the hundred dollar business

During December’s mall kiosk project, I had the good luck to run into the staff at Specialty Retail Report, a publication & trade show specifically for specialty retailers.

They found us through our blog (yet another reason to maintain a blog: it helps make connections with awesome people in your industry!), and asked to interview us for their spring issue.

I had a chance to be interviewed, as well as Rachelle Anderson (my dedicated kiosk employee & partner in crime), and Kelly Anderson, of StartupPrincess, one of our vendors. They did a great writeup, which you can see at this link. You’ll need to register & login to view the article, but it’s free.

A Few of My Favorite Quotes

“There was nothing to lose, really,” Duncan says. “There was only $100. We didn’t have jobs anyway. The worst that could happen was that people would tell us no. We saw all the doors as being ‘open-able.’”

“In an ironic twist, Duncan flunked the entrepreneurship class—distracted as she was by her actual entrepreneurial endeavor—but passed her real-life entrepreneurship test by launching and managing a 30-day holiday cart on a budget of just $100.”

“Running a business is about being responsible,” she says. “There were times when I just didn’t want to be at the [cart] because I was tired. But I was a business owner, and that was my responsibility. I think anyone starting a business has to realize that.”

Meet Up: San Jose Mid-June

In June, I’ll be attending Specialty Retail Report’s San Jose SPREE conference, and talking about what I learned & our fun experiences with the kiosk. (Side note: the actual term for what we ran is a “cart”, kiosks are built differently).

I’m excited about the conference, especially to finally meet the staff at SRR– Nancy, Patricia, Sally, Tracy– that I’ve been in contact with for several months! If you’re in San Jose in the middle of June, around the 13th/14th, please let me know!

I’m also intending to visit the Village Enterprise Fund, Google, Stanford, Stanford Technology Venture Program, DFJ, and Kiva. If you have any contacts at any of those organizations, and can help in arranging a meeting, that would be extremely generous and well appreciated!