.

NAN: Would you say that marketing is your biggest challenge as a startup?

HEIDI: Marketing has been hard, because it’s not a product that you necessarily know you need. And, it’s not a product you know how to google. So, we have to get it known, whether it’s through publications or any sort of news format. We got on the local Fox News station early on. It was great because that week we saw an immediate bump in sales, and that was right at the beginning. We need more of that.

Because otherwise: Great idea but how do I find you? Even if you know you can find us on Amazon, you might not necessarily know what to put in the search.

One strategy that has been extremely successful is we provide NEATsheets to food and BBQ festivals nationwide in exchange for sponsorship rights. This has been a very significant way we’ve marketed our product along with investment in social media, including Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

In some ways, that’s been our biggest struggle. In the beginning, there were definitely challenges. We made product we weren’t happy with. The sticky tabs weren’t working, or the paper wasn’t high quality. We couldn’t sell something that wasn’t nicely designed or packaged well. The quality wasn’t up to our high standards and that’s what we’re all about—designing a better product.

NAN: Tell us more about how you got your product on Amazon.

HEIDI: Sure. It’s not as easy as you would expect. It was a process. A lot of that was done by my business partner and brother, Greg Pesky. He took on the task of getting us available on Amazon. We did hire someone to figure out the language so we had the proper search terms.

Since then, we’ve gotten an Amazon’s Choice designation, which I find personally influences me when I buy things. We do Amazon AdWords too, so hopefully that’s also bringing more people in.

Amazon offered us business-to-business designation, so we’ve gone through the process of applying for that. There are two designations, Seller Central and Vendor Central, and both have different advantages.

You must be aware that when Amazon offers a designation such as Vendor Central (versus Seller Central), while you have the potential for large sales, you also give up a certain amount of control. Not that it’s necessarily bad, but with the advantages there could be possible drawbacks if your company isn’t ready for them. If you’re considering Amazon, you really should go online and Google the difference between the two.

NAN: It sounds like you really need to do your research.

HEIDI: Yes. I’ve got to say, it’s been a great partnership. Amazon has been supportive. Through Amazon we could not ship as inexpensively as we do. We use Amazon to fulfill orders through our website.

Another thing with Amazon is the testimonials, which are wonderful. But, you don’t know who they are coming from, because you only have access to a certain amount of information. When people order through our website, we’re able to ask them questions. As you’re starting a small company, you want to find out as much about your customer as possible, and we are missing a little of that information.

NAN: Speaking of your customers, let’s talk about your target market. You were talking earlier about how that kind of shifted.

HEIDI: Defining our market has been another challenge for us. We started off thinking we were going toward commuters or travelers, and then found this market of senior citizens.

What I’ve learned from mentors is: You have to focus. You can’t be everything to everyone. But through various conversations, we hear all kinds of suggestions for our products: What if you’re wearing a uniform, or you’re all dressed up and you have to put on makeup? It goes on and on. See? This is exactly what our problem is. Yes, we want to focus, but then everybody starts suggesting other ideas.

We’ve also seen that on Amazon. There are uses we would have never imagined. For example, proms and weddings. And people make suggestions. So, we don’t want to limit ourselves. Because we do feel like we created a better product, and if it works in a variety of situation—go for it!

NAN: What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?

HEIDI: There’s an element of freedom. There’s also an element of responsibility. As they say, everybody can come up with an idea, it’s the process of taking that idea to fruition and that’s quite difficult.

Yet, when it works out, it’s invigorating. When you go to Amazon and realize you got a sale. Then you get a sale a week you’re ecstatic. And then it’s sales every day. And then it’s a certain number of sales every day and that number keeps increasing. That’s exciting when you feel like you’re getting something out there and it’s gaining traction.

To me, being an entrepreneur isn’t just about money. Especially with NEATgoods, it’s about creating better products for a market that needs it—and doing it in the right way. I researched the environmental aspects and we support 1% For The Planet to offset our carbon footprint. That’s important for us because we’re creating a disposable product.

We also donate to various charities we feel are important to us. I want to expand on that social message as I grow the business. That’s got to be integral to our purpose and process. With your own company, you have the freedom to do that. You have the freedom to craft it in the way you want the message to be heard.

