Forbes - Why This 'Empire' Building Entrepreneur Sold Her Business To Start Something New
Ali Kriegsman, a successful entrepreneur and author, discusses her journey from co-founding Bulletin to becoming a writer and consultant. She emphasizes the importance of adaptability and the ability to pivot in one's career. Kriegsman shares her experience of building Bulletin, a B2B wholesale marketplace, which she eventually sold. She highlights the challenges of entrepreneurship, including the need for constant innovation and the mental toll it can take. After selling Bulletin, she pursued writing and consulting, finding fulfillment in helping other entrepreneurs and exploring her creative side. Kriegsman stresses the importance of being open to change and not being afraid to start anew, regardless of past successes or failures. She encourages young professionals to embrace their passions and not be deterred by fear of failure or judgment. Her story is a testament to the power of resilience and the potential for reinvention in one's career.
Key Points:
- Embrace change and be open to new career paths.
- Entrepreneurship requires adaptability and resilience.
- Selling a business can be a strategic decision based on market conditions.
- Building a personal brand is crucial for business success.
- Pursue passions without fear of failure or judgment.
Details:
1. 🎭 Life as a Costume Change
- Life is a game where you can change costumes, symbolizing the ability to adapt and transform oneself.
- The concept emphasizes personal growth and the freedom to redefine one's identity at various life stages.
- Examples include career shifts, lifestyle changes, and personal development as forms of 'costume changes.'
- This metaphor encourages embracing change and seeing life as a series of roles that can be adjusted or completely transformed depending on individual goals and circumstances.
2. 🌟 Meet Ali Kriegsman: Entrepreneur to Author
- Ali Kriegsman transitioned from being an entrepreneur for 10 years to becoming a fiction writer, showcasing her adaptability and flexibility.
- She faced the challenge of shifting her mindset from business to creative storytelling, which required embracing new skills and perspectives.
- Kriegsman utilized her entrepreneurial skills, such as discipline and resilience, to navigate the writing process successfully.
- The transition had a profound impact on her personal growth, allowing her to explore new facets of creativity and self-expression.
- Her journey serves as an inspiration for others considering similar career shifts, demonstrating that leveraging existing skills can facilitate successful transitions.
3. ❄️ Catching Up and Entrepreneurial Evolution
- Ali Kriegsman gained recognition in the 2018 Forbes 'Under 30' list for co-founding Bulletin, highlighting her early entrepreneurial success.
- Currently, Ali is diversifying her career as an author and marketing consultant, demonstrating adaptability and growth in her professional life.
- Her work now focuses on leveraging her entrepreneurial experience to provide strategic marketing insights and practical guidance, reflecting a shift from startup operations to consultancy and authorship.
- Ali’s transition from a startup co-founder to a marketing consultant and author illustrates a strategic pivot towards utilizing her experience to impact broader audiences.
- Her story exemplifies how entrepreneurs can evolve by adapting their skill sets to new roles and industries, ensuring continued relevance and influence.
4. 🌍 Navigating Entrepreneurship Through Change
- Entrepreneurship has undergone transformative changes in the last seven years, heavily influenced by global events such as the pandemic.
- Maintaining business operations and scaling during the pandemic was challenging; however, it was essential for success and eventual business sale in 2022.
- Emphasizing self-care and mental health was crucial for sustaining leadership, allowing for effective decision-making and resilience.
- Key strategies included adapting to remote work environments, leveraging digital tools for communication and collaboration, and pivoting business models to meet changing consumer needs, leading to improved business resilience and growth.
5. 🔄 Pivoting Bulletin to a Successful Exit
- Bulletin initially struggled with its business model but found success after several pivots, ultimately selling as a B2B wholesale marketplace.
- The platform allows retailers of all sizes, including boutiques and gyms, to easily source inventory.
- Buyers benefit from a streamlined supply chain with a drop-ship model, purchasing inventory directly through Bulletin's site.
- For brands, especially direct-to-consumer (DTC) ones, Bulletin provides an essential channel to expand retail distribution.
- Initially, Bulletin faced challenges in finding its market niche but overcame them by leveraging its platform to connect brands and retailers more effectively.
