Astia talks with GenGreen CEO, Charisse McAuliffe

Astia client, GenGreen recently joined forces with its competitor 3rdWhale and we wanted to find out more.

GenGreen, founded in 2007, is the owner of the largest database of green and healthy living businesses in North America, which it delivers via web, mobile and licensed API agreements to such clients as National Geographic and Gannett. The company has strategic partnerships with Green America, Live Earth and Ecobroker.

3rdWhale Media, founded in 2008, is the leading provider of mobile solutions in the LOHAS space. It introduced the leading green LBS (location based service) iPhone app, 3rdWhale mobile, in January of 2009. The company has also built mobile applications for iPhone, Android and Blackberry for such clients as Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace France, 350.org and Brave New Films.

SV: Just a few short months ago GenGreen and 3rdWhale were considered fierce competitors! What lead to this intriguing development and how did you decide you'd be a stronger force as partners?

CM: I met the team from 3rdWhale at the LOHAS event in Boulder over the summer, and within a few minutes of sitting down together it became clear we wanted to find a way to work together. We had complementary strengths, GenGreen and its database, and 3rdwhale and its mobile development. GenGreen's core expertise was in developing the leading proprietary database of green businesses and organizations in the U.S. GenGreen was beginning to monetize the database and was looking to mobile as a way to extend our brand into a fast growing segment where location-based services are hot. 3rdWhale had a much smaller database, with some Canadian listings, but its core competence was in mobile application development in the green space, including their leading location based service. Combining forces has led us to immediately have an even larger lead on the database side (65,000 in North America) and immediately have the 1-2 punch of web and mobile.

SV: GenGreen has been described as the "Green Yelp," could you give us a quick overview of how the company got started and what you set out to achieve?

CM: I started GenGreen with the intention of trying to make it as easy as possible for people to find the environmental resources they needed on a local level. I realized that there must be many people like me, concerned about my health, the health of my children and of the planet and that there was a need to provide access to a directory of screened businesses that people could rely on as their trusted source of local, healthy, green business. While we started in Colorado, we began receiving requests immediately to expand to other states, and so we quickly became the leading national directory of green businesses. Today we get requests from the Netherlands, Mexico, Australia and other countries. While globalization is in the plans for GenGreen, we are focusing on executing our near-term North American strategy first.

SV: Our lives are becoming increasingly mobile-device-centric, how will GenGreen Digital Media leverage this and how will it change GenGreen's original business model?

CM: Mobile, and particularly smart phone technology is definitely revolutionizing how people live and interact with others. To paraphrase, there is basically an app for everything these days. At last count the iPhone app store has 100,000 apps in the store and has experienced 2 billion downloads since last July. Our merger with 3rdWhale has positioned as the leading green digital media company in the local directory space. We now have apps live on the iPhone, Android and 2 coming for the Blackberry (Storm and Curve). GenGreen was already working to go mobile but the merger with 3rdWhale just accelerated our move into mobile. One of the technologies 3rdWhale had already built and is beta testing in Vancouver now is a mobile coupon management system. Mobile couponing is a disruptive technology to paper couponing and we aim to own the market in the green mobile coupon space.

SV: GenGreen Local is set to be a key initiative of the merger - can you talk us through this offering?

CM: We are very excited about this. GenGreen already had a significant amount of technology investment in enabling a local experience to our web users. We had implemented a GeoIP system that recognized where the user was based on their IP address and immediately delivered up local directory information to the user. As part of our combined vision for the newly merged company, we have decided to expand on that by enhancing the local experience when users come to GenGreenlife.com There will be a unique URL for each large market (e.g. www.gengreenlife.com/sanfrancisco), similar to Yelp, but with local sustainability content that goes beyond just the directory and user ratings and reviews. For example GenGreenlife already has an event calendar and job board and these will be further localized in the new GenGreen Local experience.

SV: Localization is at the heart of GenGreen's mission, how will 3rdWhale help to support this value?