Also, as a mother it allows me a lot of flexibility. I’m not saying it’s easier than going to a 9-to-5 job, but I can set my own hours and I don’t have to report to anyone. It does mean there are no weekends. That’s something I’ve had to think about it: Where do you put the limits on your life? I want my children to see that I’m working and creating a business; however, I don’t want them to feel I always have a computer on my lap.

NAN: It’s always about finding balance.

HEIDI: Balance is huge. Also, I think it’s important for my kids to see I’m doing something I believe in.

Learn more about NEATgoods

VISIT: neatsheets4eats.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter

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Hartford-Based Marketing Company Helps CT Businesses

June 29 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Startups 0 comments Tags: community, Connecticut, CT, CT startup, entrepreneur, Greater Hartford, Hartford, Hartford-based startup

Fitzgerald Council is CEO and Founder of Hartford-based marketing company Pathos Digital.

Fitzgerald Council, CEO and Founder Pathos Digital, spoke with Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price about the process of launching a marketing company, the importance of tapping into Connecticut startup resources, and how he hopes his business can add value to the community.

NAN PRICE: When and why did you start your company?

FITZGERALD COUNCIL: I officially started in 2016. However, the concept started around 2012. I took a few years to do some due diligence and make sure I knew as much as I could before I took the leap.

I had spent about six years in the retail space, so I was very familiar with customer service. I was already coming from a creative background and I’ve always been good with the sales part of things.

To me, a business model was a huge concept that was very intimidating, so I did a lot of reading and research and developed self-taught concepts.

I also asked a lot of questions. At networking events, I’d engage in conversations with people I considered more successful than me. I’d try to absorb as much information as I could.

NAN: Is your first startup? Did you always want to have your own company?

FITZGERALD: Yes, this is my first startup. Launching a company wasn’t always something I had in mind. One thing led to another, which led to me saying: You need to just do it yourself.

NAN: When did you have that “aha” moment?

FITZGERALD: In 2015, when I was living in downtown Hartford, I was doing side projects building websites, doing social media, and throwing events. I kept seeing one trend, which was a lack of communication. There was no cohesive branding or messaging with business owners or at events.

The dissonance wasn’t because the business owner was offering a bad product or service, or the event wasn’t run well. It was caused by a lack of communication, a lack of branding, a lack of consistency with branding, and a lack of preemptive thought in terms of thinking about how someone was going to experience an event, service, or product.

Around that time, I was encouraged and began researching how to do everything I was doing—how to integrate the creative and business branding—and figure out if I could make a business out of it. I started Pathos Digital a couple months later in 2016.

NAN: Let’s talk a little bit about the startup evolution. You have other people working for you. What has that experience been like?

FITZGERALD: When I first started, I was doing everything myself. I realized I need help. I wanted to bring in a sales person, a creative, and a technical person. It was difficult because I was in the process of learning how to run a business while I was running a business. I didn’t have the time to mentor or develop someone else. I needed people who had their own strengths.

So, I had a not-so-great experience at first. The consistency of the work wasn’t good and there wasn’t a good communication system. All of this was because I didn’t have the right processes in place.

NAN: What did you learn from that experience?

FITZGERALD: After a few months working like that, I decided to retract from that model. I implemented more of a subcontracting model instead of employing in-house, where I would hire people per project. I took the subcontracting approach because it was more flexible, and I could curate the work better and keep the quality more consistent. Now I have people I work with pretty much all the time. I’ve established relationships.

Through trial and error, I realized if you’re doing things on a whim without certain systems in place—whether it’s onboarding a client, making partnerships, creating a referral program, or developing a community outreach program—you can find yourself right back where you started and end up going in circles.

What I’ve seen with businesses is the more successful ones have better systems in place. With my own business, I noticed nothing was really progressing until I realized if I systemized things I could benefit from the results. If something isn’t working, I can see where in the system that something is breaking up.

NAN: According to your website, Pathos Digital is “run by millennials.” How do you think that sets you apart from the competition?

