TL;DR
I started this thing to better connect with you on my journey
We’ve launched our first campaigns, in process helping 3k+ SMBs
We need to continue to grow with both stores and brands
New partnership and fund raising opportunities are giving us optimism
Where I’m at
Last 12 months have been…challenging to say the least. I know I’m not the only one. My mom’s passing last year forced me to reflect on a lot of things and continue my process of talking through my feelings and thoughts a bit more (I know my wife, Kate, would agree I’m still a work in progress here). At the same time, along with some close friends, a crazy idea, brining SMB data to big brands, was forming into a real business opportunity. In August, we’ve received word of our first revenue opportunity with a Fortune 100 CPG company, and I’ve decided that it’s time for me to full time focus on my start up, Evidnt, where I will serve as the CEO and Co-founder. Because, I can get a bit inside my own head, over think and stress out especially about things like money and providing for my family, being an immigrant and a child of welfare and all. Typically, I could blow off some steam and work through it over some beers (as I’m sure I’ve done with many of you reading this), but with COVID, drinking alone doesn’t have the same effects. So since, journaling always seemed a bit pointless to me, I’ve decided to reach out to the people I love and respect who have helped me along the way to where I am today. (If I’m a bit crazy it’s probably partially your fault). So here is my monthly update for you on how we’re doing, what I’m learning and how you can help. At it’s best, this is a way for us to stay connected, maybe work together or just catch up. At worst….well I guess it’s just a digital journal.
Things We Accomplished
We’ve launched our first campaigns, empowering brands to support their local business. Here’s an example of how our ads could look. Cool right?
The campaigns helped 3k+ SMBs find new and returning customers come to their store! All thanks to the awesome brands that work with that. This is why we call them Main Street Heroes.
Things That Keep Me Up at Night
Having first few campaigns is a great start and we’ve had lots of other prospective discussions, we need to keep this going. Sales are going slower then expected… well actually no I did expect it to take 3-6 months based on the sale cycle of our offering, but it still worries me.
We need help with more stores to sign up for our network. As we’re launching our Clover app, we’re hoping we can continue to see our store list expand, but this is a key point for us to be able to scale our measurement and analytics products.
Cautiously Optimistic
We’ve had a few great conversations with potential partners that would utilize our measurement data for real time optimization of brand media. While refreshing to hear great responses to our approach and that we’re filling an important gap in the marketplace, but I’ll believe it when I see it in use. This is however a huge opportunity and I’m excited about this.
While we’ve successfully launched our first campaign without external investments, we’re reaching a place where we need to fund raise. We have a few leads for this part and are both excited (but also terrified) to get started. Being post revenue and showing some traction definitely helps, but who knows what the next few months hold.
How You Can Help?
We’d love some more introductions to CPG brands and the agencies managing them. If you have some contacts that might be helpful, reach out and we’ll share some intro material to give more details on what we’re doing.
If you happen to have contacts at POS companies or a small to mid-size store chains, we’d love the introductions and how we can help them with analytics and incremental store visitors.
If you have experience in raising capital, I’d welcome your thoughts and recommendations.
And as always, I welcome your feedback, prayers, good karma, or however you want to support me as I figure this thing out. You can email me or comment on substack.
If you think my journey can help someone else, feel free to share with a friend.
Thank you,
Alex