About 150 founders, community leaders and innovators gathered together for Austin Inno’s annual Startups to Watch event on Thursday evening.
The event featured several companies that were showcased on our 20 Austin Inno Startups to Watch in 2020 list, which took a look at companies that are tackling challenging issues with innovative solutions—and who could see solid traction in the year to come.
The night began with networking and a Startups to Watch showcase featuring Rhythmo, Popspots, Literati, Invoiced, Spot, Men's Gold Boxx, and Boutiq.
Following the startup pitches was a panel that included Eunice Chendjou, co-founder and COO at OpenTeams; Jessica Ewing, founder and CEO of Literati; and Maria Miller, co-founder and CEO of Spot. The panel discussion touched on the challenges each company is tackling, the growth they’ve seen to date, and where their businesses are headed.
Here are a few takeaways from the panel discussion. Their comments are condensed for length:
On the Startup vs. Corporate journey...
Jessica Ewing: It is like being an animal in the wild versus an animal in the zoo. Comfort versus being scrappy. It is something that is more inherently in your DNA. You are either built with that mentality or you aren’t.
Maria Miller: The choice was one I made for my own personal satisfaction.
Eunice Chendjou: The choice felt like a burning fire. I just had to get there and
figure it out.
All agreed that there is a certain mentality to those who choose to pursue a career at a startup. It takes someone who isn’t afraid to take risks, juggle responsibilities, play scrappy instead of enjoying the comforts of corporate culture.
How was 2019?
Eunice Chendjou: We launched our idea of OpenTeams in April of 2019, from there it was really figuring out how to get the company from idea to a working model. How much money do we need and exactly what audience are we trying to target? We raised $380,000, made our first hire and got 2,000 users on our platform.
Jessica Ewing: 2019 was exciting, but brutal. We started to raise a Series A. For that, the company wasn’t really where it needed to be, so we had to work really hard to get the company into shape. We ended up raising $12 million in funding. With money comes celebration, but also greater expectations. We learned we had to work harder and be that much better.
Maria Miller: In 2019, we spent a lot of time looking at the regulatory landscape. In September, we expanded our portfolio to include injury insurance. In doing so, the team really had to look at how do we build the right relationships in this new sector and how do we start to market to this new audience.
Each company experienced a great deal of growth over the last year. 2019 was a year of growth and expansion, raising capital, developing and adding to product offerings. Each company also concurred that there is really no time to settle and get comfy after each achievement. You are already looking at the how you are going to succeed in the next funding round or ways to scale.
2020 Goals and Outlook...
Jessica Ewing: Goal is expanding breadth, scaling and offering new services, growing 5-10x in operations, team size and marketing.
Eunice Chendjou: Get more funding, grow to 50,000 users and hit $6 million in gross revenue.
Talent in Austin...
Maria Miller: Silverton Partners has really helped with sourcing the right talent, especially engineers. We are trying to find people who really fit into the company culture and align with our mission. Jessica Ewing: I started by hiring all of my Type A friends. We've been luck to really have no departures overall or founder departures. For startups, you really have to hire people who are able to wear many hats and thrive in the startup culture.
It's all about finding the right people who can wear different hats and who really get the company culture and company mission. Certain positions are harder to find good fits for (especially marketing and sales since they are really the ones selling the brand to users and investors with you—they have to be completely in tune with the mission) while others are much easier.
What does Austin need more of?
Maria Miller: More of the sharing culture – sharing wins and losses, connections. Eunice Chendjou: More access to capital, half of Austin investments are from outside of the city. Jessica Ewing: Investors are more revenue focused than traction focused. It can be impossible to have idea stage conversations and get funding. Investors in Austin need to take more risks like Silicon Valley investors so that Austin can produce more unicorn companies.
All the panelists agreed that looking to the distant future is like driving a car down a winding road at night -- you know the general direction and can see what is immediately ahead of you. You have to remember to keep those general directions in your mind even if you can't immediately see them.
Take a look below at some photos from last night’s event.
Thank you to our Startups to Watch sponsors Swivel and Amica!
Additional reporting by Cassidy Beegle-Jackson.