FITZGERALD: I put that in our bio because marketing and branding through social media has become part of a lifestyle. The business environment and the work environment have changed. So, the innovation has been woven into the millennial lifestyle.

In the past, branding and marketing were more segmented. We’re in a Renaissance kind of time now with technology, where we have to try multiple approaches because there’s so much to learn. That’s just a part of the millennial culture. We understand certain concepts about branding almost subconsciously. I think the reason why millennials have an advantage is because it’s been woven into our culture.

NAN: Your site also notes Pathos Digital is “Helping Connecticut businesses market smarter.” How so?

FITZGERALD: Earlier I was talking about the dissonance I would encounter. I was noticing business owners would hire a photographer, a graphic designer, and a copywriter. But they didn’t necessarily all work together. I kept noticing this pattern repeat. There was a huge efficiency leak between communication and having a consistent workflow.

And I noticed with other agencies downtown, there were either creative agencies that focused on storytelling and video or agencies run by retired corporate people who were in the data analysis and results field. They were more focused on ad management, scaling, and paid traffic. I kept seeing these two extremes and I saw, especially in Connecticut, that when businesses reached out, they go to one or other extreme.

That helped us develop our mission statement: “Where creativity meets purpose.” Creativity can have structure to it. And structure can be creative. Pathos Digital can help Connecticut businesses by providing that balance.

NAN: Are all your clients in Connecticut?

FITZGERALD: Yes.

NAN: What is your niche? Do you work with a specific industry?

FITZGERALD: That’s an interesting question. It’s changed a little bit. We started with food services, gyms, and one-off projects where the clients were general market service providers. Now we’ve niched into more healthcare clients. We’ve been in that field for about a year or so.

We still work with other industries. We never deny people unless were not a good fit for them in terms of what we can offer. But for the most part, we try to have a proficiency in a certain area. And we’ve noticed in the healthcare industry the services we can provide have a better return on investment for that market.

NAN: Aside from funding, can you tell us about any startup challenges you encountered?

FITZGERALD: For me it would be utilizing startup resources. They were right in front of my face! I just didn’t look hard enough to find them. I didn’t really tap into Hartford-area startup resources until the second year of my business. It wasn’t until I’d already established the business that people began telling me about tools like reSET and Innovation Destination Hartford. I remembering thinking: Those things exist? That’s so cool!

NAN: As a marketing company how are you marketing?

FITZGERALD: Earlier on, that was another challenge. When you’re learning how to be a business while being a business, you can lose sight of your own house.

I was investing so much time into clients, I wasn’t marketing myself. Then we weren’t getting as many leads and earning more clients and referrals. I remember thinking: Why is that? The answer was obvious: We weren’t really doing any outreach.

NAN: So, how do you address that?

FITZGERALD: That’s all a part of my motivation behind getting involved in more community-based activities, because it’s a win-win situation.

Looking toward the future, I want to try to build a platform in which Pathos Digital can provide value that directly impacts the surrounding community and local businesses, which people can then use to do the same for others. Doing that directly in the community, we’re indirectly and vicariously advertising ourselves. That’s the strategy I’m trying to work on right now.

I want to create a community in which businesses or those who want to build a business in this area can access information. It doesn’t have to be monetary. I want to provide free information that can help people perhaps through mentorship or courses.

It would be for people like me when I was starting out. Instead of doing hours of research wading through good and bad information, I think there’s a way to better present helpful information to startups and entrepreneurs. Because I think advertising and marketing shouldn’t be a closeted thing.

And for me, providing transparency and providing value to my clients is a good thing. If a client learns how to do something as well as we know how to do something, we did our job. That’s the aspiration.

Learn more about Pathos Digital

VISIT: pathosdigital.co
FOLLOW: Facebook | Instagram
CONTACT: business@pathosdigital.co

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Badger Medical Collar Founder Shares Updates About the Startup

May 04 2018 Innovation Destination: Hartford Startups 0 comments Tags: Badger Medical Collar, Connecticut startups, CT, CT startup, CTNext, innovation, medical device

Where Are They Now? Follow Up with Badger Medical Collar

Innovation Destination Hartford spoke with Badger Medical Collar Founder Timothy Andrew Kussow in October 2016, when the startup was called Bariatric Collar LLC (read the interview: CT Startup Provides Innovative EMS Solution).

