We Raised $1 Million in Seed Funding!

Here’s us all smiling ear-to-ear, and about to dive into that delicious confetti cake (omg, it was soooo good):

Happy Co-Founders: Jake, Michelle, Willo & Brandon

This round was led by True Ventures, and I feel we truly could not have partnered with a better early stage VC firm. They are legit! Not to mention super nice, and incredibly helpful. I first met Christiaan at the Soundtracking holiday party (my friend Steve Jang‘s startup), where we had an awesome conversation, most of which was nothing about work or startups at all. Gotta love how that works, huh?

I’m also incredibly proud to say we have the support of one of my good friends and mentors, Alex Bard, along with his business partner, Gary Benitt. I shared an office with them back in 2010, and have loved watching their success. Alex has been such a sweet and invaluable advisor for me personally, in my career moves over the last few years, that I’m beyond thrilled he’s one of our investors and advisors now at Stitch!

Last but not least, it’s beyond cool that we’ve got the support of Cuban Council (Mike Buzzard, Tara Cyphers and Michael Schmidt). Not only have they graciously shared their office – a very cool office at that, located in the Clocktower building near South Park – but it’s been so awesome for me, personally, to be surrounded by such top notch creatives. If you’ve never heard of Cuban Council, they’re responsible for a few little things you might have seen, like the Facebook logo, Evernote’s website, Foodzie‘s identity and initial site, and many more logos, websites and apps.  Mike and I also realized we have a ton of friends in common, throughout the tech and music industry. SF is such a small town.

Needless to say, us getting funding is only the beginning! We are really just getting started, and we have some really big things in store to help independent business owners. Therefore, if you know of anyone who makes and sells products, please send them our way! You can even share my big 5 Tips for Managing Inventory post with them, which has a code to extend their free trial.

I’d also love it if you’d follow @StitchLabs on Twitter, and join us on Facebook as most of those posts are me and I’d love to see your smiling face shining back at me throughout the day.

Oh yeah, possibly MOST importantly: if you know any great web developers that want to be a part of changing the way commerce is done, send them our way… we’re hiring! 

Related links: 

• Our announcement post on Stitch Labs
• We’re on TechCrunch!
• Stitch Labs Press & Press Resources

SECOND of all, I have been dying to go to the HOW Design Conference for about the same amount of years.

So you can image my delight when the coordinators of the HOW Design Conference 2012 reached out to me, and asked if I would like to lead a session. Ummmmm… YES!!

So, what are all you awesome freelance designers doing in late June? Join me at HOW Design Live! I’ll be leading a session called:

Balancing Your Freelance Workload
Saturday, June 23rd, 2012, 2-3:15pm
HOW Design Conference 2012, Boston

I’ll be talking about the benefits and drawbacks of being your own boss, how to manage clients; tips for keeping everything organized, and how to deal with feeling overwhelmed. I’ll walk you through developing and sustaining work relationships, and how to work through unintentional blocks. I’ll share my expertise in communication, collaboration, and creative sustainability so that you can take your freelance work to the next level.

Register today, as early bird discount pricing ends March 30th. Oh ya, and I have an exclusive HDC speaker discount code for you: Use “HSPKR” for $100 off!

Also, did I mention it will be my BIRTHDAY!? Oh yaaaa, this year I’m celebrating my birthday coast to coast, peeps, so mark your calendars! I’ll be flying into NYC for one night only (June 21st*) and celebrating with all my dear friends there, and then cruising up to Boston for the conference. So excited.

Hope I get to see you at one or both of these events on the East Coast this summer!

*My actual birthday is June 20th

Do you know who Tara Gentile is? If you are a small business owner or creative entrepreneur looking to amp up the volume on your business, you definitely need to know who Tara Gentile is.

Tara is a crazy-good business coach and thought leader who empowers passion-driven entrepreneurs to find their place in business. Through bringing creative planning to branding, product development, and marketing, Tara incorporates both strategy and high touch design.

