Why I don't want to be a dot com Millionaire

My trip to Silicon Valley was epic and inspiring. It was also quiet and easy - no kids, no house. All me and My Bespoke Chair. It was amazing in every way. 4 weeks later, having written up my notes and had a good ruminate, I've come up with a plan; my "I Don't Want To Be A .com Millionaire' plan.

Briefly, I flew into LA and drove up the stunning west Pacific coast to San Francisco. I took 2 days, and enjoying some market research along the way. Lucky me, market research involves great interior design shops!

Visiting a Jonathan Adler showroom in LA 

My first meeting was in Palo Alto at WSGR law firm. WSGR represent some of Silicon Valley's top companies, many of which began as small start-ups like myself.

Instantly, as I sat in this monolith of a building, I understood the genius of Silicon Valley and why it dominates the global entrepreneurial scene - the Big Guys are happy to support the small guys. Meritocracy rules. If you hustle, show initiative, be bold and pitch well, you will be valued. It doesn't seem to matter that you are a nobody - because one day you may be a somebody. They're literally banking on it!

Of course, I met up with the wonderful Victor from Skillsapien, the expert-for-hire company who ran the pitch contest, sponsored my winner's trip and who have been advising me throughout this process. Victor showed me around his cool co-working space, Nest GSV in Redwood City. As expected, it was bursting with Silicon Valley necessities: 'slide not stairs', interactive robots and a communal cafe full of free food. Plus lots of entrepreneurs working in the massive open-spaces. You could feel the buzz of dedication and smell the scent of ambition. Disruption and corporate anarchy never looked so good!

Victor and I at NestGSV in Silicon Valley

The next 18 days were a whirlwind of meetings, informal catch ups, forums, conferences and lots of walking. I mixed business with pleasure and extracted the best from everything I did, everywhere I went and everyone I met. It was truly incredible. If I could, I would love to write a book on the whole experience; Silicon Valley through the eyes of a Mumpreneur!

But I don't have time (school pick up in an hour) and besides which, you're not here to read the minutiae of my adventures. You want to know why I have decided not to become a dot.com millionaire.

To put it bluntly, I just can't be bothered. Becoming a dot.com millionaire takes a lot more than I am willing to give. Don't misunderstand this - it's not because I am lazy. I abhor laziness in myself and others. Simply put, my desires and ambitions in life do not align with the efforts required to grow a multi-million dollar business online.

"But Emma," I hear you cry, "you've put so much effort and time and enthusiasm into this whole Silicon Valley business. You've spent months working towards it; learning, understanding and expanding. Why waste all of it? You've come too far to quit now. Frankly, you're an idiot."

But there is method in my madness. A method that I learnt directly from Silicon Valley. I have made this decision by using the techniques and lessons I have learnt over the past 9 months.

My Top 3 Lessons from Silicon Valley:

1) Product - you don't have to have the perfect product from the get-go. But you must have a compelling reason to build this product. A proper customer desire or problem. But be warned....what you first 'think' is the customers problem, may in fact not be true. But only through building and selling your imperfect product, a Minimum Viable Product, can you test your theories.

2) Data - which is where data comes in. Measure everything. And not just vanity metrics like site visits and time on site. Measure the stuff that makes you money; the conversions and stickiness of your site, the sales funnel path. Measure even if the numbers are small and a bit embarassing. Everyone starts somewhere and what you measure you can improve. What you ignore, stays crap!

3) Money - gawd, this was the one I heard and thought the most about. Everyone in Silicon Valley is chasing other people's $$. It's cut throat and exciting. But a few lone voices stood out in the crowd or on stage, and spoke directly to me, it seemed. "Just build as much as you can on your own. Do you really, truly need other peoples' money to build and grow a successful business?"

Hence, I've realised that I have to improve my product by looking at my data. I realise that investment is not the silver bullet for success either; money in itself is useless. Besides, without a decent product built on solid data and metrics, no-one's going to invest anyway.

So, what's next? In classic Silicon Valley speak, I am pivoting. A tweaking of my original offering to reflect the reality of my business in order for it to flourish and fully solve my clients' problems.

I am keeping my beloved My Bespoke Chair but repackaging my key services on a new website with a new name. (sneak peek here)

I am thinking small and niched - not everyone will be my customer.

I will constantly be talking to my customers and potential customers.