At the time, the startup was in its early stages doing research to find out how to license and/or manufacture options for the Bariatric Immobilization/Extrication Collar. IDH recently checked in with Tim to find out what’s new.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: Give us an update.

TIM KUSSOW: Since we last spoke, I branded the collar as Badger Medical Collar. I also acquired a line of credit (LOC) and the product is now available for sale.

IDH: Have you experienced any major pivots since we featured your story?

TIM: Yes, the product was originally geared toward bariatric patients. It now goes beyond just bariatric patients and can be used in many situations to aid in maintaining a neutral cervical spine position when spinal motion restriction is indicated.

Watch a video to learn more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiRrM25nbZ8

IDH: Have you been involved with any startup resources in the region?

TIM: I was one of 10 finalists at a CTNext Entrepreneur Innovation Awards event in 2016.

Also, in October 2016, I appeared on the Pulse of the Region, a weekly broadcast by the MetroHartford Alliance, along with Medframe LLC Founder Elizabeth Pouya and Innovation Destination Hartford Website Curator Nan Price.

IDH: How are you building a customer base?

TIM: Slowly. I’ve been working on advertising and marketing.

IDH: What’s the best advice you’ve either given or received?

TIM: My best advice is to trust your gut and keep pushing forward.

IDH: What does being entrepreneurial mean to you?

TIM: Pushing my dream and passion to get this life-saving device out to the EMS world.

IDH: As an entrepreneur, how do you prevent burnout?

TIM: Finding new positives and goals to reach!

IDH: What’s next?

TIM: We’re exhibiting at the International Emergency Medical Service Conference (EMS PRO) Expo, May 30 through June 2, 2018 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT.

Learn more about Badger Medical Collar

READ: Innovation Destination Hartford interview with Founder Tim Kussow
VISIT: www.badgermedicalcollar.com
FOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter

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Social Impact Startup Is Building an Online Community

September 20 2016 Innovation Destination: Hartford Startups 0 comments Tags: community, Connecticut, CT startup, entrepreneur, small business, social impact

Yellowbrick.me Co-Founder Matt Connell, EDD says he’s been starting businesses his entire life. He still runs his own bookkeeping, teambuilding and executive coaching consulting company, where he works with Hartford-area startups helping them plan their strategy and vision and managing their financials. Connell also mentors at reSET and has judged some of the organization’s pitch competitions.

Connell’s background includes teaching education to Hartford-area at-risk students. His areas of interest include sustainable agriculture and energy, educational reform, and group emotional intelligence.

INNOVATION DESTINATION HARTFORD: How did you and Co-Founder John Christensen, PhD develop the idea for Yellowbrick.me?

Matt Connell is Co-Founder of social impact startup Yellowbrick.me.

CONNELL: John and I met about five years ago while I was working on my Master of Business Administration at the University of Connecticut. At the time he was a new assistant professor.

I saw John’s bio and realized that with my interests and my research for my doctorate and John’s research background we had a lot of synergy. I reached out to him and we’ve been doing research together ever since. That research, as we honed it, kind of landed us on the path to forming Yellowbrick.me.

For me, business doesn’t make sense unless it’s socially rewarding and there’s a social impact to it. The concept behind Yellowbrick.me is that parents are a much underserved population. Even though there are thousands of resources available, they’re very poorly put together. So we decided we could create a community that helps parents navigate information better and we could make the journey a little easier.

IDH: So you’re virtually guiding them down the Yellow Brick Road.

CONNELL: Right! Parenting is a crazy journey and at the end of the day we could all use support making our way down the Yellow Brick Road.

Your experiences in life could benefit me and help smooth my road out and vice versa. What we’ve found through our research is that parents want to provide information and knowledge to other parents and they want to receive that information, too.

IDH: Absolutely.

CONNELL: They are also looking for knowledge and information from credible experts, licensed professionals, academic researchers, and educators.

