#smallknot

[catalina-viyahair]

who like small knots?🙌🏽🙌🏽 . #smallknotswig #smallknotslace #smallknot #hdlacewig #hdhdhd #13x6hdlace #13x6hdlacefrontwigs #smallknotshdlace #viyahair #viyahairextensions #wigsarelife #wigsforwhitewomen #lacefrontals #fulllacewigs #closurewigs #hdlaceclosure #laceclosuresewin #hdlacewigs #wiglife https://www.instagram.com/p/CNRQ7TiHG1G/?igshid=1avhhi3bejobm

[culturesocialnyc]

We love the @Super_Harbor website....it's inquisitive...

...informative and accessible whether you are just launching or growing your business.  

We also love the story of Matthew Ricke and Brandon Chamberlain, co-owners of The Exley, using Smallknot to raise funds for their business.

Enjoy!

***Art, wine, networking & you: Culture Social, April 25***

[our-ghsts]

About Our Smallknot Campaign

Hey guys we wanted to take this opportunity to give you a little insight into our crowd funding campaign we're currently running. 

So we're doing a crowd funding campaign on a site called Smallknot, we choose to work with Smallknot because of how focused they are on small local businesses and their personal commitment to each campaign. Being a small business who wants to build in our community to become bigger and better this was very attractive to us. 

Why are we looking for funding?

Well over the last almost two years that GHSTS has existed we've been a really small company, yes we've grown slowly but surely but we have remained rather small. The need for funds at this time is due to us wanting to take our largest step forward into cut & sew garments made in Brooklyn. Branching out into cut & sew garments is a new and exciting challenge for the brand, one that allows us to better control our quality, costs, and branding. 

What makes GHSTS different then every other small/start up clothing line out there? 

What makes us different is our approach to design and our vision for the label. We want GHSTS to become a small yet full fledged clothing label over the next two years. We're not going to over night attempt to make 25 new styles, we want to start small in cut & sew with hoodies and tee shirts ( styles that we will be able to use season in and season out) before going further. Taking these small measured steps will help to ensure we do not get in above our heads with manufacturing and supply expenses that can overwhelm even the best small designers. We want to focus on our quality as well maintaining our production here in Brooklyn and New York, why go abroad when there is world class quality here in our own backyard. 

Why should I contribute to you guys?

You should contribute to us if you believe in our product in our brand and our idea of how to move forward. 

You should contribute to us if you like seeing a small business grow in an organic manor.

 Also you should contribute to us because we have some great rewards in exchange for you help ( custom tee shirts, tee shirts, tote bags,stickers, posters and more!)  because we want to make it fun and rewarding for you.

If anyone has any other questions please feel free to message us, we love hearing feedback, ideas and of course your questions!

GHSTS ON SMALLKNOT

[our-ghsts]

Hey everyone we just launched our SMALLKNOT.COM campaign to raise funding for cut & sew garments made in Brooklyn. 

The goals for GHSTS is to become a full fledged clothing company offering product in a variety of segments; tee shirts, cut & sew, outerwear, denim, accessories, etc. I want to take this small brand and grow it into something more through small steps, while keeping all production in Brooklyn and New York City.

Check it out!

[our-ghsts]

Very soon we'll be embarking on a Smallknot crowd funding campaign. What's Smallknot you ask? Well its a crowd funding site (like kickstarter) that focuses on small business and their neighborhood. Smallknot started out focusing on businesses based in New York and has since grown to supporting and working with small businesses in LA and Boston. The Smallknot team has taken a real vested interest in our campaign and worked really hard with us to help us get ready. We chose to work with Smallknot because we love the dedication of the team there, the vision they have for the platform and that the site is aimed at businesses not just projects. We're really excited about doing this campaign and what we aim to do in the near future with the brand.

We'll be launching the campaign next week and really hope some of you guys contribute (there are some great returns!) we'll keep you updated about it. In the mean time go check out Smallknot's site now and see some of the great campaigns that are currently on there. 

SMALLKNOT.COM

[theearlystage-blog]

Neighborhoodies -- How We Did It

SeizeTheCrowd's first campaign, Neighborhoodies on SmallKnot, finished up yesterday and was a big success all around. Their goal was $7500 and ended up raising $9450 from 72 different investors. I'm very happy for Lori and her team and proud of Josh (marketing/PR) and Dave (video) for helping them achieve this success. So, what'd they do right?