6. 📈 Post-Exit Ventures and New Beginnings
- Platforms like Bulletin enable brands to transition from online to retail, increasing market visibility and sales channels.
- Post-exit, entrepreneurs often engage in personal projects such as writing, offering a creative outlet and personal fulfillment.
- Consulting roles can provide a balance of utilizing industry expertise while enjoying reduced operational stress, aiding mental health recovery.
- Transitioning from business ownership to new ventures often involves strategic planning to leverage existing skills and networks effectively.
7. 💡 Founding Story: From Concepts to Pop-Up Markets
7.1. Transition and Support
7.2. Reflection and Rebuilding
7.3. Expertise in Business
7.4. Founding Story Initiation
7.5. Early Career and Ideation
7.6. Bulletin's Founding Idea
8. 🏪 Revolutionizing Retail: Retail as a Service
- Retail as a Service combines editorial storytelling with retail through a low-overhead model where products are drop-shipped, minimizing inventory costs.
- Inspired by direct-to-consumer brands like Glossier, Outdoor Voices, and Warby Parker, the platform seeks to replicate their success by creating engaging consumer experiences.
- Initially, the business aimed to raise venture capital to expand but faced skepticism from investors, highlighting the need for proof of concept before funding.
- The innovative approach involved curating unique brands from social media and flea markets, offering a narrative-driven retail experience that differentiates it from traditional models.
- A bi-weekly newsletter called 'bulletin' was used to personalize the shopping experience, engaging consumers with stories and products, thus enhancing brand loyalty and customer retention.
9. 🚀 Innovation, Competition, and Business Models
- The pop-up markets initiative generated substantial revenue, proving the business model's viability through the innovative use of urban spaces.
- Events were held in large parking lots in Williamsburg, reflecting rapid urban development and potential market shifts.
- Booth rental was priced at $300, with additional revenue from food truck participation, modeled after successful flea markets like Smorgasburg.
- Participation in the Y Combinator fellowship provided $20,000 in funding, validating the business concept, and leading to acceptance into their core program.
- The business model evolved to include retail stores where brands paid a flat fee and a percentage of sales, resembling WeWork's rent markup strategy.
- This strategy focused on rent arbitrage and incremental retail sales for profitability, demonstrating adaptability and scalability in competitive markets.
10. 📊 Analytics, Strategy, and Market Adaptation
- The company positioned itself as 'WeWork for retail,' which helped them raise $2.2 million in venture capital, showing the potential for scalability in a service-focused retail model.
- Challenges akin to those faced by WeWork and The Wing emerged, particularly in scaling the initial model, despite additional revenue from retail sales commissions.
- The brand discovery process was inefficient, requiring manual management and trade show participation, indicating a need for streamlined solutions.
- Competitors like Fair and Tundra were improving these processes by creating 'Amazon wholesale' models for brand discovery, highlighting a shift towards digital solutions for retailer access.
- Sales growth and brand storytelling were crucial, with editorializing and PR functions playing a significant role in promoting brands within the stores, which led to a more impactful market presence.
- Hiring a replacement for sales and growth functions in mid-2021 was a strategic move that contributed to a successful exit, demonstrating the importance of leadership in operational efficiency.
- In-store events and strategic PR efforts enhanced brand visibility, pitching brands to major publications, thereby increasing brand value and market reach.
11. 🏆 Entrepreneurial Challenges and Triumphs
- Brands could use the store for free to host workshops or meet-and-greet nights, increasing community engagement and customer interaction.
- Partnerships with outside entities like influencers and major networks (e.g., Comedy Central, Showtime) drove significant foot traffic to the store, enhancing brand exposure.
- The promise to brands was not just shelf space but a comprehensive marketing strategy with high foot traffic and events.
- An analytics dashboard provided brands with real-time sales data across three store locations, enabling them to track performance and audience preferences efficiently.
- Brands benefited from insights into which products or motifs were performing best, offering a competitive edge over typical indie retail setups that lack such visibility.
- Successful partnerships with influencers resulted in a 50% increase in store visits during events, showcasing the power of strategic collaborations.
- Real-time analytics empowered brands to adjust marketing tactics on-the-fly, leading to a 20% increase in sales over a quarter.