Tara has just launched a new event called: “The Art of Earning LIVE” – a virtual day-long workshop aimed at unleashing your personal genius and pairing it with a plan of action. This live event is based on Tara’s wildly awesome book, The Art of Earning. The book was about setting the stage — this is about taking action.

The Art of Earning LIVE is an intimate, intentional, and intensive virtual event to help you figure out how to attract the right customers, giving those customers what they want to buy and you want to deliver, and laughing all the way to the bank! You can register for this transformative event, here.

The Art of Earning LIVE
February 23, 2012
Private Livestream Page
Facilitated & taught by Tara Gentile and special guests
Register now! 

The event will be broadcast from about 9:30am until 5:00pm EST on February 23rd, and recordings will be available to access from the same site. You’ll also receive the complete Art of Earning LIVE workbook via PDF to complete as you learn. After the event, there will be a group follow up call with Tara on March 22 at 12:30pm EST.

The Agenda:

• Unlocking your personal & business vision to inspire endless innovation.
• Unleashing the value of the True You.
• Creating a Human Laboratoy to keep your customers engaged & wanting more.
• Understanding the Critical Selling process so you’re never guessing.

So register today and get ready to learn how to create the money, relationship, and experience you crave in the next phase of your business.

This year I have the delight to be involved in two great sessions. The first, is a fireside chat with keynote speaker, Elias Plishner (@SonyPictures), SVP of Worldwide Digital Media at Sony Pictures Entertainment. We’ll sit down after his keynote address to have a more intimate conversation about how social media has uniquely impacted the entertainment industry, and how it’s had an affect on the creation of art as we know it today.

Fireside Chat with Keynote Speaker, Elias Plishner of Sony Pictures
In conversation with Willo O’Brien, WilloToons + Stitch Labs
Friday, February 17th, 9:30am
Adobe San Francisco

Directly after that, I will be contributing to a panel with Tim Partridge (@hellotim) and Denny Tedesco (@WreckCrewFilm), two outrageously talented filmmakers. We’ll share our expertise in using the internet to achieve a creative vision: where art meets social media.

Both Tim and Denny garnered support for their projects, “Life in a Day” and “The Wrecking Crew” respectively, by reaching out to their online community. With support from their social media fan-base, they were able to fund their projects and improve their visibility.

I hope you can join us for this free event!

Social Media Week Panel: “Life in a Day” and “The Wrecking Crew”
Moderated by Willo O’Brien
Friday, February 17th, 11:00am
Adobe San Francisco

“Life in a Day“ is a compilation of footage from all sorts of people across the globe, all filmed on the same day. It’s a great film that showcases the beauty of humans, and all of the fantastic and fragile things that encompasses. Watch the trailer:

Find the Life in a Day project on YouTube and Facebook.

“The Wrecking Crew“ is a peek behind some of the most iconic stars in music to the musicians who made it all happen. It’s an amazing story about how a lot of the same artists recoded in the studio for every famous star from The Beach Boys to Cher, and created the music we all know and love. Watch the trailer:

Find The Wrecking Crew film on YouTube and Facebook.

Remember, most all of these events are free, you just have to register, which is pretty cool. I’m off to the VIP party tonight, and will be attending the closing party next Friday night too. Hope to see you there!

Who’s ready for another amazing SXSW this year? Well, hold on to your pants, because I have huge news:

I’m putting together the very first
CraftMakerCamp at SXSW!

The event will be a full day of networking and sessions specifically tailored for indie merchants. YES! Here’s the official write-up being printed:

CraftMakerCamp at SXSW
Are you a designer, maker, mover & shaker selling your goods online? If so, then stop by the first-ever CraftMakerCamp at SXSW to meet like-minded souls. With a full day of programming specifically developed for creative entrepreneurs, CraftMakerCamp at SXSW will inspire and educate you for a more successful and productive year ahead. Check out schedule.sxsw.com/2012/ for complete details on this all-new space.

