Question: Comments from the presentation:
Mike Major is an Oregon state university graduate, who graduated with a degree in graphic design; he is a co-founder of Wool and prince and is currently a graphic designer for Dr. Martens.
• Route to take when starting a business:
1. Do something that has been done but do it better, Example companies: Warby Parker, Yeti coolers.
2. Find a problem and solve it, Example companies: Netflix, Facebook
3. Create a problem and solve it, Example companies: Soylent, Subscription brands.
• The guest speaker
1. Name: Mike Major
2. Co-founder of Wool&Prince
3. Started the company using crowd funding website "KickStarter"
4. Some companies such as "Coolest Coolers" fail to deliver the product after the crowd funding campaigns due to unforeseen issues in the manufacturing of the product and some end up getting sued.
5. Product was a button-down shirt made out of wool, it was marketed as a "Wear more, wash less, long lasting garment, no wrinkle, and odor resistant"
6. 1st Kick started was successful with a primary goal: $30,000, final amount raised was $314,241, # of backers: 2,352
7. Product Prototype and manufacturer were ready prior to the start of the Kickstarter campaign, which mean backers saw a very low risk of not receiving the product.
8. Wool&Prince started a 2nd Kickstarter with their new product "A T-shirt made out of wool" was also successful with a Primary goal: $35000, and the final amount raised was over $88,000.
9. The Company Wool&Prince was featured on many news outlets, and was able to expand internationally such as Italy, France and the UK.
10. After the successful crowd funding campaigns, they no longer needed "KickStarter", and they set up a website where customers can place orders.
11. Their Annual sales are between $1,000,000 to $1,500,000 and they were able to accomplish this without giving up equity to investors.
• Some companies run their business solely on the crowd funding model: such as Taylor Stitch and Gustin, this eliminates their risk of having inventory that is not sold, and making orders too big from manufacturers. They are also many other advantages.
• "A brand if not what you say it is, it's is what they say it is"
• "Use all what you have at every given moment"