12. 🤝 Realizing Market Realities and Strategic Exits
- The founder experienced personal exhaustion, a common turning point for entrepreneurs who feel they can't continue effectively.
- Despite 25% month-over-month growth, the market's competitive nature was highlighted by a competitor raising $400 million, making it difficult to thrive.
- As a non-technical woman founder, the founder faced challenges in acquiring resources, influencing the decision to exit.
- Originally thriving as a community-driven, in-person events business, Bulletin had to pivot to a remote B2B wholesale marketplace due to COVID-19, altering its core identity.
- Post-acquisition, Bulletin integrated into Emerald's trade show ecosystem, revitalizing the New York Now show and returning to community-driven roots.
13. 🔍 Reflecting on Success, Pressure, and Potential
- Founders often view an exit as a distant end goal, yet the transition after selling a company can feel like starting anew, highlighting the need for adaptability in new roles.
- The speaker started their business at 24 and successfully navigated multiple pivots, demonstrating resilience in overcoming challenges.
- Their marketplace achieved success despite not being the largest, showing that strategic positioning and effective leadership can lead to thriving results even in competitive industries.
- Post-sale, the transition was more than a financial milestone; it validated the speaker's personal efforts and vision.
- While many competitors failed, the speaker's company not only survived but thrived, which underscores the importance of strategic foresight and adaptability.
- The transition period post-sale involved redefining roles and finding new purpose, which is a common challenge for entrepreneurs after an exit.
14. ✍️ Writing the Realities of Female Entrepreneurship
14.1. Personal Reflections and Challenges
14.2. Motivation to Write a Book
14.3. Purpose and Impact of the Book
15. 🌟 Personal Branding and Consulting Insights
15.1. Personal Branding Strategies
15.2. Consulting Insights
16. 🤔 Influencer Marketing Trends and Consumer Behavior
16.1. Recurring Influencer Collaborations
16.2. Diverse Influencer Selection
16.3. High Volume, Targeted Influencer Marketing
16.4. In-Person Community Building
17. 📚 From Business to Creative: A Writer's Journey
- Brands are increasingly expected to have personality and authenticity, as seen with examples like Duolingo, where brand interactions feel personal and engaging.
- The shift from 'Blanding'—being politically correct and safe—to a more authentic and real brand voice is notable, especially among Gen Z consumers who crave authenticity.
- Transitioning from a business-focused career to writing involves leveraging both creative and business skills. The initial phase of writing is creative, but marketing a book requires business acumen.
- The concept for the fiction book 'The Rays' emerged from personal business challenges, highlighting the emotional and mental demands of entrepreneurship.
- Hiring a book coach was beneficial in structuring the book's plot, indicating the value of seeking expert guidance in new creative endeavors.
- The transition to writing provided a mental break and personal fulfillment, illustrating the positive impact of pursuing creative passions alongside business.
- Successfully securing agents at CIA, including the agent of a favorite author, demonstrates the strategic application of business skills in a new field.
18. 📖 Self-Publishing Challenges and Future Goals
- The author faced challenges with traditional publishers who struggled to market the book effectively, despite positive feedback from editors.
- Choosing to self-publish allows the author to utilize personal marketing skills, viewing the book as an asset worth investing in rather than letting it languish.
- Even with traditional publishing, authors often have to manage their own marketing efforts and finance promotions.
- Successful book sales depend heavily on effective publicity and promotion; without these efforts, a book may fail to gain attention.
- The author intends to release the book in September, with plans to publicly announce this soon, focusing on a strategic marketing approach.
19. 🔄 Embracing Change and Pursuing New Dreams
- Life is like a game where you can change your character or costume anytime; this means you can shift career paths, like going from an entrepreneur to a fiction writer.
- People often feel stuck due to psychological blocks like fear of failure, embarrassment, or being perceived as 'cringe,' but these feelings are self-imposed and should be overcome.
- No one is thinking about your actions as much as you think they are, so it's important to focus on what you truly want rather than external perceptions.
- Life is precious and should not be spent holding back from pursuing who you want to be due to fear of judgment.
- Taking even small steps towards the life you want can lead to significant relief, stress reduction, and personal fulfillment.