Founders Nextdoor: Entrepreneurship | Small Business | Startups | Freelancing | Washington DC

Allen Gannett is the founder and CEO of TrackMaven, a marketing analytics platform whose clients have included Microsoft, Marriott, Saks Fifth Avenue, any many other well known names. He has been on the “30 Under 30” lists for both Inc. and Forbes. He is a contributor to FastCompany.com and is … Continue reading The post How to Be Creative in Growing Your Business appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Melissa Biggins is the owner of Sweeter Hue, a popular bakery in Washington DC’s Shaw neighborhood. In this episode, Melissa talks about what it’s like to start a brick-and-mortar business in a very competitive industry, and what she did to make sure she had a successful launch day and beyond. … Continue reading The post How To Have Customers Line Up At Your Door On Launch Day appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Elise Crawford is the founder of Ringlet Studio, a digital marketing agency in Washington DC that helps women entrepreneurs build their brand online. As an expert in online marketing, branding, and event hosting, Elise has a lot to teach entrepreneurs and small business owners about marketing. In this episode, she … Continue reading The post How to Build Your Business Brand Online And Offline appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Kim Bryden is the CEO and founder of Cureate, a company that helps emerging food and beverage businesses grow and scale, and also helps big brands and institutions connect with their target audiences through local food and drink. In this episode, Kim talked about how she started her consulting business … Continue reading The post How to Launch And Grow A Food Business appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Ahmad Ishaq is the founder and chief innovation officer of ByteCubed, an IT consulting firm in Arlington Virginia. In 2017, ByteCubed was ranked No 46 on the Inc magazine’s list of fastest growing companies. It was also voted one of the best places to work in DC by the Washington … Continue reading The post From Government Employee To Software Company Founder appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Mina Fies is an award-winning designer, remodeler, and the founder and CEO of Synergy Design & Construction. She is also the author of the Renovation Roadmap system. In this episode, Mina told the story of how she started a business in an industry that she had little prior experience in, … Continue reading The post How to get and keep customers for service-based businesses appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

PJ Taei is the founder of UScreen, a video platform that enables content creators launch their own video streaming service and build a profitable business selling their videos online In this episode, PJ talked about how he created UScreen from scratch, from building prototype and getting initial customers, to iterating … Continue reading The post How to Build, Launch, And Improve A Software Product appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Ryan Croft is the co-founder and COO of TransitScreen, a technology company in DC that helps millions of people save commute time by providing real time display of local transportation information at different locations. In this episode, Ryan shared the story of how TransitScreen found its market sweet spot by … Continue reading The post The Non-Linear Journey to Product-Market Fit appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Joel Holland is the founder and executive chairman of Storyblocks, a subscription-based online platform for high quality stock media. Joel has won numerous awards for his work with StoryBlocks. His company has been listed on the Inc 5000 list six consecutive times and was named one of Washington. D.C.’s best … Continue reading The post From One-Man Shop On eBay To DC’s Best Place For Work appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Alex Hastings and Mike Galyen are co-founders of Guerrilla Vending, a company that creates custom curated vending machines, in collaboration with local Washington DC businesses. In this episode, Alex and Mike talked about how they started Guerrilla Vending with a refurnished vending machine they found online, and how they … Continue reading The post How to find your business’s unique positioning through continued experimentation appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Robert Kinsler is the founder of DC Fray, a company that’s on a mission to make living in DC more fun through organizing social sports leagues, special events, and scouting out the coolest things to do in the city. In this episode, Robert talks about how he started DC Fray … Continue reading The post How To Grow A Business Through Low-Cost, Grass-Root Marketing appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Lisa Wise is the founder of Nest DC, a boutique property management company that has a strong social mission. In this episode, Lisa talked about how she started Nest with little industry experience, acquired customers through engaging with the local community and relentlessly focusing on customer service, and why investing … Continue reading The post Why Investing In The Local Community Will Get You More Customers appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Chris Marentis is the founder and CEO of Surefire Local, a software platform that helps local businesses generate new customer leads by getting discovered online. Chris originally started the company to provide consulting services to local businesses who want to strengthen their online presence. Their services got so popular that … Continue reading The post Content Marketing Tips for Local Businesses appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Junaid Shams is the co-founder and CEO of Rooam, a mobile payment platform that lets users pay their bar tab or restaurant bill directly from their phone. He has received numerous national recognitions, including Businessweek’s “Top 25 entrepreneurs under 25” and Under30CEO’s “Top 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs under 30.” … Continue reading The post How To Build An App Business That’s Positioned to Scale appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Param Jaggi is the founder and CEO of Hatch Technologies, a company working to democratize the software development industry. Param is an inventor and serial entrepreneur. At the age of 13, he invented the EcoTube, a patented device that reduces carbon emissions from cars. At the age of 18, he … Continue reading The post How To Create Network Effect For Your Product appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Aaron Scales, owner and director of BroCoLoco, an architectural design company in DC that turns buildings into brand ambassadors. Aaron started his entrepreneurial journey as a freelancer working on ad hoc design jobs. Through a series of serendipitous events, his hobby projects gained community attention and before long, he was running … Continue reading The post From Freelancer To Hip Design Company Owner appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Thomas Schneider is the founder of Rooftop Roots, a non-profit organization that designs, builds, and maintains vegetable gardens and native landscapes in the DC area. When Thomas first started the organization, his idea was to build vegetable gardens on rooftops of buildings in DC. But after experimenting for a while, … Continue reading The post What To Do When Your Entrepreneurial Idea Didn’t Work Out First appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Jeff Tennery is the founder and CEO of Moonlighting, an online marketplace connecting freelancers with potential employers. Armed with decades of experience in mobile technology and media, Jeff was inspired to build a mobile platform enabling people to work on things they truly love, while enjoying career independence. In this … Continue reading The post Powering the Gig Economy with Mobile Technology appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Erik Dreyer is the co-founder of Goodshuffle, an online event rental marketplace specializing in party and event supply rentals. Goodshuffle was originally launched as a peer–to-peer rental marketplace, but Erik and his co-founder Andrew Garcia quickly pivoted the business to focus on the event rental segment, when they discovered that … Continue reading The post How to Change A Traditional Industry with New Technology appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.

Meredith Sheperd is the founder of Love & Carrots, a DC-based sustainable urban farming company specializing in custom vegetable garden installation and maintenance. When Meredith decided to move back to the city after wrapping up a farm management job, she found very limited urban agricultural job openings in the DC … Continue reading The post How to Turn Your Passion into A Thriving Business appeared first on Founders Nextdoor.