(1) Describe your startup.
Blocklight is a bootstrapped company founded in March 2018 headquartered in Chicago working out of tech incubator 1871 with team members in Chicago, San Fran, and the Tampa Bay Area. We operate in the e-commerce space providing business intelligence to online sellers with monthly revenues between $500-$25,000. At our core, we’re a data analytics platform for e-commerce stores. Our long-term vision is to use store data to provide real-time loan products; avoiding the complexity of bank loans and the expense of alternative financing.
(2) What inspired the creation of the startup?
A good friend of mine and his wife started a very successful e-commerce business but struggled with 2 things: managing their data/making data-driven decisions + procuring capital. I witnessed them continuously take high-interest loans from technology companies and thought there must be a better option.
(3) What differentiates your startup from the competition?
The quality of our analytics and the accessibility to, and the cost of, capital.
(4) Who is the target market?
Online sellers with monthly revenues between $500-$25,000
(5) How did you grow your presence in your target market?
Direct contact and lead generation, partnerships, digital marketing
(6) What stage are you at?
MVP fully developed and deployed, successful beta, subscription revenue in the next 6 months.
(7) What are some of the biggest challenges that your startup has had to overcome?
Team dynamics and financing
Getting the team right is not only crucial, but difficult. Since founding, team members and leadership have come and gone, and throughout that time our values as a company have been tested and subsequently etched. We know who we want to be in part because we’ve learned who we never want to become.
The second is financing. It’s difficult to raise capital and keep your company not only alive, but in a strong financial position as it grows. Everyone who has a startup faces this challenge.
(8) What is next for the startup?
Expanding a few of our features for small businesses, and a continued marketing push into our subscription plans for next year.
(9) Where would you like to be in the next 5 years?
In 5 years, our analytics platform and lending platform will be fully deployed. Businesses will have suggestive analytics and machine learning aiding their business decision-making, and an alternative to the current options for procuring capital to finance their small business.
(10) If you had to give one piece of advice to an up and coming startup what would it be?
Always be honest with your team and yourself and do whatever you have to do to not let your startup die. Keep going.
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