Yellowbrick.me provides that reliable information. We’re an educational community focused parents and families. Our goal is to connect parents to parents and parents to all of those resources. Another one of our goals is to be the leaders in educational technology.

Now we’re starting to develop online courses for parents and families around various topics. And we’re starting to work in the community to add community resources. We’re essentially working from the inside out to affect parents and families and working from the outside in helping agencies develop curriculum toward their mission and bringing those agencies back to Yellowbrick.me.

IDH: Tell us a little more about the site—do you have to become a member to use the resources?

CONNELL: Right now membership is free on the site. You can read anything on the site without creating an account. If you sign up for an account, you can actually engage with the site. You can post in a forum or respond to post. The free membership also enables you to respond to an expert in the Expert Corner.

IDH: If the membership is free how are you generating revenue?

CONNELL: Our goal is to generate revenue through online courses. Yellowbrick.me had a soft launch in October 2015. We launched live in January 2016, so we really spent the first seven months focusing on developing the content and building the platform. Now we’re shifting to our revenue-producing models.

Our first model will be online courses. Internally we are developing courses for the community. We’ve also got experts from around the world developing courses.

Our second revenue-producing model will be advertising revenue and the third model will be in the community, helping agencies develop curriculum specifically for their communities based on their missions and then helping drive them to a solidified platform.

IDH: How so?

CONNELL: A lot of agencies—nonprofits as well as businesses—go out and teach something to a target audience and it’s like a one-off; there’s no follow-up. By teaming up with Yellowbrick.me they get to bring that follow-up back to our site, engage the community further, encourage more conversation, and continue their mission.

IDH: There is a lot of focus on community. With worldwide experts, how do you maintain a local community feel on the site?

CONNELL: One of our taglines is “A global conversation with local resources.” We’re really interested in sharing parenting resources—understanding why things may be different in other countries, why that is, what works, what doesn’t work?

But at the same time, we understand the micro community is very important. We want to provide those resources so someone from a specific town can feel connected when they’re on the site and know that those local resources are available.

IDH: How does Yellowbrick.me find contributors for the site?

CONNELL: There’s a forum in which anyone can post—parents, experts, educators, and researchers. And if you’re signed up for an account, anyone can respond to your post.

Then there’s the Expert Corner, which is specifically for licensed professionals, educators, and researchers. We vet their credentials, they write content for us, and we post under their user account.

IDH: How are you connecting to the contributors and how are they finding you?

CONNELL: Lots of phone calls and social media. We spend a lot of time looking at people’s credentials.

IDH: So it’s really grassroots?

CONNELL: Yes, 100% grassroots. We try and connect with relevant experts, agencies, and organizations. We are always reaching out and trying to explain how we feel we can be mutually beneficial.

IDH: How are you marketing?

CONNELL: We just engaged Scott Phillips who has become our Marketing Consultant. Before that we worked with an agency that helped develop the site.

Most of our marketing is grassroots too—making phone calls and talking to people. We also use a lot of social media. We’re posting to Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter several times a day.

IDH: How would you describe your life as an entrepreneur?

CONNELL: On the edge. Out of all of the businesses I’ve ever started, this is the one I’m most passionate about. So that adds a level of anxiety, which is really interesting to me.

I feel like I’m always on the edge. As an entrepreneur you’re always living in this world of ups and downs. My whole life I’ve always lived on the edge and been a bit of a risk taker. As I’ve gotten older, I still have that mentality, but my risks are more calculated.

IDH: It’s interesting, you mentioned you’ve launched other startups in the past but you’re most passionate about this one. So, what took so long?

CONNELL: I’ve been passionate about education since I was a teenager. When I was younger, I believed I had to earn a lot so I could put my money behind education reform. I was just doing things to try to make money. Then I got into teaching. I ran a national healthcare company for about five years before I started my consulting business. Around the same time, we started developing Yellowbrick.me and it clicked that I could create education reform in my business, with my passion.

IDH: How do you define success?

CONNELL: Most people tend to define success as: You do your job, meet your deadline, and that is success. Or, if two people are working together on something and they accomplish a task, that’s success. But for me, that’s not necessarily success because success is all about the cohesion of the relationship.

