Kyle Hency’s Post

🚀 Exciting Quarter Alert for HopLocal🌟 As we wrap up an incredible Q1 2024, we're thrilled to share the strides we've made and the milestones we've achieved. Here’s what we’ve accomplished together: ✨ A monumental leap, with sales soaring by 59% in March compared to February and an impressive 24% increase in Q1 2024 compared to the previous quarter. This growth trajectory reflects our users' trust and value in our services. 🎉 We welcomed 10 new hosts to our platform, expanding our offerings and diversifying the experiences available to our users. 🤝 Our portfolio grew with 23 NEW team activities, fostering better engagement and bringing unique experiences to our community. 🌐 A big hello to the 65 new registered users who joined us this quarter! Your trust motivates us to keep innovating. ✅ Aaaaaand! The total number of booked activities reached 150! It proves to us that our community loves what we offer. This engagement is the heartbeat of our platform. 🏔️ This quarter's achievements are not just numbers; they represent the stories, experiences, and memories we've helped create. As we look forward to the next quarter, we’re fuelled with more passion and determination to scale new heights. A huge thank you to our team, hosts, and every user who believes in us. Here's to achieving more milestones together! 🥂 #Growth #Achievements #StartupJourney #teambuilding

It's official: The Mobile-First Company has raised €3.5M at launch from Lightspeed, Emblem, and over 30 mobile industry leaders! 🎉 We bet that software will be mobile-first in the future, and I’ve gone all in by joining the team as a Founding Member! We're going to do things quite differently than the SaaS ecosystem: - 👩🔧 Focuse on SMBs that drive the economy: plumbers, nurses, restaurants, …, - 📱 Ready to launch about 20 apps and products, - 🧶 No more all-in-one apps: 1 product for 1 specific problem, - 🏆 Testing an app’s success before coding, - 💰 We plan to acquire those who missed the transition to Freemium Mobile, - 🤖 We're already in beta in the 🇺🇸 🇦🇷 🇨🇴 🇲🇽 🇨🇱, international from the start! Very well accompanied by our investors and business angels, we're always one click away from getting expertise from MWM, Pennylane, Photoroom, Homa, Luni, Spendesk, Hexa/eFounders... Find the TechCrunch article below 👇 https://lnkd.in/em-zzBW7 The Software will be 📱.

From QR Ordering to Cost Savings: EMenu Now Rises as a Top 5 Hotbed SaaS Star! Calling all early-stage investors and tech enthusiasts! Get ready to be inspired as 5 of the hottest start-ups from the Hotbed SaaS program take the stage to pitch for investment. 🎤💰 After an intensive 6-week journey, EMenu Now and 4 other exceptional start-ups have emerged as the cream of the crop. Our impressive growth, backed by solid traction, has earned us a spot in the top 5. 📈✨ Our commitment to efficiency, customization, integration, and analytics sets us apart. Plus, with secure payments, reduced wait times, and order tracking, we're transforming restaurant efficiency while delivering substantial cost savings. 🍽️💳 As we proudly join this elite line-up, we invite you to be a part of this monumental event. But here's the scoop: it's the grand finale of our Founders Camp, and it's bound to be a crowd-puller. Whilst the event operates on a first-come, first-serve basis at the door, your ticket is your golden opportunity to witness tech innovation at its finest. Arriving early is your best bet! ⏳🎟️ Be there on Friday, September 29th, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM, Techspace Shoreditch London. Join us as we showcase how EMenu Now and fellow trailblazers have harnessed the power of the Hotbed SaaS program to revolutionize the tech start-up landscape. Click the link here: https://lu.ma/6pahbho7 #EMenuNow #HotbedSaaS #TechInnovation #InvestmentOpportunity #FoundersCampFinale