I am focusing on one city - not trying to sell to the whole country (yet).

I will test, iterate, discard, test, iterate, discard in a feedback loop.

I will collect my metrics and data and not be afraid of numbers, no matter how small.

I will set goals and not be afraid of them, no matter how high.

I will keep self funding. Debt, however you package investment funding, scares the life out of me!

And most importantly, I am going back to my zone of genius as a creator of beautiful things.

Some of the beautiful things I create - art, fabrics and chairs

Everything will revolve around creating beauty. This is what makes my soul sing and my heart flutter. If I am in total alignment with my desires and ambitions, I will grow a wonderful lifestyle business built from my authentic self.

And who knows where that will lead, and what wonderful adventures I'll enjoy and fascinating people I'll meet. And the $$ I'll earn by doing what my customers love me doing.



UPDATE June 2016

Since writing this I have launched and successfully grown a very niche design business; Bespoke Backdrops. And mostly I am sticking to the guidelines I set in this blog post.

Finding my Tribe (to put a valuation on my business)

You hear it all the time when starting any kind of business. Find your tribe. Who will want what you have to sell? Who believes in your vision? Surround yourself with like-minded people. You mustn't try to be all things to all people.

The same must apply when seeking out potential advisors and investors.

I am feeling this incredible wave of inspiration, creativity and hopefulness at the moment. The past few hours have seen me glimpse behind that heavy curtain of uncertainty. I am feeling clearer about my preparations for my Silicon Valley trip.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love, describes in her TED talk how Ruth Stone, a 90 year old poet experiences creativity - something you feel coming towards you. You are not the source. You are the conduit. And you have to be receptive to it. It will pass through you and leave the creative result 'in you'; a book, a poem, a painting, a fully-formed idea or business strategy. You have to seize it or it disappears.

Writing this blog post before it vanishes is really important, so I have something to reflect on later.

Until today, I was feeling very confused and inadequate about my trip to Silicon Valley. But today was a great day.

Today I took matters into my own hands.

I feel as though I know the answers already, that they are about to barrel through me and I must seize the moment; who I need to speak to, the people in SV who see my vision, who think in the same commercial space as I do. The potential investors and advisors who have already invested in creative, disruptive start-ups. These people will be my tribe.

And action brings clarity.

All day I have been trawling Crunch Base to identify the home and interiors companies who have had $$$millions invested in recent years. Companies like One Kings Lane, Houzz and Custom Made. I will use these 3 as my bench marks. Their founders, investors and the people who orbit around these companies are the people I really ache to meet when I'm in SV. I have hand written every name, every investor, the size of their rounds (paying particular attention to the seed rounds because that is where I am at), HQ locations and snippets of info that may be of use.

From tracking the curve of their initial seed funds to the more recent C or D Rounds, I can begin to glimpse at the value and potential of My Bespoke Chair and my mass-customisation, co-designing dreams.

It is my conundrum of HAVING to put a valuation on my business before I get to SV that has seen me do this research. In the absence of any solid historical financial data for My Bespoke Chair, I need to see how comparable companies have grown. And where they started. How they were valued at the beginning, and their initial seed round investment. I am trying to find the balance between where I am, the potential size of my market and the precedence set by similar companies who have gone before me.

It is through this research that I can paint my valuation story and back it up with solid evidence.

So, my next step is finding ways to meet the founders, investors and advisors to these success stories. And warm introductions are the only way to do this. You cannot call them up and ask for a meeting. We all respond better when a trusted and valued colleague or friend recommend we meet someone. And these high-flyers simply do not have the time or inclination to meet everyone, so their inner circles become reliable filters.

So I am trawling my contacts, the people I know from coffee-meetings, online masterminds, friends of friends and people who I know would happily recommend me. LinkedIn is a platform I've been slow to grasp. About 3 months ago I employed a VA to help me set up my profile. It's not hard but it was one of those jobs I kept putting off. Paying $60 was good use of my time and money. The '6 degrees of separation' are openly highlighted in LinkedIn, so that is my focus.

I will hustle and call and make the best case I can in order to meet with my tribe for breakfast, lunch, coffee, a cocktail or even a bus ride. And I need to have something, even one little 5 minute meeting, arranged before I leave in October.


P.S If anyone knows Alison Gelb Pincus, I'd love an intro!