So exciting, right?! If you have (or want to start) a product-based business, CraftMakerCamp will be the perfect opportunity to network and gain valuable tools and guidance. Also, I have it on good authority there will be free beer at this location. That’s right… mark your calendars, my friends!

SXSW Interactive takes place:
March 9–13, 2012 in Austin, TX
Are you going?

I want to meet you!

Schedule
Right now I’m hustlin’ to get it all in order, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be… UPDATE: Now it’s two full days, Sunday and Monday, March 11/12th, from 11am-6pm!

Here’s the two events on the SXSW site – add them to your SXSocial Schedule:

• Sunday, March 11th, 11am-6pm
• Monday, March 12th, 11am-6pm

I’m also planning to attend the Texas Style Council Social Media conference over that weekend. Woweee, I’m so excited about all the new fabulous designers, makers & sellers I’m going to meet. Hope to see you there!

Entrepreneurs, movers & shakers of all kinds converge the first Friday of every month at Founder Friday, a networking mixer put on by the awesome organization, Women 2.0. Their events have quickly become my favorite, as I’ve come away from every single one with great new friends and professional contacts.

Recently, when I announced joining on with Stitch Labs, Women 2.0 syndicated my announcement post. Now I have the honor of hosting the next Founder Friday, which is coming up next week! I hope you’ll join me: 

Friday, February 3rd, 2012
6:00pm - 9:00pm
Bluxome Street Winery
53 Bluxome Street
San Francisco, CA 94301

It’s a very social, mingling-type of an event, but there is about 30 minutes where the hosts have the opportunity to share their story of becoming a founder, and some of the lessons they’ve learned on their entrepreneurial journeys.

I’ll be speaking along with Danae Ringelmann, the Founder & COO of IndieGoGo, a phenomenal fundraising platform for everything from an artist’s next record to a family’s medical needs.

Co-Hosting with Danae couldn’t be a better fit, considering so many IndieGoGo projects are for product-based businesses. We share a community of fervent entrepreneurs following their passion and going for it to make their dreams happen. In fact, one of our customers had a successful IndieGoGo campaign and promptly signed up for Stitch, so he’s ready for business when his finished products arrive.

We will begin speaking at 7pm and I encourage you to register early, as the last one sold out! Beyond hearing us share our stories, and enjoying a delicious glass or two of Bluxome wine, this event is a great way to expand your network, share your experiences, learn from others and represent your brand.

The Women 2.0 mission is to increase the number of female founders of technology startups. Their goal is to provide entrepreneurs with the resources and knowledge needed for success, while building and expanding their network.

I’ll be participating in the Women 2.0 PITCH Conference coming up, too – join me:

Get the latest news and info about more upcoming events from Women 2.0 by following @FounderFriday, @women2 and Like them on Facebook.

I look forward to seeing you at one or both of these great events!

My fabulous and fierce friend, Cathy Brooks, invited me along to watch a screening of Miss Representation tonight, and WOW… what an incredible film!! Watch the trailer, share the trailer, and look for a screening near you* and see it as soon as possible.

*If you live in SF, there’s a screening on Wed. Jan 25th at LoveSpring!

This film brought up so much for me, and it was done so well. In particular, the data is absolutely shocking and irrefutable:

Click to view this larger, and read more on http://www.missrepresentation.org/resources/

• Women hold only 3% of clout positions in the mainstream media (telecommunications, entertainment, publishing and advertising).
• Women comprise 7% of directors and 13% of film writers in the top 250 grossing films.
• The United States is 90th in the world in terms of women in national legislatures.
• Women hold 17% of the seats in the House of Representatives (the equivalent body in Rwanda is 56.3% female).
• Women are merely 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs.
• About 25% of girls will experience teen dating violence.
• The number of cosmetic surgical procedures performed on youth 18 or younger more than tripled from 1997 to 2007.
• Among youth 18 and younger, liposuctions nearly quadrupled between 1997 and 2007 and breast augmentations increased nearly six-fold in the same 10-year period.
• 65% of American women and girls report disordered eating behaviors.

