Dani, tell us about Scrunch…
Scrunch is a data analytics company that specialises in Influencer, Social Media and Content Marketing. We help connect brands, publishers and agencies to the right Influencers for their brand. We are a bunch of data nerds powered by coffee.
How did you get the idea?
Before developing an Influencer Marketing platform our team was building a fashion social network that aggregated the world’s top fashion bloggers. It was over drinks one night that we realised how much data we had and that a B2B play would be much smarter. So we pivoted and we haven’t looked back!
We pivoted and we haven’t looked back.
What’s the biggest win you’ve had so far?
Every time a customer signs up to our service, that’s the most important win. It’s validation that we are solving a real problem and can improve the way a business approaches their digital marketing.
What was your biggest mistake?
There have been plenty of mistakes, but we like to call them ‘opportunities for learning’! And without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today, so I wouldn’t change a thing!
How’s your experience been funding Scrunch?
Challenging! Said every person who’s raised capital, ever. We’ve bootstrapped, taken personal debt funding, raised from friends, family and angels… sat in hundreds of investor meetings over the years and it never seems to get easier. I think the biggest challenge is that it takes you away from the actual running of your startup, which can be a risk in itself if growth stalls because you are out raising capital. My advice is: raise more than you need so you are out doing it less! Then get back to focusing on your customer’s success!
Raise more money than you think you need.
Have you had any challenges with sourcing and growing your team?
We are still quite a small team so haven’t experienced any challenges yet. We are lucky, we’ve got some phenomenal talent on our team and they attract other awesome people who want to work alongside them.
Do you have any tips for acquiring new users and/or scaling your business?
The biggest driver of customer acquisition for us has been speaking at events. Getting out and talking to people, whilst technically unscalable, is really powerful! In a world where our social media feeds are getting crammed with ads, I think people find it refreshing to hear it from the source.
If you could go back to the start, tell us two things you would do differently.
Start sooner and raise more money than you think you need.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I talk. A LOT! Typical in the life of anyone running or working in a startup, no two days are ever the same, but you can be guaranteed you’ll be busy! My role is all about acquiring new customers to the platform, so I spend a lot of time talking about how Scrunch can bring value to a business, which is exciting knowing that a product you developed can have such a valuable impact on someone’s work.
Competition is a great sign that you are onto a winning market.
How do you deal with competition?
We LOVE competition! Competition is a great sign that you are onto a winning market. We keep an eye on them, but we are most focused on how we can build awesome products that blow our customers away.
What’s a secret you’ve been dying to share?
We recently opened up our platform so you don’t have to join a waiting list anymore to get access. It’s right there on scrunch.com for anyone that wants to dive in and get a free trial! It’s a pretty exciting milestone for our company!
What’s the best piece of advice you’d give someone starting out?
Just keep going.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Probably doing it all over again, but perhaps a short stint in Mexico with a margarita first.