Good (and bad) ideas

Welcome to Issue #11 👋 

Hey, Danny here. What a wild few days. As I write this on Thursday evening, the homepage of the Wall Street Journal looks like…

Regardless of your political beliefs, a lot of businesses across the globe will have to completely rethink how they move forward – everything from strategy and manufacturing to distribution and entire supply chains. Lots of companies will go out of business. And while no one can predict precisely what comes next, at times like this I find it useful to focus on what we definitely know.

We know that tough times can create new opportunities. And we know that being your own boss – having control over your own livelihood – is probably more important now than ever. Governments and politicians will always do what they do. But you can do what you do, too. (Yoda might’ve said that.) So do it.

Thanks again for being an early supporter of For Starters. Let’s keep showing up, backing each other, and building things that matter. Have thoughts? I’d love to hear from you → [email protected]

In Kansas City, For Starters subscribers Kate & Justin Wieners are celebrating the 1-year anniversary of their bookstore Monstera’s. Check out Kate’s essay on Monstera’s backstory and read 3 lessons they’ve learned, which Justin’s shared with us. (KC is popping up a lot lately; what’s in the water over there?) 📚️

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A few years ago, Chelsea Parke got introduced to a massive vintage warehouse. Spotting an opportunity, she saw the potential to share her love for vintage denim with a wider audience. The catch? The supplier required a minimum order of 200 pieces per style. It was a gamble that paid off. Last year, her company Parke made $16m. → Read her story on Female Founder World 👖 

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Ama Amo-Agyei is the founder of Plantmade, a beauty company that started like many great companies: with a personal pain-point. In this case, Ama had lost her job, was stressed, and was losing hair – so she started tinkering with plant-based solutions in her mom’s kitchen. What started with £100 to buy herbs and oils turned into £1m in sales by the end of year one. Since then, sales have topped £12.5m. Boom. → Read more on Shoppe Black 🌿

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Colombian immigrants (and Harvard MBAs) Stephanie Murra and Lorenza Vélez have launched Ponte Labor, a new company that matches Hispanic workers in the US with jobs, using WhatsApp. The problem they’re solving: employers in the hospitality, construction and retail industries find it difficult to fill hourly gigs, while work-authorized Hispanic immigrants often struggle with language and cultural barriers during the job application process. The two say that the service vets, matches and onboards the workers “faster and more efficiently than traditional methods.” Very cool. → More here 🤝

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Five years ago, UK-based starters Freddy Ward and Charlie Bowes-Lyon launched their refillable deodorant brand Wild. This week Freddy announced Wild has been acquired by Unilever. The deal value hasn’t been released, but the Guardian says the company is “thought to be valued at £230m.” 🎉 

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Andrea Hernández, founder of food and drink media startup Snaxshot, talked this week on her podcast to Steve and Alex Michaelsen, two brothers who bootstrapped their drink brand Leisure from concept three years ago to launching nationwide at Whole Foods. → Have a listen 🎙️

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Love the journey of Jen Liao and Caleb Wang, co-founders of MìLà. Jen once worked in health tech and Caleb in finance. Back in 2018 the married couple opened a restaurant in Seattle, which led to them selling their famous frozen soup dumplings online. → Read their story, which digs into their rebrand and product development 🥟

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And speaking of delicious doughy parcels, check out the absolutely adorable branding of this newly opened empanadas shop in Perth, Australia. → More about the business here 😋

For Starters is a weekly briefing for starting the business of your dreams. It’s written by Danny Giacopelli, editorial director of Mailchimp, ex-editor of Courier, and former host of Monocle’s The Entrepreneurs. Thanks for being here.

Frustrated at the lack of transparency in the diamond industry, in 2018 Jessica Warch and her childhood friend Sidney Neuhaus built Kimaï, a sustainable jewelry company that uses recycled gold and lab grown diamonds. The two co-founders now have a shop on London’s Chiltern Street and they’re opening a second outpost in LA soon.

Below, Jessica kindly shares with For Starters 10 lessons she’s learned from starting and growing Kimaï 💎

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01. 

“It’s hard! That’s the first thing you need to know.”

02. 

