We caught up with founders in our universe to chat about their recent accomplishments and planned goals for the future.
Here’s what they had to say:
Cameron Armstrong, Kitty and Vibe
Kitty and Vibe is a Brooklyn-based swimsuit company reinventing swimsuit shopping through their revolutionary sizing metrics.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
At the beginning of 2021, Kitty and Vibe went viral on TikTok with a video that garnered almost 4 million views and 250K site visitors, establishing a following of over 100K on the platform. This served as a springboard to achieve our biggest year yet!
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
I’m looking forward to re-engaging with our community in person. We have a combined community of 200K across platforms and have found that people are energized and ready to experience Kitty and Vibe IRL!
What’s your advice for founders today?
Don’t forget to zoom out and look at the big picture. Sometimes daily sales and daily struggles can feel all-consuming. It’s important to develop a practice of “zooming out” where you can take time to remember how much you’ve achieved and how far you’ve come since day one.
“It’s important to develop a practice of ‘zooming out’ where you can take time to remember how much you’ve achieved and how far you’ve come since day one.”
Simmone Taitt, Poppy Seed Health
Poppy Seed Health is an on-demand telehealth solution providing 24/7 text support from doulas, midwives, and nurses for pregnant and postpartum birthing people.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
We launched Poppy Seed Health in April of 2021, so 100% the biggest moment for us was our launch.
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
2022 is off to an absolutely rockstar start! In February, we were honored to be spotlighted as Apple’s App of the Day. Our app allows us to provide emotional and mental health support in the moments that birthing people need us the most. We are grounded in our mission to leverage the power of technology to offer support for all birthing people, partners, and families. Additionally, at the end of 2021, Poppy Seed Health closed a deal with Meta that will give all 60,000 employees worldwide access to Poppy Seed Health. We’re so looking forward to supporting these employees and many more.
What’s your advice for founders today?
Two words — Pace Yourself.
Jess Ryan, All Together Now
All Together Now is a new media and technology company building strategies and tools that empower anyone from anywhere to design live digital experiences and connect communities in real time.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
Directing and showrunning the broadcast and live digital experience of Clyde’s, starring Uzo Aduba; Broadway’s very first livestream run. When I created my first live hybrid concert a decade ago, I always imagined we were creating space for more theatre to be accessible to the world, but I never dreamed I’d get to put my stamp on the first major Broadway live capture.
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
Ya’ll, we are drinking the DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) Koolaid and I am HERE for it. We’re deep into working on how Live Digital can (and needs to) re-inject the human experience into the automation of DAOs and we’re also experimenting with how our impact-focused Live Digital properties can be owned and governed by them!
What’s your advice for founders today?
Inspiration is everywhere and collaboration is the key, not only to art—but innovation as well. What we do takes an enormous amount of skill, but it also requires creative imagination. Build time into your weekly schedule to have conversations outside of your industry, share your expertise with folks who are looking for knowledge and receive feedback, remember that bird-walking with smart, inventive people is just as important to our work as finishing that 639th deck!
Ramiro Almeida, TRAM
TRAM is a distributed marketplace that utilizes digital tokens to incentivize, reward and enable low-carbon behavior at a global scale, beginning with transportation.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
My biggest moment in 2021 was to have the privilege to personally interview and spend quality time with the most influential and talented people in Miami, as part of my original documentary series Miami Now, which will be released in the summer.
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
I am excited and looking forward to building TRAM with an extraordinary team. We have committed the next phase of our personal and professional lives to work towards solving the greatest problem that the world will face in the next 28 years, based on the global carbon emissions reductions set for 2050.
What’s your advice for founders today?
Founders should try to be extremely selective when choosing their key collaborators and stakeholders. Team, team, team. When founders are able to get this right, the chances to succeed are exponentially higher. It includes everyone from team members to investors, advisors, board directors, partners, and so on. Founders need to be passionate about solving a problem, and try to enjoy the journey as much as they can.
Janine Yorio, Everyrealm
Everyrealm (formerly Republic Realm) invests in, manages, and develops assets including NFTs, virtual real estate, metaverse platforms, gaming, and infrastructure.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
The biggest moment for my team in 2021 was selling the Metaflower super mega yacht NFT for $650,000.
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
Continuing to build communities in the metaverse that attract lots of people.
What’s your advice for founders today?
Keep pushing. There is always a move!
George Duplessy, Virtual Badge
Virtual Badge is a platform that utilizes mobile devices to increase security and intelligence for on-site personnel management.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
The biggest moment for Virtual Badge in 2021 was winning the Startup Showdown after presenting live in-person to over 400 people here in Miami. It was the validation that we’re building something useful.