CM: Localization is a movement within and outside of the green movement. If you look at the growing popularity of location aware mobile apps such as Loopt, Four Square, Yelp and many others, you realize that mobile technology is actually being used to bring people together with each other and to local businesses. Our mobile team from 3rdWhale is the leading team in the world in building mobile apps to reach the green consumer. Besides the apps already built for iPhone, Android and Blackberry that now contain our 65,000 listing database, they kept the lights on while extending their brand by building apps in partnership with Greenpeace USA, Greenpeace France, 350.org and others, and for that were identified as one of the "Top 10 Ways to Change the World through Social Media" by Max Gladwell. While you suggest our website is moving local, our mobile apps allow us to be hyperlocal. That is we know exactly where the user is leveraging GPS within the smartphones, and therefore we can give our users an even more localized experience than on the web. Our local web strategy and hyperlocal mobile apps complement each other extremely well.

SV: Having worked with Astia for several months now, how has your approach to your business changed? What do you do differently having completed the Doing it Right program?

CM: Astia really helped make it clear to me how valuable and important it is to have a solid supportive network behind me as a CEO. The advisors I have gained, the introductions that have been made and the experience that I had during the program have been proved to be extremely valuable. I have also been able to help other entrepreneurs that I met during the program which has been very rewarding for me on a personal level.

SV: What's in the pipeline for GenGreen Digital Media in 2010? Can you talk about new apps, offerings or initiatives?

CM: Execution on our core vision of hyperlocal web and mobile experience, significant growth in key metrics including, of course, revenue. We will be expanding the mobile coupon model including introducing an SMS text coupon program for businesses in our directory and larger corporations seeking to reach our green web and mobile consumer base. We have some more tricks up our sleeves but we'll wait to go public with them.

To read more about the GenGreen and 3rdWhale merger as well as other news, you can follow them on the GenGreen Blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Astia in Conversation with RumbaFish CEO, Michelle Bonat

RumbaFish was named one of IDC's Innovative Application Software Companies Under $100M to Watch.

Michelle Bonat, CEO, RumbaFish and Sharon Vosmek, CEO, Astia shared a conversation about the honor.

SV: You were just listed as one of IDC's Innovative Application Software Companies Under $100M to Watch. What key differentiators led RumbaFish to be included on the list in such a competitive space?

MB: IDC focused on software vendors that exemplify the three trends driving change: 1) movement away from traditional on-premise (installed) software; 2) New business models for software use by service providers (software within a service) and 3) Web 2.0-like functionality moving into the enterprise. Since we encapsulate all three, we are the middle of this perfect storm.

RumbaFish transforms the way companies engage their audience online. We deliver on the promise of real-time, effective, internet marketing with powerful analytics. RumbaFish lets companies leverage social activity, easily create interactive online campaigns, and update those campaigns dynamically everywhere with a single click – in a way that is measurable. Whether you're looking to drive brand recognition and engagement through an interactive contest, monetize activity with a branded campaign, or engage in dialogue through user generated content – even have your audience Tweet their way to a good deal - we have a solution for every company’s budget. We are a complete SaaS (Software as a Service), self-service offering where companies can be up and running in less than an hour without IT having to install or maintain code.

SV: How was RumbaFish started and how did you get into SaaS marketing?

MB: Fate brought together me and my business partner Stephan DeRodeff on RumbaFish. I had created a successful, award-winning social game and top Facebook application. Leveraging my enterprise software experience leading web applications at Oracle and an MBA in marketing, I was moving forward on a better way to do online marketing. Steve, a technical guru and successful startup executive, had uber experience in Silicon Valley building state-of-the-art software around analytics, SaaS, CRM and highly scalable systems. It was a match made in software heaven as we started to create RumbaFish, which officially launched at the DEMO conference in September 2009.

SV: Your business is built on social media tools. How has social media changed the way businesses operate?

MB: Social media has certainly changed the way companies operate. It's a fact that businesses of all sizes want to engage deeper into the online social sphere. Yet we see so many companies flailing when it comes to deploying and measuring the impact of their social media campaigns. Businesses continue to dump millions of dollars into the vast "social media ocean." Throwing sheep at your customers or posting what you had for breakfast does not effectively advance your business!