“We raised money very early on, because at the time it was trendy to raise. If I were to start again today, I don’t think I would. Profitability is important, and to be honest, when we started the business no one really cared about profitability. We went out to raise and no one even asked how we would make a profit. It wasn’t a question! Today, I think building a business that’s profitable and healthy is the way to go.”

03. 

“We launched with not-great branding and not a lot of investment. Many founders wait for the perfect moment to start, but you should just get going: launch, test, learn, improve. We’re doing this with retail right now. We’re not investing hundreds of thousands of dollars. We’ll get a small retail space and then improve it.”

04. 

“There are so many brands out there today. Because of that, it’s so, so hard to stand out from the crowd.”

05. 

“We were lucky. Compared to a fashion business, which might need more inventory, we can work on a made-to-order model. Today we’re not entirely made to order – of course we’ve got some stock – but we started with just 20 pieces which were all made-to-order. Zero inventory. It’s possible if you find the right setup.”

06. 

“People say they care about sustainability, but at the end of the day, it’s not what drives sales. People care about good products, good quality and good pricing. If it’s sustainable, that’s a plus.”

07. 

“We’re really expanding the retail side of things. We’ve got our London shop and we’re opening on Melrose in LA. That’s going to be big. Then we’ll think about the next one. We’re not quite there yet because we want to get LA up and running. But we’ll definitely be scaling up retail.”

08. 

“We’d been looking at Paris for a while, but at the end of the day, LA and the US is a bigger market with higher spenders. We’ll also be closer to celebrities, which makes sense in terms of potential partnerships. We’re doing more and more bridal and engagement rings, so we need to step up our game!”

09. 

“The shift from ecommerce to brick and mortar is interesting. It’s not the same people you need to hire. It’s not the same business at all – that’s what we’re learning. You need to manage across different time zones. You need to find the right team. You need to trust them. It’s not like a website where, if people are sick, the site will continue selling, right? If someone’s sick, the store doesn’t open. You’re stuck if you don’t have the right setup.”

10. 

“I love following inspiring entrepreneurs. But there’s also a lot of bullshit out there. Lots of founders want to be influencers! And lots of them talk only about the upside and positive stuff. So, don’t trust everything you see. You definitely need a filter.”

Inner stillness → Tech and AI are making our minds go mush. Stimuli overload and a tsunami of information = bad for the brain, bad for mental clarity and, thus, bad for building businesses. But there are paths through the noise 🧘 

Backhouse & fronthouse → I loved this simple but powerful biz model framework by my friend Auste Skrupskyte Cullbrand in her newsletter Playground: “At its core, it comes down to how modern businesses and creatives blend their passion with their commercial strategy, often running both B2B and B2C models. More importantly, it’s about understanding what makes money versus what captures an audience – and how the two can strategically fuel each other.” One example, below… 💐 

Surprise & delight → For a small business, a surprise-and-delight strategy can do wonders. And delight can travel far. For instance: I live in London, but I have it on solid authority that Matt & Jeff's Car Wash & Detail Center, which operates two locations 5,354 miles away in Marin County, California, is doing good, unexpected stuff – like running a micro-bookshop. “Things you don't expect to see at a car wash,” says investor, pilot and cyclist Mark Slavonia, who shared his experience with my friend Reilly Brennan, co-founder and partner at VC firm Trucks: “a small section of carefully curated and not-terrible books for sale as you wait for your car to be finished, under the label Matt & Jeff's Book Club.” → This might sound trivial, but it’s not. Don’t discount the compounding effect of clever ideas and good vibes 🧠 

Art deco → Art deco is starting to challenge midcentury modern's dominance, Vinterior founder Sandrine Zhang Ferron tells Dezeen 🪑 

Resources 🛠️

→ If you asked what tool I find most useful for creating this newsletter every week, it would be mymind. It’s an app and browser extension in which you can save articles, photos, links, IG pages, screenshots, literally anything that you want to recall again, and you can pull it up quickly, like magic, on demand. I’m on a paid plan, but there’s a free one, too.

→ Related: I’m a pen & paper guy when it comes to brainstorming, but I’m thinking of giving Excalidraw a shot for more complex stuff. Anyone use it?