Resistance Training

The dust has settled. The excitement of winning the pitch contest is over. Time to get to work.

And I am facing new feelings of resistance; resistance to the whole idea of going to Silicon Valley to pitch my business to the US market.

From afar, the hurdle of preparing myself and My Bespoke Chair for the visit appeared totally manageable. Enticing even. But now that it is closer, it towers above me, and I have no idea how to jump it without falling flat on my face.

I feel totally inadequate. I have no team. I have no technical skills to develop my website and user experience. I have no budget for marketing strategies, Google Adwords or any kind of growth hack. I have no financial knowledge. I can't even 'speak' business. I have no-one to grow this business with. No-one else who wakes up every day excited about My Bespoke Chair like I do. I feel utterly alone and weak.

And I'm terrified that in Silicon Valley, my weakness will be magnified and I'll be torn up and spat out.

But I also know that action brings clarity. Feeling sorry for myself is useless and idleness just breeds more self-pity.

I believe in my business. I honestly feel it in my heart and soul that mass customisation will be mainstream for ever product and service online. And I love my beautiful chairs. But I mustn't let fear and resistance paralyse me. I simply need to make a start with one thing, a tiny step. Just one action that will lead to another and another and another.

I need to set achievable goals. And I need to work out the small actions that will incrementally get me there.

So what are my ultimate goals to reach before I step on that plane?

Goals to reach before 11th October:

1. To have a grasp on my financials; revenue, expenses, break-even point, 5 year projections and understanding of pricing both my product to the customer and the business to the investor. Including the language of finance.
2. A go-to-market strategy for the US; who are my customers? how will I find them? how will I get my product to them? what exactly is my proposition? how will I present it?  where will I sell it? 
3. Framework for acquiring a team and board of advisors. In lieu of actually having a firm team in place by October, which may be tricky and probably unadvisable to rush, I want to demonstrate the calibre of people I associate with, who my mentors are and how I will attract the right people to join My Bespoke Chair.

Clearly there are many more issues that need addressing in my business, but these are the most urgent.

Accountability is an awesome tool. Tell someone what you intend to do. Put it out there.

So this blog post is my way of 'putting it out there.'

Tomorrow my first small step is calling a particular financial advisor, a start-up business expert who comes highly recommended by a fellow Sydney-Silicon Valley entrepreneur I admire and respect.

This tiny step, light-footed but sure, will lead to a bigger step that will lead to a confident stride, then to a jog, to a run and then ultimately a mighty leap over that damn hurdle.

Pitch Perfect

What's the best thing about pitching your business? The adrenalin of achievement when it's over.
What's the worst thing about pitching your business? The self-doubt, fear of failure and public humiliation.

My teen son asked me these questions after I recently won a Silicon Valley pitch contest in Sydney. I have experienced the joys and agonies of pitching 3 times this year. Each time, it was in front of a panel of investors and business angels with up to 100 spectators in the room.

The most challenging was the one I eventually won after a series of rounds; the Skillsapiens Silicon Valley Virtual Pitching series. Standing in front of a computer, projection screen and live audience, I pitched to a panel of top-tier investors via Skype.

This is me, mid-pitch with my slide deck up on the screen.

It's confronting, nerve-wracking but ultimately exhilarating stuff!

What exactly is a pitch? Can anyone pitch? And why? Where do you find pitch contests and who are the panel? How do you prepare for them?

A pitch is a fast and effective way of persuading others that your business idea is amazing. Typically you have just 5 minutes to tell a compelling story about your business, weave in facts and figures, and convince investors that their money has a bright future in your hands.

Anyone can pitch; you don't need to be established or have an already successful business. Often entrepreneurs simply have a concept backed with solid research and market validation.  As a rule of thumb, you'll find tech-based businesses at pitch contests; ideas, products or services that are scalable through the internet or software, that will disrupt the status quo of what's already out there, and can take advantage of huge market numbers globally. Pitchers truly believe their idea will change the world, or at the very least, tap into a huge global trend.

I believe that the future of online retail lies with mass customisation - the ability to allow customers to co-design a product before buying it. To help the customer get exactly what they want.

This is why I built My Bespoke Chair - to give design power to the people. To challenge traditional design environments. If Louis Vuitton, Motorola, Nike and other global brands are embracing mass customisation, or co-designing, then I am in the right arena. This is the vision I pitched.