Thank you, Jennifer Siebel Newsom and team for creating this movie!!

Education is where it starts, and I’m thrilled to see this film out in the world, shifting the cultural mindset around gender and sexism. The time is now!

One of my first endeavors in my badass new gig has been collaborating on the Save Time and Sell More in 2012 Webinar Series, with Joshua Zerkel of Custom Living Solutions, and the great folks at Outright and Shoeboxed. We are wrapping up the series and the last webinar is tomorrow, Tues. Jan 24th*!

Jake – one of my awesome business partners at Stitch Labs – and I will be leading:

 Managing Inventory: Streamlining Sales and Utilizing Data to Make Smart Business Decisions
January 24th, 2012 at 2:00pm (Pacific) / 5:00pm (Eastern)
REGISTER NOW

As you all know, I’m passionate about the topic of inventory – see my 5 Tips on Inventory Management post – and how crucial it is to have solid systems and a clear window into the data behind your sales. This talk will cover just that!

*If you can’t make it to join us live, never fear… the webinars will be recorded and you’ll receive access to the entire series when you register. Yes, even if you’re just seeing this a month later… go sign up and you’ll get all four presentations:

• Get Organized: 4 Online Tools to Boost Your Productivity
• Accounting for Makers & Sellers: Staying Organized for Business Insights and Tax-time
• Contact Management: Easy Ways to Collect, Sort and Stay in Contact with Your Customers (led by yours truly)
• Managing Inventory: Streamlining Sales and Utilizing Data to Make Smart Business (led by Jake and me)

I’ve been absolutely loving the collaboration on these webinars; I am totally in my element! The best part though has been hearing from empowering small business owners with tried & true tech solutions that will help them be more successful. That’s pretty much my jam. :)

If you or someone you know could benefit from one or all of the talks in our series, I hope you’ll take a minute to register and join us or spread the word!

Recently I announced a really exciting move in my career: joining on as a Co-Founder with Stitch Labs, a startup I’d been consulting/working with for 4 months prior (since September, 2011).

This move has been nothing short of AWESOME, and for those who have seen me in the last few weeks – and really any time in the last 4 months, since I started consulting with them – you’ll know that I’m absolutely over the moon about it.

What’s funny though, is hearing other people’s reactions to a big change like this.

It’s similar to when you start a new relationship, or go through a breakup, and the myriad of responses you experience sharing the news with people, from trusting and celebratory, to fear-based concern or confined thinking.

Many people know me as an independent. I’ve been self-employed creative for going on 10 years, and while difficult at times, I have reveled in that. I’ve long considered myself “unemployable” (in the corporate sense of the word) and have a pretty big aversion to the word “job.”

UPDATE: It’s been pretty funny to watch friends ask me “How’s the new job going?”, except when they get to the word ‘job’ I can see them visually squirm a bit, knowing I don’t like it, but they can’t think of another way to say it. So just in case you’re wondering what I prefer, here’s a few alternatives (please use these with other friends taking on new awesome roles, too): “How’s the new gig?” “How’s everything with Stitch?” or maybe even get more creative, “How are you liking your big, exciting change?!” “How’s it going, Co-Founder?” “What’s been your favorite part?” “What are you working on exactly?” “How has it been juggling your clients and your new role at Stitch?” “How are you liking working with your new team?” “What’s one of the coolest things you’ve discovered so far rockin’ this new gig?” Just some ideas. The squirming is fun to watch, too, though. :)

I’ve told companies flat out that I wouldn’t work for them for 20 hours/week, let alone 40. Working for myself has equaled freedom. So, as you an imagine, I didn’t make this decision lightly.

The thing is, I don’t see my joining on with Stitch Labs as a job. You can read my announcement post, but I’ll reiterate it here again: I *LOVE* the work I’m doing. And to quote my friend Cathi (the awesome artist responsible for the main image on this post): workisnotajob.