IDH: It’s not always about checking off an item from your to-do list.

Yellowbrick.me Co-Founder Matt Connell and his family enjoy visits to Cape Cod, MA.

CONNELL: Right. To me success is a cohesive unit that can work through any problem together.

As far as success as an entrepreneur, there are certain milestones I’ve defined as successful. We just hit 1,000 signed up users, I think that’s a cool milestone. I would love to see 1 million times that, right?

Success would also be enough revenue coming to support my partner and I being able to work on Yellowbrick.me full time. That would be a major milestone.

But success is also waking up every day and knowing my family is safe and that I’m living my dream in a lot of ways, working on something I’m passionate about. So there are a lot of ways to look at success in that realm.

IDH: Any advice for those starting out?

CONNELL: In my consulting business when I advise people I tell them, if you want to start a business it’s not worth it if you’re not passionate.

I tend to advise startups within their first year or two. Most business owners come to me with an idea. They think: I’m going to sign the incorporation documents and tomorrow I’m going to have the fancy car in the driveway! A year goes by and they realize how much work goes into launching a business—all the minutia with payroll and taxes and everything else.

If you’re not passionate about what you are focused on, all of that minutia can completely overwhelm you. So, my advice to startups is be passionate and understand what you’re getting into.

Learn more about Yellowbrick.me at yellowbrick.me or follow on Facebook and Twitter @myyellowbrick.

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Startup Committed to Making a Social Impact

December 10 2015 Innovation Destination: Hartford Startups 0 comments Tags: Connecticut, CT startup, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneur, social impact

Michelle Stronz and Anthony Allen, Founding Partners of Formata, are social entrepreneurs and consultants working to build and strengthen business models and support systems for entrepreneurs looking to make income and impact through their companies. The two are also Co-Founders of the ARTTN Gallery, which is the first social impact enterprise they have launched in-house.

These busy entrepreneurs met with Innovation Destination Hartford to discuss what it means to be a social impact company and the ways they are working toward helping companies make impact.

Social entrepreneurs Michelle Stronz and Anthony Allen are Founding Partners of Formata and Co-Founders of the ARTTN Gallery.

IDH: Let’s get some background. How did the two of you come together?

STRONZ: Anthony and I have worked together for more than three years. He started as an intern for me. I invited him to be a consultant in my former consulting practice and then shortly after we started to talk about a space that we are both interested in, which we’ll broadly call the social enterprise ecosystem.

IDH: How would you define the “social enterprise ecosystem?”

STRONZ: Organizations that do good and do well. It’s a for-profit model that builds impact into the business model. In other words, impact is “baked into” the business model.

We believe we’re at the front of the wave on this—we are not alone—but we are at the front of the wave.

IDH: Tell us about Formata. When did you launch and what is the business concept?

STRONZ: Formata is a consulting firm that launched in January 2015. We provide strategy and leadership solutions to organizations of all kinds. We deal with companies of all sizes that want to make impact. We want to show them how to line up the business model and how to add value—usually financial value with impact—whether it’s social, economic or environmental.

We consult with companies and show them proven tools for growing their firms, which means they’ll grow both income and the impact. And we want to help them develop leaders who do the same thing.

IDH: How does the ARTTN Gallery tie in with Formata?

STRONZ: ARTTN (pronounced “art-tention”, as in art + intention) is our first enterprise out of the Formata idea lab. We want to show how to grow income and make an impact by launching our own initiative.

IDH: And why did you choose art?

ALLEN: That was Michelle’s idea.

STRONZ: Right, but I wouldn’t have come up with it without Anthony. We are a very diverse team. We are the ultimate millennial and boomer partnership. We have different ideas about a lot of things, but we also have a very similar motivation. We’re both at points in our lives where we are thinking: How can I do something to make a difference?

I’ve always been interested in art. Anthony and I were talking about it, and I said someday I really want to have a gallery. And he said: what are you waiting for?

IDH: Explain the online gallery concept.

STRONZ: The ARTTN Gallery is a premiere online-only gallery for sharing visual stories that may not be told elsewhere. We are displaying exceptional artwork; large-scale, original, signed work. We are encouraging change by sharing the stories through the limited edition work and by investing a portion of the total revenue from sales of the images in global projects.

