Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / Lessons in Failure: "We failed our first Kickstarter campaign!” with Goverre founders Regan Kelaher and Shannon Zappala (Part 1)

Transcript

Lessons in Failure: "We failed our first Kickstarter campaign!” with Goverre founders Regan Kelaher and Shannon Zappala (Part 1) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  Hello, it's Dune here, your host and hype girl. I am so excited to bring you this special mini series on the pod that is centered around failure. The next three weeks that we're going to be diving in and reflecting on some of our favorite episodes that are all about embracing failure and turning it into your greatest asset, which
• 0:22
  Because we've all been there or we all will be there. Failing is literally just part of the journey, whether we like it or not. I remember for me when I was building Kinks, my D2C jewellery brand, you know, it didn't go as planned. We closed it down and that could have been viewed as a failure for sure.
• 0:42
  But for me, it turned out to be this critical learning and this critical experience that really shaped where I am now. And it actually got me to figure out what I actually wanted to do. It led me to Female Startup Club. So this miniseries is really about highlighting similar journeys from other founders who have faced their own challenges and emerged stronger than ever.
• 1:07
  Tune in over the next few weeks to hear these gritty stories and the valuable lessons that come from failure. Whether you're navigating a tough phase or you simply want to know that you're not alone, these episodes are going to remind you that every setback is a setup for a comeback and we all have it in us to fail forward.
• 1:27
  And if you have a story to share all about failure, we would love to hear it in the Facebook group. Come in, join us and be part of the conversation. Alrighty, let's dive in. This is Regan Kelleher and Shannon Zappala for Female Startup Club.
• 1:54
  Hey everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. I'm your host, Doona Roshin, and joining me on today's show are the two co-founders of Govair, Regan Kelleher and Shannon Zappala.
• 2:08
  Reagan and Shannon began collaborating on all things wine in 2015. Their passion for great wine, dislike of plastic glasses, and a love for Southern California's outdoor lifestyle led to the birth of Govert, a portable wine glass tumbler with a silicon sleeve and a drink-through lid.
• 2:27
  In this episode, you'll hear their lessons learned after a first failed attempt at a Kickstarter, what happened after they went on Shark Tank and were hit with a major lawsuit, and what they wish they did differently if they had their time over.
• 2:40
  And while I've got you here, you may have heard me shout about our Facebook group already. But if not, we have a community of like-minded female founders and side hustlers, and we would love for you to join us. I've linked it in the show notes, or you can search Female Startup Club on Facebook. This is Regan and Shannon for Female Startup Club. Regan and Shannon, hi, hello, and welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast.
• 3:07
  Hi, thanks for having us. I'm so excited to be here with you today and to hear about your fun brand. I always love to start by getting you both to introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about the business. So Shannon, let's kick off with you.
• 3:24
  Okay, great. Well, thank you so much for having us. We're so excited to be on this podcast. I am Shannon, and I am the co-founder of Govair. And Govair is a portable glass wine glass with a silicone sleeve and a drink-through lid. Govair, the wine glass, is kind of our
• 3:44
  hero product or started as our hero product. And now we have transitioned into champagne flutes, cocktail glasses, and have a few more things in the works. Fun. Regan, over to you. Pass the mic. Hey, I'm Regan. Gover is based out of San Diego. And we started, as Shannon said, as a single consumer product. And we've branched in other things that make any hostesses life easier and to really enjoy the outdoors.
• 4:14
  Love that. Perfect for a picnic. So tell me, let's go back before you started GoVair to talk about what you're up to in life and what was getting you interested in starting a business together.
• 4:29
  So Shannon and I met, we actually met at one of our kids' pumpkin patch field trips when they were in kindergarten. And, you know, we were moms, we were hanging out. I had a background in finance and I was working at a large hospital system here in California. And Shannon had a background in marketing and she was at home with her daughter. So we got to be friends, you know, organically, we're drinking wine, hanging out.
• 4:53
  And then, I don't know, maybe like five years later, as life was moving on, we, I think it was like 2013. I was really bored in my job. I'd been there for 13 years. It was like, what am I going to do with my life? And Shannon was kind of saying the same thing, you know, is ready to get back to work. And what are we going to do? Yeah.
• 5:13
  And we were already having these happy hours anyways and watching our kids play. And we're like, why don't we turn some of these happy hours into, you know, brainstorming sessions? And we started brainstorming business ideas. So we kind of went about it backwards. We didn't have, you know, a great idea that we just had to do. We just knew that we wanted to do something and we didn't know what that was. Yeah.
• 5:37
  So at our brainstorming meetings, we slowly, we, you know, gathered a ton of ideas. No idea was a bad idea. And we were reading at the time this book. It's Guy Kawasaki's Art of the Start. Yeah.
• 5:51
  And we held ourselves to two ideas. We are two principles. We wanted to either create a new product or service that added value or make an existing product or service better. So we had that in our mind.
• 6:07
  And at the same time, all of this was happening. We were at a concert in the park with our families and everybody was drinking nice wine and pouring it in red plastic cups. And we're like, it was kind of an aha moment paired with our brainstorming. And it's like, why don't we try to find a nice portable wine glass that we can take with us? And there really wasn't anything on the market. It was all plastic or stainless. Yeah.