Going back to sharing this news with friends/acquaintances, it’s been so interesting to see their coming to terms with my news. Obviously there have been a *ton* of incredibly awesome responses; friends celebrating with me, with wild congrats, hugs and high fives. But there’s also been really odd reactions like, “Workin’ for the man now!” “Wow, leaving the independent life for a corporate job, huh?” or “How’s it feel to have a regular 9-5?”

Now, I accept my part in feeling defensive to these reactions. As I said, I sincerely don’t like the word ‘job’, and have taken great pride in being a self-employed independent for so long. But, for some of them, I just want to say, SERIOUSLY?! What part of Co-Founder says “workin’ for the man”? And furthermore, what Co-Founder do you know that works 9-5!?

Deal is, I have worked hard over the last decade in business for myself. No, make that REALLY hard. Too hard, in a lot of ways… hence my developing a whole series around the importance of balance, aka Creative Sustainability. I’m the first to admit, I’ve been a full force workaholic, and I have learned a lot through the experience of following my passion and making it happen, while maintaining my health and happiness.

Every thing I’ve done in my career has led me to this opportunity, and I made this choice… not because it’s some stable, corporate 9-5 (wait, do you know what a startup is?), but because I truly see the vision and need for this product. I believe in our team and what we’re creating.

I know it might sound corny, but I honestly feel so fortunate to have found this opportunity. Not only have I gotten incredibly clear around my true calling in my career (what I love to do + what comes easily to me), but to have found an incredibly awesome group of talented people working on a revolutionary product. All of which giving me the opportunity to follow my passion to help other creative independent business owners in a bigger, more impactful way. KISMET!

In one of the conversations I had, I replied to a guy’s off the cuff “how’s it feel to have a corporate 9-5″ comment by clarifying that as a Co-Founder, and us being pre-funding, I not only work my butt off, but that until we receive funding, I’m not getting paid (and even then it won’t be a lot). His tone immediately changed and he said, “Wow, that’s quite the risky leap!”

Now this guy knows a bit about my history, as just minutes before he told me how he’d been following me for years, and how impressed he’d been watching my career. So, SERIOUSLY!? What part of my owning my own business for almost 10 years wasn’t a risky leap? I’m an ENTREPRENEUR. THAT’S WHAT I DO. I follow my heart, I make decisions and I take the leap… putting my all into it to make it happen.

(Apologies if that last paragraph is slightly defensive… I just had to share how ridiculous that exchange was to show the extreme of dealing with other people’s perceptions.)

The bottom line is this choice was the best choice for me, or I wouldn’t have chosen it. It’s so perfectly matched to the work I’ve been doing as a Creative Business Consultant [for creative entrepreneurs that make & sell products], that this role is merely an extension of who I am, and a platform to continue doing the work that I am passionate about. This is what I call finding my sweet spot.

Furthermore, no change is forever. Every choice we make is simply another opportunity for us to learn and grow. Every step is a part of our path, that will inform the next. I am not defined or confined by this role any more than any one else is in theirs. We are all limitless in possibility! I wish for everyone that they find their sweet spot, and a team or network around them that supports this spaciousness.

Personally, I feel this opportunity is way better (one would think that is obvious, since it’s the choice I made ;). Not only does Stitch have major potential, financially (albeit risky, yes), but because I’m no longer on my own. I was tired of working solo for so long, and I had been looking for a business partner and the chance to serve in a bigger way. Sure, I had been hiring developers and contractors for years, but it’s different. This move is like going from solo entrepreneurship to collaborative entrepreneurship, which is like music to my collaboration-loving ears. And, ask anyone, it’s just not every day you can feel like you’ve found a solid team to take that leap with.