Why pitch?

• Pitching is not always about raising capital, but the premise is that your pitch has an investment 'ask' - though gaining mentors and advisors is equally valuable. 
• The intense process of presenting a business idea, problem v. solution, go-to-market strategy, revenue model, scalability, competition, market validation and investment ask really focuses your mind. 
• It forces you to drill down on your 'why, what, how, when and who'. 
• It makes you view your business baby with cold, hard and insightful eyes, which will help you adjust and move forwards.

I started pitching as a means to escape my comfort zone and expand my knowledge of my business and business in general. I'm not interested in the old way of doing business; I am fascinated by how a disruptive, unconventional idea can become a great business. On the outside I am a pretty conventional person; a mum, wife and artist who loves interiors and a glass of wine while cooking.

But inside, I don't like to follow the crowd or do exactly what is expected of me. Before I took the plunge and pitched, I went along to a pitch contest in the audience. I was in awe of these brave souls, standing all alone on stage, opening their ideas and non-conformist strategies up to cold scrunity. It was electric. They were doing what no-one I knew was doing. And I wanted to try.

So where do you find pitch contest? I joined an international entrepreneur support group and regularly attend co-working space meet-ups. These places and organisations are the hub of the start-up community and often host contests. Living close to the CBD in Sydney, it was easy for me to attend their events, mentoring evenings and pitching workshops.

Just Google 'pitch contest in [your city]' and various organisations and events will pop up. Click through and find one that piques your interest. Go along and watch before you dive in. I highly recommend you join one of these organisations, as they will be able to offer you support and mentoring.

So who typically are the judging panel? Successful business owners who want to give expertise back, business angels who are keen to spot a rising star and invest their own cash, professional VCs (venture capitalists) and fellow entrepreneurs who run start-up incubator or accelerator programs (companies set up specifically to nurture, fund and grow promising start-up businesses)

In my case, the judges were seasoned Silicon Valley investors, venture capitalists, CEOs of their own businesses, board members for successful start-ups and professional pitch coaches, all keen to spot and nurture the next Big Thing.

Which might be me and My Bespoke Chair!

To be honest, I nearly fell off my chair when I discovered I'd actually won. Who, me? - me and my mass customisation dreams and pretty chairs, up against men with whizzy apps, Big Data solutions and globally significant ideas!

The sad fact is that men dominate this world of start-ups and big dreamers. A measly 3% of tech start-up founders are women. When I was pitching I was the only female. That's not to say that there aren't successful tech start-up business women, and Sydney is full of entrepreneurs of both genders, but the stereotypical image of a male entrepreneur holds strong.

Image credit: Start Up Book

The prize for winning the Silicon Valley pitch contest is a paid trip to 'the valley' to meet the judges, to network and be coached on how to take My Bespoke Chair and my mass customisation vision to the next level.

It will be intense; a very steep learning curve with many tears and doubts. I will be required to focus much of my attentions to the US market and in turn, spend a lot of time there. Luckily I have a supportive husband (who also happens to be an entrepreneur!)  and kids who are old enough to be proud of what Mum is doing.

It's funny, after I pitched, answered their questions and listened to the feedback, one of the judges said with a heavy heart, "I'm almost sorry to introduce you to the Valley. You seem so sweet, I'm afraid we'll corrupt you. You must realise every day will be a street fight."

But that's OK; I'll take it all in, learn from experts, meet fascinating people, experience the buzz of Silicon Valley, keep my chin up and stand my ground. Life is one big adventure.

Apart from self-doubt, public humiliation and failure, what's the worst that can happen?!



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I want better stuff

Do you want better stuff? I do. But what I think is better, might not be your idea of what is better. So how can we get what's better for everyone?

Traditionally, the internet has given us what we want, when we want it. We can buy a book at 3am. We book a flight at 10pm. We can connect with friends on social media 24/7.

But there is a growing online trend in getting things HOW we want them.

I don't want the muesli with toasted oats and plump raisins; I'd prefer dried apricots and rye. I want a pink peep-toe shoe with lime green heels. I want a cool Barcelona chair but with my choice of fabrics, not the boring, standard white leather everyone has. And I want to find them from the comfort of my own home. I don't want to be schlepping around for that niche shop.

