#giftstarter

[arryinseattle-blog]

#startuplife - dancing in our seats to the #hamster music. Yep. #GiftsMatter #GiftStarter #GiftTogether #team #together #Seattle #marathon

[arryinseattle-blog]

#Moment for our Chris who just got his first #GiftStarter today from the #team. He recently had a death in his family - so we group gifted some flowers for him yesterday and his #family. We were lucky to capture him opening and reading the card today on his day back. We #love our team mates.

[giftstarter]

Sturtevant's!!! www.sturtevants.com has joined our new gifting movement.  This is HUGE!!!

We spent a TON of time talking to customers, prospective customers, gifters, tons of people, we heard from folks that they were regularly group gifting snow gear.  The most memorable story we heard was from a guy (John) that had mandated no more gifts be given from family and friends all year, because he didn't want tee shirts, socks, and beanies.  He had convinced his entire family and friend circle to give him a big gift at the end of the year in the form of cash and checks, that he would use to go buy awesome snow gear.  This year, 2014, the big family group gift of the year was going to be an awesome set of skiis for John.

So here we are.  Surtevant's. An AWESOME brand retailer that's local to the Seattle region has joined forces with us to make group gifting actually awesome.  No longer will John's family and friends be made to withhold and feel left out in the gifting process.  No longer will they feel like they are just giving cash. 

So check out Sturtevant's.  www.sturtevants.com  They even have a nice blog post about our partnership: http://blog.sturtevants.com/tag/giftstarter/

*High five!

Team GiftStarter!

[giftstarter]

Group Gifting Experience Platform GiftStarter Announces Partnership with Beauty Brand, butter London®

Giftstarter Welcomes butter LONDON® and Other Brands to the Group Gifting Experience Platform   Seattle, WA:  GiftStarter (www.giftstarter.co) announced today the launch of its first major brand partnership with high growth, prestige colour cosmetics brand, butter LONDON®.  Through the partnership, butter LONDON® offers a social group gifting experience to shoppers and is the first major beauty brand to use the innovative social commerce solution powered by GiftStarter.    “With the growing importance of social influence and mobile shopping to our customers, we needed to explore a solution that allows our Bezzie Mates to shop and give socially this holiday season.  GiftStarter was the perfect partner to celebrate this customer experience and support group gifting across social and digital platforms”, said Leslie Freytag, President & CEO, butter LONDON®.   Powered by GiftStarter, butter LONDON® will be the first beauty brand to give shoppers access to true social gifting of butter LONDON®’s curated gift collections and sets.  Shoppers will now be able to group gift both directly from butter LONDON®’s website, as well as access butter LONDON®’s gift sets and collections through GiftStarter. GiftStarter delivers both a beautiful handcrafted card and the butter LONDON® gift.  As part of the gifting experience, each person writes a special note online, all of which are compiled into the handcrafted card for the gift recipient on the completion of the group gift.  GiftStarter’s mission is to bring back meaningful human interactions, using technology as an enabler – not a focal point. GiftStarter (www.giftstarter.co) makes it easy for two or more friends to come together and purchase a gift for someone.  These gifts come directly from a growing list of unique brands, including butter LONDON®, ICPooch, B&H Photo Video, Fat Cork, Seneca & Spruce, Restrepo Leather, and more.  GiftStarter offers more than three million quality products to choose from through its direct product search.   “We are absolutely excited by our momentum since our inception as demonstrated by partnership with the great team at butter LONDON®.  We look forward to helping build upon butter LONDON®’s powerful brand and unique positioning in the industry for great growth”, says Arry Yu, CEO at GiftStarter.  “We are gearing up for the holiday season, and partnering with new unique brands every week.  We believe people really want to connect to others through the personal touch of their gifts, and that human-centric focus is exactly what we are bringing back with GiftStarter.”   Arry will be speaking about GiftStarter as Crowdfunding expert on November 11 at Crowdsourcing: Redefining the Way We Do Business, and at Seattle’s World Usability Day November 13 at the University of Washington.   About GiftStarter: www.giftstarter.co  | @GiftStarter GiftStarter is a group gifting experience for family and friends, who can find a gift from a list of over three million different products and a growing list of unique quality brands.  GiftStarter’s mission is to bring the humanity, personality and the joy of real life interactions, using technology as an enabler – not a focal point.  The startup is cofounded by Arry Yu, Stuart Owen and Christie Gettler and was born out of a first place win from Startup Weekend, Seattle ReDesign.  GiftStarter is also participating in the 9Mile Labs program, a Seattle based B2B startup technology accelerator.    Arry, GiftStarter CEO, was recently recognized by the Puget Sound Business Journal on its 40 Under 40 List of Business Superstars for 2014. The list recognizes dynamic business leaders under the age of 40 for their contributions to their companies and to the Seattle community. She was recently highlighted in the Women of Presence series of women leaders across the United States.    About butter LONDON®: Synonymous with all things rock and roll, Great Britain and fashion, butter LONDON® is recognized around the world for superb, unexpected colour and long-lasting, high-performing beauty products. Founded in 2005 as one of the pioneers in the nail service sector offering “3 Free” nail lacquer, butter LONDON® is now the “go-to” brand for high-fashion beauty. The butter LONDON® product line includes eye, lip, face, and nail colour cosmetics that are fashion-forward and created for the runway. Since establishing key retail relationships with Ulta and Nordstrom in 2010, butter LONDON® has expanded into other prestige outlets such as Macy’s, Sephora, and select boutique apothecaries. butter LONDON® has a significant international presence and sells direct through both its online platform (butterLONDON.com) and its very own Seattle, Washington Sea-Tac Airport Nail Salon. butter LONDON® is a privately-held company.