Anyway, this isn’t to explain myself or talk anyone else into it by any means… it’s mostly just to further the awareness around how we react to people’s news. Do we celebrate with them, knowing that they’ve already put a lot of thought and care into their choice? Or do we tear them down in small ways, belittle or make them second guess themselves? Personally I was a little bewildered to receive some of the latter, but as my friend Alex says… there are armchair quarterbacks everywhere.

Going back to the new love analogy… I’ve been finding more and more it’s like a new relationship. I’m head over heals, and it’s ok if nobody else understands, because we get it. And it’s awesome. :)

Have you ever had a breakup, where every time you had to spill the news to someone, you found yourself having to help them process the end of your relationship? Most likely you’d already done plenty of yelling, crying and talking it out by that point, but you found yourself helping your friend or acquaintance make sense of the change in their head/heart.

On the relationship breakup side, you may have found yourself sharing your story over and over. Sometimes more often than you cared to, and yet you found yourself doing it anyway… getting into the details and drama around what happened.

There’s nothing wrong with this, if it works for you, but what I find interesting is why one feels the need to explain the situation – sometimes to total strangers – even when they don’t need to process it any further.

Similarly to it being nobody else’s business as to why you were with this person in the first place, it’s not up to you to explain in detail why you’re not either. Give yourself full permission in times like this to simply state, “I don’t need to talk it out any further, but thank you for your concern.”

On the friend/acquaintance side, if you find yourself hearing the shocking or sad news about a friend’s split, try recognizing the courage that it’s taking them to experience what they’re going through. Obviously the situations vary, but when I hear a couple has come to the difficult decision to complete a relationship, I often offer a ‘Congratulations,’ because I know it has taken them a lot of courage and thought to come to the decision (or come to terms with their partner’s decision, as it may be). Hat tip to my friend Karrie, who said these words to me years ago, and it was the biggest breath of fresh air in a very difficult time.

Congratulations might not always be in order, nor appropriate, but thing is, even if a couple chooses to reunite eventually, a separation means a new chapter ahead. Granted, it’s usually not easy to feel this optimism right after a split, but new chapters are full of possibility and potential for something positive to come about.

The key sentiment here is for your friend to know that you have faith in them; that you see them in their truest light, as loving and loveable. That’s the kind of friendship they need in that moment. Not your fear or doubt (that’s most often being projected from your own experiences).

I realize there are certainly tougher situations than others, and often it is helpful to talk it out. Heck, it can feel really good to just hear your girlfriend agree with you flat out that “he was a jerk and you’re better off” and to be honest, I’ve received some of the most valuable and poignant feedback and perspective from total strangers. This is all just to bring awareness to how often we feel the need to explain or assist other people’s processing of *our* news. Be it about a relationship or otherwise.

Be aware of when you find yourself stating your side of a situation out of a need to feel vindicated. Justified. Accepted. Right. All of which is totally normal… especially in the face of a complicated breakup when we can feel so confused, abandoned or defeated.  Just bring some awareness to it.

Life and relationships can be so tough sometimes, that the underlying need that drives much of our behavior is to feel like we’ve done our best, or that we’re making the right choices for ourselves and the people we love. The reality is we’re human. We’re not perfect, and this life is all about learning these lessons.

I recently started reading “The Big Leap“, and read a section that’s somewhat related to this, so I wanted to share it with you:

“Arguments occur by two people (or two countries) racing to occupy the victim position in the relationship.”

He goes on to give examples to clarify this statement (you can read these pages online here, pages 85-87), but basically it made me think how even if we don’t want to play the victim, we often fight really hard to be justified in just that. It’s human nature to want to feel heard, understood, justified and accepted.

Self-awareness and self-compassion is where it starts. Take a step back and bring some awareness around why you are fighting, or what you’re hoping to gain by explaining your side of the story. From there, see if you can extend some of that patience, trust and compassion to those around you.

We’re all in this together.

UPDATE: My post today furthers these thoughts, in relation to my experience sharing the news about my recent career move: Taking the Leap Into Collaborative Entrepreneurship