This E-commerce Startup Is Helping DTC Brands Navigate the Pandemic

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While other firms in the retail infrastructure and logistics space are struggling, Whitebox is closing on a Series B funding round of $18 million. CEO Marcus Startzel says timing has played a key role in his company’s success. Whitebox was focused on solving e-commerce challenges for brands before the pandemic began, but the opportunities to work with major brands to improve and automate the e-commerce process have only grown over the past few months.

Turn Your Side Hustle into a Booming Startup

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Finding success in a side hustle is exciting, and turning it into a profitable startup is even more so. You’ll hit a few roadblocks when starting out — everyone does! Figuring out where to target your audience and recognizing the appropriate time to hire help are crucial to overcoming them.

Though you may see burnout as an inevitable side effect to side hustling, it doesn’t have to be. Protect your energy and maintain perspective on the overarching goals you want to accomplish. It may require more than a typical nine-to-five, but entrepreneurs who remain digitally active and seek inspiration and support from their industry peers will find a rewarding career.

Why Startups Should Aim to Partner with Larger Companies

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If not to scale up quickly and earn unicorn status, what should startups be aiming to achieve? In essence, the answer is sustainable growth, and in recent years we have seen founders look to corporate partnerships as a viable way of achieving this. Corporate-startup partnerships are collaborations where an established company enters into a mutually beneficial relationship with an agile startup.

Going Rogue: The Value of Guerrilla Marketing

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The appeal of guerrilla marketing for the entrepreneur lies in the creative freedom to express the essence of a brand that is not bound by the restraints of size, decorum or editorial slant of traditional advertising, as well as the option for a low-cost campaign with the potential to go viral. Guerrilla marketing can be a bit like rolling the dice on a five and turning it into thousands—if it gets picked up and goes viral, you’ve accomplished a national or even international marketing campaign for the cost of something local.

Here are some tips for crafting a low-cost guerrilla marketing campaign for startups.

Firefly, Mounting Ad Displays to Ubers, Comes Out of Stealth with $21.5M

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Firefly, a new digital ad company, hopes to provide Uber drivers with another way to make money as they drive. The startup has quietly assembled a fleet of close to 1,000 Uber drivers in San Francisco and Los Angeles who have been mounting ad displays to the top of their vehicles.

Heard on the Street, Episode 9: Running Lean with Stadium Goods CEO John McPheters

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VC funding is sexy, but sometimes it’s better not to take the money. Operating lean can train founders for optimal practices and efficiencies that will serve them well in the long run, says Stadium Goods co-founder and CEO John McPheters, our latest guest on Heard on the Street. 

Brad Feld: Startup Founders Should Focus on Defining ‘Cultural Norms’

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The Foundry Group and TechStars co-founder has seen his share of startups. He is co-author of the book “Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job,” which had its second edition released last month. Street Fight caught up with Feld recently to talk about some of the trickier issues in starting a company.

If the Gym Fits, Reserve It — Startup Makes It Easy to Never Miss a Workout

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A bloom of new companies are aggregating gyms and offering single subscriptions to all of them with one “membership.” FitReserve saw the simplicity and convenience in such a program back in 2015 when three co-founders launched to fill what CEO and co-founder Megan Smyth calls a void in the market.

Why Market Sizing Is Critical for Hyperlocal Founders Seeking Investment

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The economics of venture investment dictate that professional venture investors only invest in businesses that have the potential to massively scale. This is because the majority of investments in early-stage technology businesses fail…

8 Ways Hyperlocals Can Nurture Existing Customer Relationships

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The question that many hyperlocal vendors struggle with is how to keep their current customers satisfied without slashing prices or devoting too many resources to a single client. Here are eight strategies from hyperlocal experts, with specific advice on how to grow and nurture existing customer relationships.

5 Signs That It’s Time for Your Hyperlocal Company to Pivot

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The majority of hyperlocal startups will pivot at least once in their lifetimes. Many will pivot two or even three times. But as a founder who’s looking to steer his or her company in the right direction, it can be difficult to determine whether to keep plowing forward with an original concept or go a new direction. Here are five signs that it’s time for your hyperlocal startup to pivot, from industry leaders who’ve been there before…

How Early Stage Hyperlocals Can Determine Their Ideal Customers

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Defining the ideal customer should be one of the first steps a startup takes during its earliest days, since the needs of that ideal customer will play a major role in the features and tools included in a particular hyperlocal platform. Here are five ways that early-stage hyperlocal startups can go about defining their ideal customers.

How to Set a Pricing Structure for Your Hyperlocal Business

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Most hyperlocal founders think the products they’ve developed are priceless. The small business owners they’re selling to, however, are likely to have a very different view. Deciding on a pricing structure is one of the most difficult challenges a hyperlocal business is likely to face in its earliest days. Here are six strategies for determining the right pricing structure as an early-stage startup from hyperlocal executives who’ve managed to crack the code…