Latest news with #entrepreneurial
Geek Wire
8 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Frazier Life Sciences raises $1.3 billion for latest fund
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter, and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory.
Geek Wire
9 hours ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Why these startup founders love building in Seattle
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter , and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory . From top left, clockwise: Stronghold Labs CEO Pete Schwab; Variata co-founder James Lee; Casium CEO Priyanka Kulkarni; Exia Labs CEO Jon Pan; Vercept CEO Kiana Ehsani; and Read AI CEO David Shim. There are a lot of advantages to building a startup in Seattle. That's the word from founders we interviewed Wednesday evening at a startup showcase event hosted as part of Seattle Tech Week. We asked what they like about being a startup founder in Seattle. Here's what they had to say: 'There's less noise. People want to get stuff done. People want to put in the work. They pick something and they commit. It makes it easier to build and recruit.' — David Shim, CEO and co-founder of Read AI 'We can build in a more quiet, focused environment than the Bay Area. And there's a lot of talent. It's very underrated.' — Kiana Ehsani, CEO and co-founder of Vercept 'The community here is super welcoming. There's very little attitude. Everybody, up-and-down the ladder, has been willing to listen.' — Pete Schwab, CEO and co-founder of Stronghold Labs 'We're so close to Joint Base Lewis-McCord. That's a really unique benefit for defense companies in Seattle.' — Jon Pan, CEO and co-founder of Exia Labs 'Seattle has the right energy. It's a blend of excitement and pragmatism.' — James Lee, co-founder at Variata 'Seattle is home to some of the brightest people. I love the energy. It has been home to some really great companies — and we're going to be the next one.' — Priyanka Kulkarni, CEO and co-founder at Casium Audiori, a new Seattle startup, pitches at the Seattle Startup Showcase on Wednesday at the Showbox Market. (GeekWire Photo / Taylor Soper) Seattle's elite technical talent and cultural humility were themes in our story this week on the state of Seattle's startup ecosystem in the AI era. But our reporting also showed that there is concern about the region's risk-averse culture, the lack of local capital, and government policy. Generally, though, the vibe is optimistic. 'I am very, very, very bullish on Seattle, particularly in the AI space,' said Pioneer Square Labs Managing Director Greg Gottesman, speaking at another Seattle Tech Week event on Tuesday. Related coverage: Related stories about the companies mentioned above:
Entrepreneur
3 days ago
- Business
- Entrepreneur
Self-Funded Founder's 3 Secrets for $25M Revenue and 2 Brands
Raised in a "very entrepreneurial" family, Tanya Taylor always dreamed of starting a business of her own. Growing up in Toronto, Canada, Tanya Taylor, now founder of her namesake womenswear brand and a second eveningwear brand, Delphine, didn't really know she could build a career in fashion, she says. However, as someone from a "very entrepreneurial" family, she'd always dreamed of running her own business. Image Credit: Courtesy of Tanya Taylor. Tanya Taylor. " I took for granted that our dinner table conversations were always about small businesses, the people you work with, the values you have in your work and how rewarding it is when you can build a company," Taylor says. That foundation led her to study finance at McGill University, but Taylor couldn't shake the "creative itch" she felt to join the fashion world. So Taylor moved to New York City, where she didn't know anyone at the time, and applied to the Parsons AAS Fashion Design program — after which her "whole world changed." Taylor went on to work for Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on their contemporary lifestyle brand, Elizabeth and James, for several years. " What I found so inspiring, and what I still like to think about today, is how personal they were with their design process," Taylor recalls, "and how working for a female founder that was creating product for a customer that they could really relate to, whether through age or just lifestyle, felt fun. We weren't guessing who this person was. It wasn't fantasy; it was grounded in reality." Image Credit: Courtesy of Tanya Taylor Related: 'Absolute Freedom': Siblings Behind a Self-Funded 8-Figure Brand Reveal 3 Secrets Aspiring Entrepreneurs Should Know About Growth and Success Taylor decided to marry what she'd learned in business school with her growing experience in the fashion industry. She recognized a gap in the market for an "expressive, inclusive, joyful brand" that felt as though it was designed by someone who wanted to be close to the customer. Although Taylor admits she was "naive" when she made the leap to fashion founder, her commitment to starting a company that would be "adaptive to the market" paid off. Taylor's namesake brand grew from one employee in 2012 to a team of about 40 people today. The brand saw $25 million gross revenue last year, and net sales growth surpassed 40%. " I wanted to bring a different pace and give myself a different creative playground." Last year, Taylor also branched into eveningwear with the launch of her second brand, Delphine. " I wanted to bring a different pace and give myself a different creative playground that represented a different side of my friends, of myself and what I saw missing in the market," Taylor says. "I'm 39, and I was having a very hard time finding dresses to go to all of the events I have in my life that weren't either too young or too sexy. I was missing the sleek sophistication that I used to be able to find." Image Credit: Courtesy of Delphine Of course, the decade-plus between the roll-out of Taylor's first and second brands has seen significant changes in the fashion business. Entrepreneur sat down with Taylor to learn more about how building her first brand and adapting to industry shifts have shaped her ongoing growth strategy and new brand, Delphine. 