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
We’re looking forward to building more and more features to help our clients save time and energy at their project sites.
What’s your advice for founders today?
Just get started, it’s the hardest part but it’s usually worth it!
Abbey Donnell Work & Mother
Work & Mother is a full-service lactation suite amenity for commercial real estate, with resources to support all working parents.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
My biggest moment in 2021 was when we secured our lead investor to kick off our pre-seed round!
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
In 2022, I’m looking forward to having a presence in more markets, being able to provide much needed support resources to working mothers as more and more companies return to the office.
What’s your advice for founders today?
It’s ok to say no—and you don’t have to give an excuse. As life has gotten increasingly more hectic and demanding, I’ve had to be vigilant with my time to prioritize what makes an impact and what is truly important to me.
Laura González-Estéfani, TheVentureCity
TheVentureCity is a team of Founders turned Funders investing in early stage, diverse and mission driven founders.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
Without a question my biggest moment of 2021 was the announcement of Returnly—an investment close to my heart and our company—being acquired by the payment network, Affirm. Eduardo Vilar, the founder, has been a longtime friend and, after watching his hard work for years, we felt enormously happy for him and his team. Who was going to imagine that such a big milestone would happen in the middle of a pandemic? My second biggest moment was the first closing of our second fund with $70M; a fund that has been mostly raised over Zoom! Lesson learned: behind the most complicated moments for us as professionals can, in parallel, be the most exciting ones to also happen.
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
I’m very excited about this new stage for my company, which feels like a rebirth. I often do this exercise of how I would start my company if I was to begin again today, and it is amazing what you draw on paper…. I recommend it to everyone. It’s so eye opening. The transition to Web3 is like going back to school. I love to learn and to test products, and blockchain as a technology is enabling so many new products that were unthinkable before. I am excited to keep learning every day.
What’s your advice for founders today?
I’m not sure if I can advise anyone on anything but, for me, going back to the basics with people, vision, mission and product always works. I always learn something new. Routines are good and bad, so a good health check-up on the business twice a year is the best exercise!
Ellie Bahrmasel, Further Faster
Further Faster is a venture studio that partners with early-stage founders to prove product-market fit, design MVPs, and develop business models.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
2021 was a high growth year for our team, as we expanded operational capacity with the addition of several new team members with deep expertise growing companies in a human-centered way. We also collaborated with impact investors as passionate as we are about solving complex challenges.
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
I’m looking forward to bringing together more founders, operators, experts, and users through our community-driven venture studio. Building capacity for teams to move faster in pursuit of product-market fit, and doing it in a way so they have access to people who can be their thought partners, champions, and co-conspirators is going to be a lot of fun!
What’s your advice for founders today?
Being in ongoing relationship with your user is the most important thing you can do. Constantly listening and learning through thoughtful engagement (testing, interviews, surveys, etc.) is essential to quickly iterate on your product and go-to-market strategy, without wasting too much time and capital going in a direction your users won’t be interested in buying.
Arvind Kapur, Saggezza
Saggezza empowers organizations to unlock the power of enterprise data, uncover new opportunities and create innovative, operational cultures that help companies thrive.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
In 2021, we had moved from an individual to a team-based compensation structure for the first time and realized in the middle of Q3 that it was working so well we were going to blow past our Earnings and Revenue targets by a big margin. We had been holding our breath and at that moment we could exhale!
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
Looking forward to collaborating with a team of entrepreneurs at E-post Global whom we supported in a management buyout from RR Donnelley.
What’s your advice for founders today?
Find the best mentors you can and nurture those relationships by investing time and energy. It can save you a lot of heartache down the road.
“Bet on yourself. Conviction over consensus.”
Jaymee Messler, Gaming Society
Gaming Society is a content and gaming platform bringing a fan-forward voice, education, and the athlete point of view to sports betting.
Your “Biggest” Moment in 2021?
Sharing with the world what we’ve been working on for the past year with Gaming Society, which is to create more immersive and social experiences in sports as well as to make sports betting more inclusive, accessible, and easier to understand for all sports fans. Kevin Garnett also joined as Co-Founder!
What you’re looking forward to in 2022?
One priority for us is a movement called “Bet on Women”, which is a partnership with the WNBPA. I am excited to make an impact on women’s sports by literally betting on women and helping propel women’s sports forward by innovating around the growth of the sports betting industry. If you bet on women, you have to know who they are.
What’s your advice for founders today?
Bet on yourself. Conviction over consensus.