All of the above are available online. Having it your way.

In recent years, online retail has seen a shift away from mass production to mass customisation. Global brands such as Hallmark, Louis Vuitton, Nike and Motorola offer an online framework for the customer to alter the product to their liking before purchasing.

But the furniture market has been slow to adopt this growing trend. Visit a standard online furniture retailer and it's all dull drop-down menus, wordy instructions and a complicated interface. At best, all you can specify is one fabric for the whole chair or a change of leg shape. Dull and boring.

But things are slowly changing and My Bespoke Chair is ahead of the curve. We offer an exciting user experience; fun and intuitive. Technology has democratised design. At the click of a mouse, you can design something that no-one else has, without needing a fancy diploma. You can now say “I designed this.”

My Bespoke Chair is perfectly positioned to ride this upward wave of mass customisation. Three market factors are in play here:

Firstly, online furniture sales is a growth market.  The market in the US is worth $9b and growing approximately 10% per annum. People are feeling more confident in buying big ticket items online due to great returns policies, free samples, free or low-cost shipping and general consumer 'techno-ease'.

Secondly, current digital experiences are shaping consumer expectations. We are being exposed to more enjoyable and tailored online shopping experiences. According to a Forrester report in 2011, once consumers get a taste for mass customisation, they are hooked.  35% of Americans surveyed said that they would buy a product if they could specify features themselves.

Thirdly, mass customisation doesn’t require huge investment for inventory. Standard components can be mass produced abroad and can be assembled locally, as the orders arrive. This is great for the local economy and brings jobs onshore. It's not an entirely new idea; Michael Dell offered PC upgrades and add-ons as early as the 1980s. Standard computer components made overseas but assembled in the US, giving the customer exactly the features they wanted.

But in recent years, manufacturing has been out-sourced. Manufacturing industries in the West have been decimated by the low wages, low raw material costs and quick production in China. However, with China's growing economy, wage increases, quality issues and the long shipping processes, many big players such as GE and Whirlpool are bringing manufacture, or at the very least assembly, back onshore.

Why can't that happen for the furniture market? That is what I dream about. Disrupting the status quo. Making custom furniture, employing local workshops using globally sourced materials, selling at high-street showroom prices. Everyone's happy. 

And you get better stuff.

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What's your 'House Personality' type?

Which answer best describes you:

a) I don't think about how my home looks. It's just a place for me to live.

b) I consult with an interior designer every time I make a home-wares, furniture or redecorating decision.

c) I can envision my perfect, dream home, but the reality is a little different.

Most people are probably a c).

We lust after what we see in interior design magazines; we trawl Pinterest with a longing eye or keep "For My Dream Home" files of magazine tear-outs. Everything we'd love our perfect, future home to be.

But the reality is a little different. We work with what we've got and what we can afford. We do actually love our real homes; we create them to be comfortable, practical and hope they reflect an element of taste and style.

Over the years I have been fortunate enough to be invited into many homes through my work as an artist and designer. From Geneva to Sydney and everywhere in between, the one thread which links all of my clients is their pride in the 'personal stuff'. How they helped design the master suit layout, or the story behind treasures collected on world trips, or how they met the artist behind their favourite painting, or what they created with their own hands.

And when people design their own chairs online with My Bespoke Chair, there is always a reason why. For the nursery, to celebrate a milestone birthday, a new home-office chair for a new business venture...

Everyone has a story to tell.

And stories are what give our homes personality. And personality is very important when making your house a home. Your home should tell the story of you.

So this year, I have declared 2014 The Year of You & Your Beautiful Home.

What does this mean in terms of my plans for marketing and growing My Bespoke Chair?

It means that every piece of content I create in 2014, from my newsletter to my social media, will have the underlying theme of helping people make their homes personal, creative and beautiful - whatever their individual perception of beautiful is.

And I am launching a new range of cushions, all made from the fabrics I designed for My Bespoke Chair and all made-to-order in Australia. A custom cushion at a high street price. The launch is also part of The Year of You & Your Beautiful Home theme - something special, hand-made and made-to-order but at a lower price point.

Whether redecorating, renovating, moving, starting a new phase in life or simply indulging, I want to show that creating a personal, interesting and beautiful home is perfectly possible. Hunting, collecting, fossiking, making, creating and co-designing are all great ways to add personality to your home.




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