Strong community-centric message: Neighborhoodies' was raising money to fund a new line of higher-end sweatshirts but the message of the campaign was more about the social impact of supporting the new line. Namely, Neighborhoodies plans to do their production in Brooklyn, where they're located, and contract with single mothers on a flexible basis. While the new line was prominent in their video and text pitches, I think they made the right move in emphasizing the 'local economic stimulus' aspect since it gave backers a common link beyond an interest in cool sweatshirts bought at a discount.

Strong pre-launch effort: It's well-known that the first 1/4 to 1/3 of a campaign's supporters will come from the campaigner's personal and professional networks. That is, strangers jump in and support only after they see that others have been willing to put their money down. To get the ball rolling campaigns need to do off-line pre-launch sales to their core supporters and make sure that this core group is ready to go when the campaign launches officially. Neighborhoodies did a good job with this.

Intra-campaign flexibility and excitement: Another well-known fact of crowdfunding is that campaigns tend to stall a bit after the initial excitement has worn off and before the frantic final days begin. I've thought a lot about strategies to make the boring middle a bit more exciting and think that Neighborhoodies did a good job in this area. They tweeted and posted to FB regularly and, interestingly, they came up with exciting "news" to share with their community. A lot of the news came out of partnerships with other Brooklyn companies: The Mutual sweetened the rewards by offering free membership to campaign backers, others stepped in by offering to a host a party, et cetera. Each of these partnerships provided good reasons for Neighborhoodies to contact their community and effectively expanded their network since each of these partner-allies had an incentive to support the campaign.

As I said, I'm extremely proud of everyone who worked on this and am grateful to Neighborhoodies for the opportunity!

[mothernaturenetwork]

Smallknot: Small business investing for anyone Smallknot lets you invest in the small businesses in your community in exchange for goods, services, special perks and benefits. With Smallknot, you can chip in a little bit of money to help a local business achieve projects that will spur growth and help your community prosper. You already eat local and shop local. With Smallknot, now you can invest local.

[benrossen]

Reflections Before Demo Day

It's the night before demo day.  I'm supposed to be in bed, I think.  It's an early morning tomorrow. 

But I'd be remiss if I didn't take a moment to reflect upon what the past three months have meant, both professionally and personally.  A year ago today, as Timehop regularly reminds me, I was sitting at a desk at a law firm thinking far too much about residential mortgage backed securities.  Yes, I was earning a good salary but I was plainly unfulfilled, listless, treading water. 

I don't know if I've ever actually told Jay how inspiring it was when he quit his job at Davis Polk in June 2011 and founded the company that is now Smallknot.  But it was. It's hard to describe the sensation of being "trapped" at a corporate job and a path that is seemingly already defined for you, but it feels inexorable. When Jay just said "Nope!" and left his job, it was a little like seeing Neo start dodging bullets in The Matrix.  The rules no longer applied. It was incredible. And joining him on this journey was the best decision I've ever made. 

But I digress. 

A year later, we are no longer lawyers calling themselves entrepreneurs. We have a company. It is still a fledgling company taking its first steps into the world, but it is growing and we are so excited about what the future holds. 4 funded companies. A growing pipeline. Multiple cities. A talented team of developers, designers and evangelists. A long term vision. The potential to lead a movement. 

TechStars has transformed the way we view our company and the way we run it. Yes, we used to dread our weekly meetings with Tisch. They were not always pretty. But Tisch and Adam have pushed us to excel, to find our outer limits, to become what we aspire to be. The mentors, associates and hackstars inspire me daily, and the chance to surround myself with talented, brilliant minds, out to disrupt broken industries and change the way we view and relate to the world around us, has buoyed me over the long hours and stressful nights of the past three months. 

Tomorrow, 13 truly incredible companies take the stage at Demo Day.  This is an impressive class, and each company is doing something remarkable. There is no fluff.  They all deserve to win.

It's been an honor to be a part of TechStars 2012 with all of you. Let's dominate demo day. 

See you at Webster Hall.