As a product of these traditional ad-supported models, each of us sees more commercial messages each day than we can process. It’s simply way too much and as a result the advertising is not persuading us to buy. Organizations need a way to cut through the noise. It would greatly help them to leverage social media through "word of mouth" or evangelist marketing, whereby customers do the promotion instead of the company itself. Embedding some incentives and rewards, and viral marketing components, makes the whole thing fly faster. Then letting them measure it real time, identify their influencers, and quickly iterate on the results. This is how they will get an advantage over their competition.

SV: We love the name RumbaFish! What's the story behind the name?

MB: Thanks! We were looking for a memorable name that we could brand as a company. Getting customers is a lot like fishing. Why just use one hook to catch one fish at a time, when you can use a net and catch a whole school of fish at once? RumbaFish is that net. So we say – “Why just fish for customers when you can RumbaFish?”

SV: You have been with Astia for just 1 year. Describe your experiences with us and how we've impacted the way you do business.

MB: It takes a village to make a successful company, and Astia epitomizes that village. The baseline program is fantastic. But what really distinguishes the community is the number of times that individuals have gone out of their way to assist us. It is really incredible and has shown us the ‘pay it forward’ approach in action.

SV: After a year of economic turmoil, what has kept RumbaFish above water (mind the pun!)?

MB: We are completely driven by solving a big problem in an innovative way - companies spend $34 billion a year to get and keep customers online. Necessity compelled us to do it in an extremely disciplined and capital efficient manner. The point was not to create a cutting edge social media marketing and analytics platform. Our goal was to understand the challenges and priorities of our customers, and create an evolving solution that meets their needs like no other company, with a compelling business model behind it.

Innovation on my mind

Recently I was asked by Mary Kathleen Flynn of The Deal why I thought there were so few women VCs. While I struggle to answer that question (and I welcome your thoughts if you have them). I have been spending a great deal of time thinking about what it means for innovation if women are not appropriately represented – as innovators, funders and consumers of innovation. My cause for concern was validated this week by John Doerr’s comments as he accepted the Bay Area Business Council Hall of Fame Award with fellow VC Brook Byers. John presented a compelling case for why he believes we are heading for a significant innovation crisis here in the Bay Area – and why this is the challenge of our time. What I heard in his comments was that innovation matters. And if an economic powerhouse like Doerr says it matters – I believe.

Accepting that innovation matters, I return to my original quandary about the role of women in innovation. So I read and I observe and I think. These are the tools I have used to develop the following conclusions about innovation and why you should care if you look around and everyone looks, thinks, sounds, acts and is – JUST LIKE YOU.

Number 1) Smart people have told us that diversity results in better innovation: “The diverse group almost always outperforms the group of the best by a substantial margin,” The Difference, Scott E. Page, University of Michigan. “The key to innovation, in economic terms, resides inside the heads of people, the more diverse the better. That link may not be immediately apparent, yet any understanding of innovation's role in economic growth must focus on diversity as well as ability.”

Number 2) There is a significant body of research that demonstrates the correlation between women in executive positions and higher profits and better overall performance. Agreed, correlation is not cause, but the correlation is significant. (Women Matter, McKinsey & Co.; The Bottom Line, Catalyst)

Number 3) The smartest people I know surround themselves with people who challenge their opinions, their premises, their conclusions – they invest in the intellectual journey and the debate. To get to this environment they tend to surround themselves with folks who bring a unique perspective, a unique experience, or a unique way of thinking about the problem –and they welcome these. OK, this one is not research, but I told you I used observation, too.

These are not my final thoughts on the topic by any measure. They are where I am today and what I am thinking about. I welcome your thoughts and observations on the matter and even invite you to guest blog about them on the Astia Notes Blog.

Open Letter to President Obama

Dear Mr. President:

“It has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things who have carried us up the long rugged path towards prosperity.” We agree and celebrate your support for the American entrepreneur – the backbone of the economy. We applaud the creation of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and we write to you today asking that the Board ensures that the policies and programs it implements include high-growth companies founded and led by women.