November was another big month for the Everything Marketplaces community! Here's a few highlights from our monthly recap that I just shared in the community: -We're now 2,000+ marketplace founders, teams, & leaders in the community (and quickly growing!). -We made big updates to some of our resources like Marketplace School, Marketplace Co-Founder Match, & Marketplace Knowledge Hub -We had 200+ founders join in on some really awesome group chats with guests like Spencer Rascoff (Co-founder & former CEO of Zillow), Ryan Moser (VP of Revenue Strategy at thredUP), and Brendan Candon (CEO of SidelineSwap) -We had our female founders meetings, office hours, & other online events -We had community meetups in San Francisco (at Lightspeed) & Sydney -We had 150+ posts & conversations in the community with founders asking marketplace questions, helping share answers, & marketplace insights (now 5,500+ posts in the community) -We had lots of wins with founders launching marketplaces after completing Marketplace School, raising rounds, & making key hires + lots more A huge thanks to some of our community leaders & members like Sydney Sykes Danny Martinez Stacy Edgar Levi Martinez Sameer Singh Matt Holder Rob Chan Jeremy Siegel Jeremy H. Gottschalk Olivia Mihaljevic Adrianne Stone Sarah Louragh and others. Looking forward to a big December to wrap up the year!

2023 - it’s been a ride… Second year of working full-time with our startup Mai. A year when I've personally worked harder than ever and made tougher decisions than I wish I had needed. A year when, every time someone asks, "How is it going?" the first thing that comes to my mind are the 100 problems we have. If how things are going were judged based on how much money we raised, how many articles we’ve been featured in, how many events we’ve been invited to (it’s 0 on all of them), this year would have been a really bad year. If you haven’t used us, you’ve probably not even heard about us. Despite that (or maybe thanks to?), we’ve been really quietly focused on doing the daily work of just solving yet another problem. Looking back - the many small (sometimes tedious) daily tasks, the bets that didn't work but still taught us something, the things that didn't give us result overnight but a tiny change in a positive direction - has started to result in a really healthy core: - We surpassed 1 MSEK in GMV last month and tripled our revenue vs last year (while reducing marketing spend) - Retention has increased from an already high base - Gross margin has grown by 30 p.p vs last year. Those that use us, really like us, and pay enough to keep our business healthy, and that's what really matters to us. Not sure we’ll be more loud in 2024, but I'm 100% sure we have more problems to solve! (And more clothes to sell, the picture is a screen shot of my personal wardrobe detox this year)

Coffee Talk with Chris, last of the week! Don’t worry, next week’s booked solid as well - and I’m starting to plan a week four (if y’all aren’t tired of me yet). Today’s excursion was to Breadworks at Broad Ripple (https://lnkd.in/gnWdbeRn), which is more bakery (hence: rolling pins) than coffee house. Coffee’s good, though! It’s light and airy and smells wonderful. Was fun to see a mix of young families and young professionals networking and mingling among the wicker seats and two- and four-tops. I’ll need to swing back by for, well, bread sometime when I have a plan for it. My host today was Tanner Brumbarger - another Orr fellow and fellow Sigstr/Terminus connection. Tanner’s another I-knew-him-when case, from running implementations to running product these days - and showing folks how it’s done. We talked a lot about MarTech and the similarities you run into from company to company in the space. We're not all building the same thing, but they’re awfully close. Everybody eventually builds a way to build segments or a way to map out a journey. They're not always exact, but they often rhyme. We also talked about the career turbulence in tech over the last two years or so. It’s tough to find the right fit - and have that right fit stick around, too. Especially when you have a soft spot for tiny startups like I do. After our coffee, I also finished touches on a big step for me … that I’ll talk more about over the weekend. Hope everybody’s in the midst of an amazing Friday. And if it’s not, I bet tomorrow will be amazing instead!