Reads 📚️

→ “Where are all the Challenger Gym Wear Brands? Breaking down the lack of gym wear brands in a booming market, and the opportunities it presents.” Friday Thread

→ “My event is the only one that f*cks: inside London’s hot new literary scenes. Reading series have become the capital’s most in-demand tickets. Is literature sexy again?” The Londoner

→ “How a Small Violin Part Highlights Bigger Problems for the Global Economy. A family business in Ottawa that makes special shoulder rests for violins is imperiled by both Trump’s tariffs on Canada and potential Canadian retaliation.” NYT

→ “There's a difference between being good at brand and being good at business. And you need to be good at both.” Brand Person

→ “Looking for alternate income stream, Singapore professionals put new spin on self-service laundromats. Self-service laundromats in Singapore are evolving into cosy hangout spots — think coffee or kombucha, air-condition, massage chairs and even social mixers with live music and beer.” Channel News Asia

→ “The Yemeni Coffee Boom Is About So Much More Than Coffee. For these entrepreneurs, building a flourishing footprint of Yemeni coffeehouses means centering community and cultural connections.” Bon Appetit

→ “Hike Clerb Founder Evelynn Escobar On Building Community By Doing the Work. Hike Clerb has grown into a nationwide community movement to create space for thousands of women of color to reclaim a relationship with nature.” Field Mag

→ “It’s Been a Turbulent Period for the Outdoor Industry. Here’s Why. Economists and industry experts explain how the pandemic, inflation, and the threat of tariffs have caused chaos within some of our favorite outdoor brands.” Outside

→ “America is going through its every-80-year reinvention. Americans have gone through three historic junctures like what we’re witnessing today — and they happen on an uncanny 80-year cycle.” Big Think

Findings 🧠 

→ 275,240. That’s the number of US layoffs last month (March), the highest level since the pandemic. That’s a whole lot of potential starters.

Fun 🙃

→ I mean, sure, you don’t need these ‘wine stopper buddies’ by Swedish artist Klas Ernflo. But every so often, in the middle of the night, you might wake up in a sweat, full of regret at just how much more exciting life would have been with them. Imagine whipping these out at a dinner party. Delightful.

📩 Share your juicy links: [email protected]

🏫 Shoutouts to the FS community

Giant congrats to FS subscribers Sam Kelly and Bruno Levy, founders of ‘tiny tattoo’ brand Tiny Zaps (featured in FS issue #4), who just launched a partnership with Kimpton Hotels. Guests over 18 at five of Kimpton’s hotels in Nashville, New Orleans, Los Angeles, NYC and D.C. can soon get complimentary tattoos, via Tiny Zaps, inspired by the destination. Smart. (#tattourism) 🧳 

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Freddie and Stef are the founders of London-based Wylie’s Coffee, an indie coffee shop they started just over three years ago. “We’re from a design and marketing background, having worked in agencies in London and Sydney, where our love of coffee really started,” Freddie tells me. “Now we have 2 shops and we’re looking for number 3.” Ever the starter, Freddie also runs a small design agency called Duck Duck Goose with Will Chapman, who is also co-founder of kidswear brand Roarsome. You can just do things, people… ☕️

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Props to Jack Stanley and Nîcolas Payne-Baader for the launch of Issue 7 of SLOP. It’s a genuinely great print mag – well written & beautifully designed. Jack and Nîcolas founded SLOP 2 years ago and it’s now distributed for free across the UK and some global spots. “It's been growing steadily over the past couple of years,” Jack tells me. “We print 10,000 copies of each issue, and we’ve worked with brands including Levi's, New Balance, Allpress and Tracksmith.”

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Speaking of mags, in Lithuania Monika Repčytė quit her job last year to focus on creative pursuits. “I was trying to bring my passion projects to the front burner without compromising my performance in the day job,” she says. “Ultimately, I decided to take a leap. As scary as it was, I’m so glad I did.” Her projects so far include a limited edition print mag, writing a short story collection, and teaching private French lessons. She wants to open a physical space, too: “I don’t have a concept yet, but it could be a hub for informal language learning and literary discussions. For reading stories and poetry out loud. I feel these spaces are severely lacking these days.”

📩 Share your news & updates: [email protected]

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