The economic challenges we face cannot be solved without the true participation of women in the very heart of innovation – leading start-ups with the potential for high-growth and requiring the backing of venture capital. Women are now, more than ever, poised to embrace economic opportunity. Their exceptional pedigrees represent the decades of educational and cultural changes that have encouraged women to pursue advanced studies, then careers in the sciences, engineering, medicine and business. As these women assume the risks and opportunity of entrepreneurship to build and lead high-growth companies in the very sectors that can accelerate our nation’s economic recovery, we must remove barriers to their success. These entrepreneurs are extraordinary innovators. They are prepared to create jobs that provide prosperity. They need access to the networks that provide capital, mentorship and a clear map to success.

We believe this is an opportunity for your administration to use the stimulus plan for economic and social progress by 2015.

Mr. President, consider this: the roughly 23,500 U.S. companies that received venture capital between 1970 and 2005 accounted for 10 million jobs and $2.1 trillion in revenues in 2005, according to a study conducted by Global Insight, a leading economic analysis and forecasting firm. These numbers represent 9 percent of the total American private sector workforce and 16.6 percent of total U.S. GDP, according to the study.

However, of the venture-backed companies in this same period, fewer than 5 percent had a woman CEO and only 7 percent had a woman in a founder role. By 2007, these numbers had dropped to 3 percent and 5 percent respectively.

These figures are particularly startling when contrasted with the Minority Business Development Agency research that shows that between 1997 and 2002, the number of women-owned businesses in this country grew at twice the rate of all firms. The research also found that women have been responsible for starting over 50% of all new businesses.

The percent of companies founded and led by women that receive venture capital must increase. Women are a resource, that if tapped for their existing educational, professional, and innovative backgrounds and capabilities, have the ability to dramatically improve the state of the American economy now and long into the future.

Now is the time to pay attention to the economic role of venture capital, and who has access to that capital. Despite bleak economic forecasts, the market for innovative start-ups remains viable, as venture capital funds by their very nature focus on a long-term horizon. Relatively unscathed by the current credit crisis, many venture capitalists still have access to capital that could fund and grow the next wave of start-ups. Yet research shows their investment strategies and networks fail to include women.

As investors, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, researchers, and scientists we have dedicated ourselves to investing in entrepreneurship and innovation in an inclusive manner. We welcome, with hope and anticipation, your shared commitment to this vision – that women can fully participate in high-growth markets and partake of American prosperity.

We look to the Economic Recovery Advisory Board to set clear policies that will encourage the inclusion of women in all aspects of the process of investing in innovation. Specific recommendations include:

- Direct government funding to research why women are not accessing venture capital to build high growth businesses at percentages consistent with their participation in entrepreneurship. And continue to fund innovative programs that address the root causes.

- Encourage Limited Partner investors such as government pension funds to advocate for including women – not only in the portfolio of companies of these investment firms, but also in the general partner teams they select to make those investments. The data shows that venture firms with a woman as a partner are 75 percent more likely to have a woman-led business in their portfolio. The lack of investment in women entrepreneurs parallels the declining numbers of women partners in venture capital firms – which rests at less than 7 percent today and is even lower in other areas of private equity.

- Require the Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) to revise the women owned business rules to include venture backed start-ups. Currently, the requirement is that a woman must own at least 51 percent of a company to participate in the SBA and SBIC programs. Because raising venture capital results in changes in ownership positions for the founders and executives, this requirement excludes from SBA and SBIC programs the companies with women founders or leaders who have raised venture capital and whose ownership stakes have moved below 51 percent.

- Reinstitute SBA programs offering matching funds for new or emerging manager venture capital firms focusing on underserved segments of the market, including women-led or founded start-ups. These programs allow new venture capital firms to be launched with more financial stability resulting in an increased likelihood of successful outcomes, both for the new venture capital firms and for the companies in which they invest.

We believe only bold, brave actions will make the high growth, venture capital model inclusive of women.

Mr. President, thank you for your dedication to change, for accepting responsibility in a very difficult time, and for considering this request.