🌟 Happy Hump Day, LinkedIn Fam! 🌈 Here we are again, navigating through the whirlwind that is this week. And with Easter just around the corner, who can resist the siren call of their chocolate Easter egg? 🍫 I know I can’t! We’re riding the wave of two 4-day weeks, the end of the financial year, and an early Easter. It’s a unique blend of busyness and excitement, and speaking of excitement, we’re still buzzing from the Jangro Ltd Board meeting yesterday. The insights into the year ahead are promising phenomenal growth for the group and its members, truly inspiring stuff! Today, Jade Pienaar and Roger Rees have been showcasing cutting-edge cleaning products and solutions to a new startup. It’s exhilarating to think about the fresh perspectives and innovations they're bringing to the table. Meanwhile, Barry G. and Darren Bartholomew are tirelessly following up on a mountain of leads from a recent Business expo, and our production room upgrade is advancing by leaps and bounds. A huge shoutout to Sam Worden for her invaluable assistance. Sam had guided our Production team, reviewing and updating all processes, and masterminding the upgrade. For someone who likes to keep a tight rein on things, letting go and trusting others was a challenge, Sam has been nothing short of fantastic and the team have really bought in to working with somebody new, Sam has brought a new energy to the team and skill set we simply don’t have. Sam’s expertise and hard work have made a significant impact, and we’re looking forward to collaborating again in the future. And as if that wasn’t enough excitement, new contract notifications are becoming a daily joy! With some significant projects in the pipeline, we’re gearing up for a bustling summer ahead. I know all the team back at The Maintenance Supply Co Ltd will be thrilled. Now, on a lighter note, who’s seen my Crème Egg? 🥚😂 Here’s to embracing the chaos, celebrating the wins, and looking forward to the bright future ahead. Let’s make the rest of the week as sweet as that Easter chocolate we’re all indulging in! #HumpDayHappiness #EasterExcitement #GrowthMindset #InnovationInAction #TeamworkMakesTheDreamWork

Don't send your B2B clients generic Christmas gifts. They are a missed opportunity. Think about it... A clever Christmas gift can: ► put a smile on your clients' faces ► make you stand out from the competition ► strengthen your relationships with prospects But another box of branded chocolates won't serve that purpose. Your customers get these every single day in December. Instead try to think: ► what aligns with your brand ► what will make your clients smile ► what will make your gift stand out And it's not about how expensive the gift is. ▼▼▼ Here's an example. When I was at Inovo.vc - a VC investing in top startups from CEE - we decided to create Christmas gifts for founders. The idea was to illustrate Inovo's slogan: "stay ambitious, we have your back". We decided to take it literally... ...and sent out massage rollers for your back. ▼▼▼ One person might appreciate the word-play and another won't. But both would probably choose an original gift over a generic one anyday.

August was a big month for the Everything Marketplaces community! I just shared a full recap post in the community, but here are a few highlights from it: -We had another big month of growth, so we're now 2,000+ marketplace founders, teams, & leaders in the community -We made lots of updates to resources & products like Marketplace School, our Marketplace Co-Founder Match, & Marketplace Knowledge Hub -We had 350+ attend our online events like our group chats with Fabrice Grinda (FJ Labs) & Katerina Petraki (Alibaba Group), office hours every week, female founders meeting, & founders fundraising meeting -We our first community coworking day in NYC, which was a big success (thanks Christelle Rohaut Codi!) -We had 150+ posts & discussions in the community discussing marketplaces every day, sharing insights, & helping others -We had lots of wins with 10+ founders announcing new funding rounds, sharing about key hires made, & overall progress with their marketplaces As always, I also gave lots of shoutouts to some of our leaders in the community like Stacy Edgar Levi Martinez Borislava Baeva Adrianne, along with those like Adi Thacker Matt Holder that have been incredibly helpful. Here's a screenshot from the full recap post that you can see in the replies below:

For SaaS founders looking for motivation, I want to break down some of our numbers for you 👇 Mar'22: We started building Asaan Retail (full time thing) 👷♀️ Jan'23: About 9 months past, we hardly had 10 customers and still a lot of work to do. One of the founding member decided to quit. We restructured the whole tech team ⚒ Aug'23: Took us 8 more months to reach 50 customers mark. We were not satisfied with the speed with which we were moving hence entirely focused our energies on team expansion now. No more entertaining fears that we'd go bankrupt. Took leaps of faith one after another! 🌠 Jan'24: Result: In just 5 more months, we reached 150+ customers across 7 countries 🌏🎉 Reaching from 0 to 10 was the hardest, 10 to 50 was relatively easier, and 50 to 150 easier than ever for us! We're not done for sure, the aim is high and exciting times are ahead! There will definitely be tougher times and a new level of highs and lows, but we ask strength from Allah to stay determined and consistent 🌟 This is the beauty of SaaS, our journey has not been a decade long right now but sufficient for founders in early stages or thinking to start. Let's do it! 🏎️🏎️🏎️ #saas #founders