Entrepreneur Ventures is an early-stage enterprise capital agency partnered with Entrepreneur Media that’s devoted to backing passionate and revolutionary founders as early as day one. On this sequence, we’re profiling the wonderful entrepreneurs that Entrepreneur Ventures is working with to share their insights on constructing and rising a thriving enterprise.
Please give us the elevator pitch of your online business.
My title is David Walsh, I am the founder and CEO of Limelight. We have constructed this pioneering B2B creator collaboration platform that revolutionizes how B2B manufacturers obtain virality. We assist manufacturers determine B2B creators who’ve constructed massive followings for particular niches in enterprise, and on the creator aspect, we advocate manufacturers which might be on the lookout for creators by way of a suggestion engine and permits them to ebook promoting throughout all of their channels (LinkedIn, newsletters, podcasts, and so on.) They discover one another on the platform, handle the partnership and efficiency, in addition to pay one another.
What impressed you to launch Limelight?
I’ve been in tech for 10 years and after exiting my final firm, I took a while off and requested myself what I wished to do subsequent. Get into the enterprise race? Be part of one other firm? I landed on, “I wish to be my very own boss” and that narrows down your choices! I am from Eire and was dwelling in Los Angeles. I had excessive hire and costly childcare, so I made a decision I would higher construct one thing! I used to be very deliberate in my method. I knew I wished to launch an organization within the income tech area as a result of it’s totally sticky. In the event you assist an organization develop, everybody will preserve you on.
So I used to be posting content material on LinkedIn to lift capital, construct consciousness and drive leads. And as I did that, I turned conscious of this complete ecosystem that exists, the B2B creator economic system. These people have created massive audiences, 50,000 as much as 600,000, posting content material every single day on a particular area of interest. As we all know, individuals who purchase merchandise right this moment are tremendously influenced by people they know and belief on their social media feeds. I noticed, why do not we construct a product for these creators? So that is what I did with Limelight.
How did you go about constructing it?
I raised the capital final 12 months, closed round December after which informed my new buyers I used to be pivoting the enterprise mannequin. I rebranded the corporate and we spoke with about 100 B2B content material creators in a interval of 4 to 6 weeks and some weeks in the past got here out with our beta. We have had over 100 corporations join in lower than 30 days, so the thesis is working.
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How is your staff constructed out?
Gross sales, advertising and marketing, recruiting, finance, operations and merchandise are my focus. However coding? That I can not do. I discovered a extremely sturdy engineer who was beforehand at Uber and he’s the quickest coder I’ve ever seen by way of velocity and high quality. And I’ve a extremely sturdy designer who’s a 23-year-old out of faculty, an outstanding UI UX designer who simply takes an thought, makes it a picture, after which the developer develops it. So there’s three of us doing it proper now. And it’s shifting insanely quick.
What recommendation would you give entrepreneurs in search of funding?
I believe again to my experiences and the widespread denominator is that each one {dollars} aren’t created equal. However earlier than you consider who it comes from, it is actually vital to consider how a lot you want. I used to assume I wanted as many thousands and thousands as I may presumably get as a result of I wish to hit unicorn standing and scale as quick as doable. Now I nonetheless assume that I wish to construct an environment friendly scalable software program enterprise that also turns into a unicorn, however I do not assume I want as a lot cash to do it. 2019 to 2022 taught me that extra money equals extra issues and it is tougher to scale.
So my recommendation is to calculate the quantity you might want to construct and develop, then shut the spherical as quick as doable as a result of you possibly can spend your entire time fundraising for a 12 months and none of your time constructing the enterprise.
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You have written and spoken so much in regards to the energy of listening to no. Are you able to clarify that?
Once I began out I used to be making tons of chilly calls every single day and I beloved it. The very first thing you be taught in gross sales is rejection. And I am educating my staff members right this moment that we’re gonna get rejected on a regular basis, so get used to it! Rejection is vital as a result of it builds up thick pores and skin and likewise teaches you what your organization might be doing to raised serve your potential prospects. I’ve a recorded observe taker and each single gross sales name I make goes to my engineering staff, and goes to my product staff. I tag them and I say, hearken to this as a result of it is the one solution to just be sure you’re making a suggestions loop.
Did you at all times know that you just wished to be an entrepreneur?
Once I was 19, my dad requested me what I wished to do. I stated, “I wish to personal a tech firm once I’m 25.” So I had that ambition at an early age. I keep in mind we have been in a espresso store and the remainder of the individuals laughed at me. However I keep in mind saying that, and I really known as him once I was 27 and informed him I used to be two years late.
What recommendation would you give to younger individuals with related ambitions?
Seize these moments and home windows of alternative when you are able to do one thing distinctive and completely different. There is no such thing as a age cutoff, however as you become old, you may have extra life duties that make the choice to leap into entrepreneurship tougher. If I may do one factor, I would return to school and persuade each single lecturer to speak about being an entrepreneur. You simply have much less threat at that age. Additionally, observe nice leaders and managers — not massive concepts. Encompass your self with one of the best and also you improve your studying potential dramatically.
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We hear so much about embracing robust occasions and needing grit to push previous robust moments. You have had your share.
Sure. I moved to america from Eire and I labored in Certainly. I beloved my time there, however I knew I finally wished to begin my very own firm, so I made a decision to launch an inner incubator within the firm. I wrote a web based playbook about tips on how to assist immigrants navigate the expertise acquisition course of on a visa. I had 4 pupil visas at this level and felt like I used to be an skilled. So I turned that playbook right into a pitch of constructing a distant market of expertise inside Certainly and serving to our prospects rent non-US residents. It received a number of traction and I introduced it to the CEO and Chief Innovation Officer. It received funded with $250K, however then I used to be known as into HR. They stated they did not know I used to be on a pupil visa and principally that I could not stay on the firm as a result of I used to be technically changing an American employee’s job.
So your pitch to assist individuals work in America received you kicked out?
Basically, however I knew I may determine it out. I really felt free. My spouse thought I used to be loopy, however I felt like this was factor. I used to be ready to make use of this story to lift my subsequent spherical. I had my very own enterprise and was in a position to keep within the States. And would not it? Certainly’s enterprise arm reached out 3 years later to turn into an investor!
So I believe everybody of their profession will get setbacks. Issues go sideways, and curveballs get thrown at you and I believe the way you react in that second is an important element. Too many individuals react very emotionally on the spot just like the world’s ending. However when you’re in a position to concentrate on what’s 10 years from now and assume that this occurred for a purpose, you possibly can often discover your solution to your better objectives.