Yours sincerely,
Sharon Vosmek, CEO
Astia

Take chances. When rowing forward, the boat may rock. (Chinese Proverb)

I am sure that readers will laugh when I say that publishing this blog feels a bit bold and daring. Those of you who have been doing this since 1999, I commend your courage. I, for one, have been reading the internet since 1995 and I look forward to finishing it soon.

Back to the point I intended when I chose the subject for today's Astia notes.

Astia's growth this past year has taken on a life of its own. This growth, while exciting, feels a bit like a rocking boat at times. The key to success for us has been to learn to lean at the right times and in the right direction to both capture the wind and keep the boat from capsizing - all at the same time. Here is just a quick wind-in-our-sails, rocking-of-our-boat list:

Astia Silicon Valley - still our flagship product, the Doing it Right Program and it Conference in November once again delivered real results for the clients we serve. As of this posting 29% of the 28 companies had already secured funding - and there are more well on their way. This puts that program on par with prior years. Astia clients continue to outpace the broader market where fundraising success hovers below 1%.

Astia NYC - in its second year, the Astia New York community has blossomed! This year's Doing it Right program is a part of the first annual NYC Entrepreneur Week and already 18 companies have been accepted. Want to find out if you have what it takes?

Last year's class had a greater than 40% success rate - proving that the Astia model for success can extend well beyond Silicon Valley.

In addition, the model continues to attract great interest with Astia Vice President, Jennifer Hill, featured a number of times on MSNBC and strategic partnerships emerging such as with 85 Broads. If you are thinking that you would like to be a part of this growing community, you can reach out directly to Jennifer (jhill@astia.org) or Raquel Episcopio (raquel@astia.org) in the New York Office (yes we have an office, thanks to the generosity of David S. Rose, Chairman of NY Angels). You can find team Astia at 30 E. 23rd Street, 6th Floor, NY, NY 10010.

Astia UK/EU - has managed to capture the interest of the media with features in the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph as well as the bloggesphere with mentions in http://thenextwomen.com/, TechCrunch, Helen Keegan, and don't even get me started on all of the Tweets! In its first year, the programme features prominent investors, entrepreneurs and industry leaders all brought together by a local community of Advisors.

Astia continues to grow through collaboration, and in the UK, Astia will partner with thenextwomen.com for Female Friday at the Next Web Conference, April 17th.

Astia UK incorporation is also under way thanks to the legal support and leadership of Advisory Board members from Reed Smith. Astia UK is hoping to qualify for charitable status in the coming months, demonstrating our commitment to the community and the market.

Astia India - has a planning committee that has blossomed to 20 members. The first Astia India event is now being planned for early May - in spite of the fact that my travel budget is nil for the India market. This means that committee members Sajai Singh, J. Sagar Associates, Anurakt Jain, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, India, Anu Bhardwaj, and Nita Goyal will take the leadership to ensure a successful gathering. Watch the community grow!

And all of this GREAT STUFF is happening at Astia because of some trends in the broader market place (IMHO):

For the past 20-50 years women have been pursuing opportunities so that today they represent:
51% of businesses
35-40% of applicants to business schools
43% of environmental engineering degrees
40% of bioengineering degrees
12% of mechanical engineering and computer engineering degrees

What this tells me is that women are poised and ready to participate. Already they are strong entrepreneurs. Our work is to expose them to the business opportunities presented by raising outside capital to grow their businesses. Women still today under-utilize equity investment as a means of growing their businesses. However, that does not mean that they are somehow not able or not allowed to - it just means that they need exposure to it.

And that, my friends, is what we are all about. Men and women - working together to grow the next generation of innovative companies.

I will be back next month with more thoughts - or maybe next month I will have a guest. Either way, I hope you will return and provide your comments and thoughts about what we have to say. I very much look forward to the dialogue!

PS
The Center for Venture Research found that women receive angel investment on par with men. OF COURSE THEY DO!

Astia Launches a Blog

Welcome to Astia Notes. In the interest of continuing to grow the Astia community, we have established this blog. I will invite guest bloggers to join me in conversation and hopefully this will become a vibrant component of the already vibrant community.

Stay tuned. More to come soon... very soon.