1. Retail remains valuable amid the shifting landscape As a young designer without a network in New York, Taylor staged an attention-grabbing Fashion Week show in the MoMA's Agnes Gund Lobby with "kooky" details — like bartenders with serving trays carrying goldfish swimming in glasses alongside regular drinks — to create a "magical, surprising little world." Wholesale was the way to launch when Taylor started her first brand, and the MoMA show got her in the door successfully. Saks Fifth Avenue expressed interest, noting "the longevity" of Taylor's ideas and how the brand didn't feel like one "chasing trends." Saks became Taylor's first retailer, and Bergdorf Goodman followed soon after. Many businesses have had to contend with a decline in physical retail over the past decade-plus. However, brick-and-mortar stores are seeing a resurgence, and luxury brands increasingly invest in flagship stores, Vogue Business reported in 2022. In 2023, Tanya Taylor opened its first flagship store on Madison Avenue in New York City. The store was profitable in its first year and boasts a 40% customer return rate. Taylor looks forward to leaning into her company's flagship presence. "That's where retail's exciting to me," the founder says. "We get more chances to [connect with] people. Every day at 6:30 p.m., we get this novel from our store about every person who walked in: a little story about where they're from, why they decided on what they bought or didn't, what's going on with their sister. It's so interesting to feel personally attached to the people you designed for. That is what fuels me and feels like the future of both brands." Image Credit: Courtesy of Tanya Taylor Related: These Married Co-Founders Started a Business With a Name 'Nobody Could Pronounce' — Then Bootstrapped It From Their Garage to 8-Figure Revenue 2. Self-funding continues to give Taylor's brands an edge Taylor's first brand was self-funded and remains so; she's currently making the same move with Delphine. Although challenging at times, self-funding allows Taylor to invest in herself and her team fully and provides the flexibility to put brand values first and consider long-term wins over short-term gains, the founder says. Additionally, self-funding prevents the brands from adopting a "private equity-backed voice." That's particularly important given their distinct personas — the first brand's "happy," "approachable" ethos versus the second's "emotionally driven, more mischievous" vibe. Despite the differences between the two brands, Taylor approaches both of their voices and marketing strategies with a similar "zest," which she says is the key to connecting with customers and putting them first always. Related: She and Her Sister Started a Side Hustle to Help People Elevate Their Homes — Now Their Brand Pulls In Hundreds of Millions: 'Get to Work' 3. Direct engagement with customers means more opportunities The rise of direct-to-consumer marketing translates to a new opportunity to "own the relationship with the customer," Taylor says. Delphine does work with some "incredible retailers," but the brand's presence online and in the Madison Avenue store serves as a chance to "go back to the basics" and ask important questions: How do I get close to the customer? How do I excite her? Social media, naturally, is another means to that end. Influencer marketing didn't exist when Tanya Taylor launched; now, it's often a customer's first touchpoint with a brand. " That feels like a huge shift in the industry," Taylor says. "You're not staring at a model in a studio showing you how you put a sweater with a skirt. You're getting to see it on somebody running to work, what shoes they're wearing and how their life looks. That has put the customer so much more in the center of fashion, in a way that is well-aligned with how I like to design." Additionally, social media, especially Instagram, allows Taylor to interact with customers more than ever before — and she embraces that by responding to many DMs herself. " I'm asking people questions," Taylor says. "I am so excited about quick learning. I love crowdsourcing opinions, and as a designer who is like a sponge, it's been so rewarding to see that access change." Image Credit: Courtesy of Delphine Related: 'We Got So Many DMs': This 27-Year-Old Revamped Her Parents' Decades-Old Business and Grew Direct-to-Consumer Sales From $60,000 to Over $500,000 As a two-time fashion founder in an era when ecommerce and social media have completely transformed the industry, Taylor has some helpful advice for any entrepreneur who hopes to succeed in the business: Figure out what makes you distinctive, and surround yourself with people who believe in that distinction, whether professors, industry professionals or friends. " That was really, really important for me," Taylor says. "[It] helped me feel some confidence. Entrepreneurship is a mind game. Once you embark on it, lots of people love it and want to continue, but you have to find ways to keep yourself strong and your creativity strong, and that's through community." This article is part of our ongoing Women Entrepreneur® series highlighting the stories, challenges and triumphs of running a business as a woman. Ready to break through your revenue ceiling? Join us at Level Up, a conference for ambitious business leaders to unlock new growth opportunities.