[giftstarter]

Arry Yu, CEO of Giftstarter.co, selected to PSBJ’s list of 40-Under-40 Business Superstars Seattle, WA:  GiftStarter (www.giftstarter.co), a collaborative gifting experience platform, is proud to announce that the Puget Sound Business Journal named Arry Yu to its 40 Under 40 List of Business Superstars for 2014.  The list recognizes dynamic business leaders under the age of 40 for their contributions to their companies and to the Seattle community.   GiftStarter (www.giftstarter.co) recently announced the launch of its gifting platform GiftStarter, which makes it easy for friends and family to come together and purchase a gift for a loved one from a growing list of online retailers which already includes Nordstrom, REI, Best Buy and Amazon.com. Contributors write special notes with each pitch-in, all of which are compiled into a beautiful handcrafted card for the giftee on the campaign's completion. GiftStarter’s mission is to bring back the humanity, personality and the joy of real life interactions, using technology as an enabler – not a focal point.  “I am very excited to be recognized with this award.  At the end of the day, people do really matter and that human-centric focus is exactly what we are trying to bring back with the GiftStarter platform”, said Arry Yu.   Arry and her GiftStarter team were also recently invited to join 9Mile Labs, Seattle’s B2B startup accelerator.  “We are thrilled to be working with Arry and her team in the upcoming program,” said Sanjay Puri, partner at 9Mile Labs. “Arry brings an incredible combination of entrepreneurial skills, irrepressible energy and a unique ability to engage and influence others,” added Puri.  Arry got her start consulting with some of the most recognizable brands in the world including Microsoft, Google, and L’Oreal and has spent the past 8 years building businesses with an emphasis on corporate culture and innovation.  She’s recognized as a change maker and is sought out often for her leadership and creative skills.

To see the PSBJ's 40 Under 40 Article on me (Arry Yu), CLICK HERE.

Congratulations to our teammate - Arry!!  We had an awesome time at the awards event this past week at the SoDo Showbox in Seattle, WA.  

Love,

Team GiftStarter

[giftstarter]

GiftStarter Partners with Seneca & Spruce!

GiftStarter is happy to announce the launch of our first brand partnership with Seneca & Spruce.  GiftStarter is now available via an integrated experience with our premier gifting platform to buy items collectively. We are excited to launch this innovative approach to social gifting.

What's Seneca & Spruce?

In today’s market, there’s a huge burden placed on the designers to get their lines produced from designing, producing, funding, marketing and selling their lines. Seneca & Spruce believes in the 'emerging designer movement' which highlights the talent and skills of emerging brands. Seneca & Spruce makes online shopping easier for the small run clothing and accessory brand by providing a marketplace and a platform to help them compete and they help brands establish trust with consumers when shopping online.  Seneca & Spruce has a team of talented writers who focus on telling the story of each emerging designer – how they got started, what inspires them, and fashion do/don’ts. This is the story of entrepreneurs and artists living life following their passion. Purchase a jacket off the rack in a store and the only thing remarkable is the price; purchase an item on Seneca & Spruce and share in the story of the designer, what inspired them, where it came from, and be part of the culture.

It makes sweet sense on why GiftStarter and Seneca & Spruce have partnered up!  We both want to help make it easier for brands.  We both want to help share the story and help create that community that connects people to people.  We both believe in the people power of community.

Let's get gifting!

Team GiftStarter!!!

[giftstarter]

Stuart was one of our first GiftStarters, who got a gift together with their family and friends for his beautiful fiance, Carina.  The story began with a sad event where Carina's beloved bike got stolen from their porch one week.  Quite the bummer - and the stolen bike was never found.  :(

A bike was the present he wanted to gift to Carina for her birthday a month later.  Each of their family and friends got to pitch in on this bike gift for her birthday - and we were there to capture the gifting moments: the handcrafted GiftStarter group card with everyone's personal messages to Carina + and her seeing her new bike for the first time!  

There's someone among your groups of family and friends that has an event coming up.  There's someone that you know of that right gift for... Use GiftStarter to make it happen together!

Hugs from us to you,

Team GiftStarter!

[giftstarter]

The #1 perfect wedding gift for your guy friend who's getting married - a drill set.  When he gets married, he'll likely be the go-to handy man for all things in the house, assembling furniture, hanging art on the walls, .... an awesome drill is a MUST HAVE.  We've been interviewing a range of people regarding the best wedding gifts to get a guy friend, here are the top 5:

1.  Drill + Driver Kit

2.  A Grill for the Patio

3.  Google Chromecast

4.  Wireless Printer, Scanner and Copier

5.  Keurig Coffee Maker

There you have it!  Got a guy friend who's getting hitched soon?  These are gifts they need but don't even know it yet - be ahead of the curve and get the couple things they will definitely need in their new life as married love birds.  Have more ideas that you've seen work?  Please send them our way! 

Team GiftStarter!