Our startup turns one — SushiVid
Do you remember turning one? No, neither do I. But there’s an awful lot of photos of that auspicious day, and even a few embarrassing VHS tapes lying around — let’s hope they don’t make it to YouTube!
The thing about first birthdays is that they’re really just a chance for our parents to gush over us, and to reflect on the milestones of our first year — all while eating delicious cake that we’re not quite ready for.
And so it is for me with SushiVid. Our first birthday is approaching and so I’m taking the opportunity to sit back with some sushi cake and reflect on just what my baby has achieved, and learnt, over the past 12 months.
Baby steps
Friends who have kids sometimes disappear into the abyss in that first few months, locked away dealing with a baby who depends entirely on them. It can be a lonely and challenging time.
In the first five months of SushiVid I was isolated. Working as a solo-founder, I was constantly fretting about whether I would ever find “the one” to share the experience with. Polygamists take note — I found two incredible co-founders who are equally passionate and are truly helping me to lead the business forward.
Kids can be expensive
According to The Star, the average cost of raising a child in urban Malaysia is RM1.5million.
There’s no getting around it — without cash and investors my start-up simply wasn’t going to grow. Thankfully, I was able to close an angel investment round in the first month of business, which made mobilising the business that much easier. I’m really trying to resist bragging like a smug parent about reaching this important milestone so early!
Learning to play with others
Bringing babies and children together can be a fraught experience, especially if someone doesn’t feel like sharing their toys. But, social interaction is essential for development.
Our team has grown to seven people now. While generally we all work well together, there are certainly moments where we don’t agree or we step on each other’s toes. But, what keeps us going is that each and every one of us only wants the best for SushiVid.
In terms of personality, I only hire people who are prepared to make a stand for what they believe in — it’s in our DNA. I prefer people with a view, not just yes people.
Teething
I’ve never had kids. I hear the teething phase is pretty much the pits. I sympathise.
I’ve also never had to manage a team of seven before. So I’m up all night, researching ways to lead and inspire the team as it continues to grow. Imagine what it will be like when we hit 20?
My main driver is to stamp out any bad behaviour early on, weeding it out before it takes root. Right now, I’m reprimanding the staff if they call me boss (but no smacking, I promise). They call me Oz now :(
To me, we are all bosses — everyone is in charge of their work and decisions.
It’s going to be hard by Asian standards, but I really want to create a flat hierarchy, because I want everyone to enjoy working here — just like Zappos in the US. To spark that culture I’ve implemented company playtime with Friday afternoon drinks. Of course, learning is essential too, so we have one-on-one mentoring sessions as well as stand ups and focus times to set the vision and mission of our company.
Growth spurt
It’s amazing how quickly babies outgrow their cute outfits! And already, our workload is outgrowing our team.
I’m so proud of how far we’ve come in a short time. Within four months we’d launched the portal and by the fifth month we had our first 100 Influencers. Like parenting, it was a slog to get that far; we had to call each influencer and meet them one-by-one, just to gain their trust!
Now seven months after launching our portal, at a time when most kids haven’t even started walking, we have 400 influencers signed up. We’ve made four videos cross country and have connected influencers and brands for a total of 70 campaigns. If that’s not enough to dazzle you, we are close to closing RM150,000 worth of social media campaigns soon.
Unlike those parents with a tendency to overshare on social media, we haven’t had to plaster our brand across Google and Facebook with paid ads (though that’s on the cards) to reach these milestones. Instead, we favour the organic. No, not pureed apples — we’re talking organic inbound marketing — tireless hours spent creating blogs that help influencers and brands.
Needless to say, we’re hiring… if you’re interested?
What next?
Surviving the first year is an incredible feat, so Congratulations to all those parents out there.
But back patting will only take you so far — there’s always a need to plan for the future.
Our vision with SushiVid is to make becoming an influencer an actual career path by creating an entire ecosystem built around influencers.
Why? Well, like many a parent, I don’t want others to go through what I did. I started SushiVid because of my failed acting career, and I don’t want to see anyone else give up on their dream. Though we are a brand and influencer marketplace, our priority will always be our influencers. If we create something that doesn’t increase their value add, we’ll change that. It’s all about protecting our brood.
Conclusion
As those parents before me will understand, the first year has been a time of sleeplessness and angst, balanced against the pure joy watching a fledgling business grow and flourish.
But, for all the difficulties, I absolutely wouldn’t change a thing. Happy first birthday SushiVid — you’ve changed my life for the better!
Memory Lane
