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SaaS Interviews with CEOs, Startups, Founders

What if you knew data behind the fastest growing SaaS companies today? Each morning join Nathan Latka as he spends 15 minutes interviewing SaaS founders. You'll learn how SaaS CEO's launched their startup and grew it into a business. SaaS Founders range from bootstrapped to funded, MVP to 10,000 customers, pre revenue to pre IPO.
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Now displaying: Page 1
Oct 18, 2016

Jerry Wilmink, a recovering bio-engineer turned entrepreneur and CEO and founder of Wisewear.com. Listen how Jerry fuses fashion and technology to keep people safe.

Famous Five:

  • Favorite Book? – Startup CEO
  • What CEO do you follow? – N/A
  • Favorite online tool? — Strategyzer
  • Do you get 8 hours of sleep?— Yes
  • If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? – “Go for it. Don’t be scared”

 

Time Stamped Show Notes:

  • 01:13 – Nathan introduces Jerry to the show
  • 01:33 – Jerry was connected with Nathan through Twitter
  • 01:51 – Jerry is a startup junkie
  • 02:16 – What is Wisewear and how it generates revenue
    • 02:29 – Wisewear is a propriety smart jewelry product that allows women to stay safe
      • 02:41 – A fusion wearable product
      • 03:00 – Develop a jewelry product that transmits Bluetooth through metal
      • 03:15 – Iris Apfel is the designer of Wisewear
      • 03:35 – Each piece is priced at $ 295 - $ 345 depending on the collection
      • 03:59 – Currently sold online but will be available at Saks
  • 04:05 – Wisewear was founded in 2013
  • 04:15 – They just started selling this year
  • 04:20 – Current sales is close to $ 4 million this year
    • 05:04 – Started shipping late March
  • 05:19 – No problems with P.O
  • 05:55 – There’s more risk in international market with P.Os
  • 06:00 – Wisewear demands 30% upfront payment for bulk P.Os
  • 06:22 – Average number of devices sold
  • 07:40 – They are initially bootstrapped but raised a little over $ 5 million from friends and families
    • 08:03 – Note from friends and families and they’re doing equity now
    • 08:15 – Raising $ 10 million from equity
  • 08:40 – Fashion brand is not a traditional tech-play
    • 09:05 – Retailers that can potentially pull down the brand
  • 09:49 – Expenses per piece of jewelry is quite expensive
  • 10:55 – Retailers are selling the jewelries at the same price with them
  • 11:05 – Distributor price
  • 11:25 – 8 people in the team from San Antonio and New York City
  • 11:45 – They can track online orders easily
  • 12:08 – Goal for 2016 revenue
  • 12:34 – They have multiple products
  • 12:48 – The initial product was a medical device
    • 12:56 – Jerry’s grandfather was suffering from a type of dementia
    • 13:13 – When Jerry’s grandfather passed away, that’s when he started Wisewear
      • 13:15 – Developed a hearing aid device
  • 13:50 – 65% of their sales is from college women
    • 14:35 – Biggest market is 20 – 35-year old women
    • 14:49 – There’s a lot of burglary and sexual violence on college campuses
    • 14:58 – There’s a panic button on the jewelry
  • 15:14 – There’s a big market on realtors too
    • 15:25 – Most realtors show homes and there’s a safety concern
  • 15:51 – Connect with Wisewear through Instagram and Facebook. Jerry is more active on Twitter
  • 17:15 – The Famous Five

 

3 Key Points:

  • You can take inspirations from the people around you.
  • Fashion retail brand is not a traditional tech-play.
  • Choose your business partners wisely.

 

Resources Mentioned:

  • Toptal – Nathan found his development team using Toptal  for his new business Send Later. He was able to keep 100% equity and didn’t have to hire a co-founder due to quality of Toptal  developers.
  • Host Gator – The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
  • Freshbooks – The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
  • Leadpages  – The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
  • Audible – Nathan uses Audible when he’s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
  • @Wisewear – Jerry’s business Instagram account
  • Facebook – Jerry’s business Facebook account
  • @GeraldJWilmink – Jerry’s twitter handle
  • Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives
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