Each exhibit serves a different impact cause, so we actually start with the impact cause. And the first one we talked about was human trafficking, which is really important to me.

Anthony is the chief impact guy and he found our target, which is an organization called Not For Sale, a leading global organization committed to ending modern slavery in our time. Then we find photographers whose pictures depict women and kids who have lost some or all aspects of their freedom. These photographers are world-renowned. Most have shot for National Geographic and other global photography outlets.

IDH: How are you getting these photographers on board?

STRONZ: I called David Griffin, who is an old friend of mine I went to journalism school with. He is the former director of photography for National Geographic. I called him up and asked: Can you help us? And he did. David became our curatorial advisor, which is awesome.

IDH: And are these photographers volunteering?

STRONZ: No. We are trying to model the way for launching an enterprise that makes money and makes impact. So we are offering to exhibit their photographs and they’re going to get the same rate that they would get if they exhibited with a gallery. They earn the standard gallery fee for participating—it’s 50%, with the exception of a few who are donating some of their proceeds to the impact cause. And then out of that other 50%, at least 10% will go to our impact partner. So it’s coming right off the top. It’s part of our business model to fund this project.

Anthony why don’t you explain the impact partner.

ALLEN: So for the impact side of things, I was looking for an organization that helps with human trafficking. I found a bunch of organizations but nothing with a specific project that we could really fund.

I reached out to my friend Melissa Levick Lake who works with ONEHOPE Foundation. She assesses nonprofits based on their ability to measure the impact that they’re making. She put me in touch with the Not For Sale campaign out of San Francisco. The work they are doing is sensational.

The project specifically that we’re funding is in Romania, they’ve partnered with an organization on the ground that’s called Generatie Terana Romana.

IDH: So how does what you’re doing make an impact?

ALLEN: We wanted it to be baked in, so as Michelle said, at least 10% of gross revenue comes from the sale of the photographs and funds specifically this project. It’s helping women and children transition either out of a high-risk area or out of the life of human trafficking.

IDH: The ARTTN Gallery will be rotating, correct? So how long will each exhibit remain on the site?

STRONZ: It depends. We will probably display each exhibit for a few months, so we are building relationships with the photographers. The “artivists”—this is Anthony’s term because they’re artists and activists—once they form a relationship with us they can stay in the gallery as long as they want.

We’re hoping to have our second exhibit up in the first quarter of 2016. I think it will have a more environmental focus. We just don’t know what that’s going to look like yet. But we want to give meaningfully to the impact. We want it to fund tangible projects so, for example with the current exhibit, we can say at the end we served “X” number of women and children and their lives have changed in the following ways.

One of the hallmarks of ARTTN is we’re using a lot of the core markers for successful enterprise, one of which is collaborative networks. So we are collaborating with Checkmate Creations and with our photographers and with folks who are helping us scale the site.

So just to tie the link to Formata again. Formata is a social impact action lab. We want to show how you can do it by doing it. In this way, our consulting solutions demonstrate real substance and experience.

And we’ll continue with Formata to consult with people who want to make impact. This is what I meant by “front of the wave.” Companies are just beginning to see what it means to do good and do well and how that impacts the bottom line in a positive way.

It’s more than corporate social responsibility, it’s more than having a foundation that gives to some local thing—not that that’s not important— but we want to show you can make a big, meaningful change as a for-profit enterprise.

ALLEN: And have it align with your strategy.

STRONZ: Right.

ALLEN: Michelle did a good job explaining how Formata and ARTTN tie together. There is an opportunity in the social enterprise ecosystem for companies to actually scale the income and the impact in a way that’s financially viable for the long-term and that will allow them to grow organically for as long as possible.

IDH: You obviously do a lot of consulting, but do you have specific advice for those who are pursuing their entrepreneurial goals?

STRONZ: I always tell the CEOs I work with: Don’t wait on your dream. Do the dream. What are you waiting for? Do the dream now.

And of course, when we were coming up with the idea for Formata, Anthony said to me: We need to do the dream. And I said, of course we do.

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