News24
6 days ago
- Business
- News24
This Cape Town ‘village' hub on reimagined land gives township entrepreneurs a chance
In the heart of Philippi Village is an entrepreneurial community hub redefining the idea of transformation. Philippi Village, an entrepreneurial and community hub in Philippi, Cape Town, offers low-income households the opportunity to become self-sufficient in the urban economy. Since its inception in 2016, the model for Philippi Village has evolved from a business support centre into a community-focused development project, adapting according to the circumstances of the community that it serves. Twelve hectares of open land and an abandoned cement structure might now be perceived as an oasis in the chaos, madness and challenges of the wider Philippi area. The project questions the role of space in the developing urban Cape Flats. Originally conceptualised to house small businesses, it acted as a 'landlord' to township-based entrepreneurs who could rent workspaces and receive guidance to launch or grow small businesses. The financial model was dependent on small businesses paying rent, which ultimately failed due to a lack of occupancy and disposable income. Although Philippi Village managed to invite external tenants such as the Desmond Tutu Foundation, it couldn't retain them due to incidents of violent crime in the area. 'People's ideas of safety are different,' says Bushra Razack, CEO of Philippi Village. 'They often have a perceived safety – where safety is armed security with a baton. How do you shift that mindset?' Klara Robertson/News24 Klara Robertson/News24 Klara Robertson/News24 The organisation decided to put up a wall to protect the investment. 'Walls mean different things to different people, but at that moment we needed perimeter safety,' Razack explains. Razack emphasises that the long-term plan of Philippi Village is to eradicate the need for the wall and use landscape design as an integrated form of security. Tearing down walls created solutions Every time Philippi Village tried to build a wall around its property, the residents of Siyangena, an informal settlement on the outskirts of the Philippi Village border, would tear it down. When the team engaged with the community to find the reason for this, the residents of Siyangena said that they broke the wall down because they had no access to toilets and used the land to relieve themselves. For Razack and her team, this was powerful information: they realised that even with the best possible intention, it was essential to understand what is important to the community. There are opportunities for the youth at Philippi Village. Klara Robertson/News24 Klara Robertson/News24 As an NGO focused on building entrepreneurial spaces in Philippi, the team was sceptical about becoming responsible for basic amenities but understood that the lack of toilets in Siyangena directly affected the village's perimeter. The Philippi team appealed to the Western Cape government to provide toilets for Siyangena, but the government claimed it didn't have jurisdiction because the land was privately owned. The solution was for the team to build the wall as a zigzag, providing space for the toilets and giving the provincial government permission to build them on their land, which occurred four years later. 'The realities of township life, though not how you want to portray Philippi, is an important part of how one has to design the space,' says Razack. 'In South Africa we have an apartheid-style approach: bring out the guns, land invasion unit. In that moment, if we don't have an alternative in place, it's the easiest, safest, most convenient way to react to it. But we are only as healthy and safe as what is happening around us.' A 'conscious contract' with the community over land The model of Philippi Village is rooted in a community-centred approach, recognising that the spatial legacy of apartheid continues to shape township design – spaces historically not built to inspire dignity, health or opportunity. When residents of Waterfront informal settlement, driven by unliveable flooding conditions, began erecting homes on the Philippi Village premises, the team responded with a collaborative, rather than confrontational, approach. The settlement, situated on city-owned land and lacking basic services like sanitation and electricity, becomes inundated with sewage during the rainy season. In response, the Philippi Village team formed what they refer to as a 'conscious contract' with the Waterfront community. They agreed to prioritise Waterfront residents on their job seekers database in exchange for cooperation in managing the land occupation challenge. This mutual agreement laid the foundation for a unique partnership. Klara Robertson/News24 Seeing a tangible benefit, the community identified 40 individuals who were not originally from Waterfront but had joined the occupation. Simphiwe Nikani, the general manager at Philippi Village, converted unused shipping containers – typically reserved for tenants – into emergency housing overnight. The community agreed to use these emergency units exclusively during the rainy season. Remarkably, they also committed to taking down their own structures and vacating the space once the agreement's terms were met. 'I've never seen another example in South Africa where there is a land occupation that is illegal, and people willingly take their structures down, fulfill their side of the lease agreement, and exit,' remarks Razack. 'It comes from that relationship-building, seeing what's important. At that moment, employment was more important than temporary housing.' A developing model of sustainable development Razack explains that the journey of the Philippi Village project is far from perfect and still has a way to go. But its community-rooted, flexible approach offers vital insights into how urban spaces in low-income areas can be developed with the people they serve, not just around them. Razack ascertains that the organisation is operating in a place of complexity. 'We are not setting up the village in a place where every day is a little bit easier,' she says. Philippi Village hopes to remove its walls entirely and rely on design – not deterrence – for security. Until then, it remains a living example of how land, relationships and trust can form the foundation for a new kind of city building.
Geek Wire
24-07-2025
- Business
- Geek Wire
RFID startup Xemelgo lands new funding from Zebra Ventures
GeekWire's startup coverage documents the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial scene. Sign up for our weekly startup newsletter, and check out the GeekWire funding tracker and venture capital directory.