• 6:34
  Or people were using, you know, regular wine glasses that could easily break with kids and pets. And so that was our aha moment. It's like, well, let's explore this idea and see what we can do with it. And I'd say it snowballed and we had a lot of, you know, things to do, but that was where we got started. Oh, I love that. That's so cool. I'm interested to know what people were saying in those early days when you started telling them about this idea you had and what you wanted to do together.
• 7:04
  I would say that people, I mean, we tried to go, you know, beyond our family and friends, you know, because we felt like that was definitely a biased reaction. We thought that for sure, you know, my mom would be like, oh, that's a wonderful idea. Or, you know, our friends like, you know, this is great. So we did a lot of
• 7:27
  proof of concept. We would, you know, set ourselves up at a local winery that a friend of ours worked at and sent out the wine shop, sent out an invitation to people that there was a, you know, group here doing a wine tasting and whatnot. So we were able to show off our product and get, you know, really unbiased feedback. We went to a wine tasting one year in Sonoma. The very beginning
• 7:55
  14 maybe. And there was a wine tour bus and we handed out, we wrote up a little survey and it was, I mean, it was very, very, do you like wine? What do you drink your wine out of? Where do you drink your wine? That type of thing. And we handed out the survey, asked everyone if they would fill it out, collected the surveys and went back. So we, we tried to get as unbiased information as possible.
• 8:25
  And what was the overwhelming feedback that you got? Was there anything unexpected?
• 8:31
  No, I don't think there was anything unexpected other than I think maybe the price of it. You know, like why would I pay? Because I think at the time we were looking to pay or ask for retail at like $20 a glass, I want to say. So that was that kind of, I think, threw people off a little bit because they felt like they could just drink it out of a, you know, a plastic cup or anything like that. So I would say probably the price initially. Yeah.
• 8:59
  Right. So you do this customer proof of concept kind of feedback and surveys and asking the wider community of people, what were the next steps to actually getting the business up and running? And how long did that process take?
• 9:15
  I'd say it took us probably a good year, you know, because I was still working. And again, we had little kids. So we created a checklist and it was super detailed, but you wouldn't really need a checklist for it. But it was like, you know, develop a logo, get business cards, open a bank account. It was all the little things that you don't think of. File for, you know, your incorporation. Yeah.
• 9:39
  So we did that. And then we quickly realized that we needed money that we didn't have. And so we're like, that's where the, we're like, what are we going to do? And that's when we came up with the idea to create a Kickstarter campaign.
• 9:56
  which also served as good proof of concept. But so we spent quite a bit of time, maybe two or three months creating a Kickstarter, which also served as our business plan and proof of concept, how we're going to get this out to the masses that are people going to like it. We created a marketing video. That was a great introduction to the business was creating that campaign. And what was the goal of the Kickstarter? How much did you want to raise? Yeah.
• 10:23
  So we actually failed our first Kickstarter campaign, which we've had a lot of failures in this, you know, in starting this business, but also a lot of success. But yeah, so we failed our first Kickstarter campaign. We asked for $100,000. And I think we raised, if I remember right, $40,000. So it was tough. And that was one of the things that we had to learn from is like, you know, do we want to keep going or do we want to basically be defeated? And, you know, we cried. Yeah.
• 10:52
  for quite a bit. And then it was, you know, well, let's pick ourselves up and let's try again. And we almost didn't try again, but I'm obviously so glad that we did. And then our second campaign, we asked for, I believe $25,000 and we raised 63. So that was successful. And that's what we used to launch our business.
• 11:14
  Do you think the learning from the first time around was just the basic of you set it too high and you needed to set it lower and kind of like over fund? Or was there more to it? I think there was a little bit more to it. Definitely setting the goal. I mean, we figured that we would probably need about $100,000 to get our product from start to finish.
• 11:37
  But I think that it was such a high goal that people probably saw it and thought, well, this might not happen. And so then we're not going to pledge to the campaign. But then also, I don't feel like initially we did a very good job of educating people that we were marketing to about Kickstarter because this was in 2014. And yes, Kickstarter had been around for a while, but...
• 12:04
  it still wasn't so known as it is today. So we had to do a better job of educating the people that we were advertising to. So we did a lot of tweaks to our campaign and it ended up being a success. Were you targeting the same people who already invested the first time or pledged rather the first time? Did you have sort of an email database or something that you were able to say,
• 12:33
  we're doing this again? Or was it a completely new audience the second time around? No, we did use that email list. It was great. That was a great start for us. But then we use that to build momentum. And then we had another, with that momentum on the first day, we were able to reach out to more press and to our list. But we definitely use those people to start. And we still use those people, you know, with our marketing. They've been lifelong fans and they've watched us grow.
• 13:01
  I love that power of community. Yes. So you raised the money. Had you sort of figured out your factory and all the bits and bobs that come with it by that point? Or were you then at a position to be like, okay, now what? Let's go. No, we hadn't figured anything out really. And Shannon and I...
• 13:24
  We don't really have a technical background or engineering or marketing. So we just hit the ground running. You know, we found a local engineer to work with us to create a prototype. And then we, I took a trip to China. We went and found a factory and we just learn as we go. And it was, again, not having the background made it tough, but also we had to get really creative and found that.
• 13:49
  The engineer, we found the manufacturer, and then we had to start, you know, with our website and all the other details that we needed to do. Right. And how long did it take you to get the sample of what you wanted kind of to life and in a position where you were ready to sell that on the shelves kind of thing, put it online? So...
• 14:10
  Our first thing that we created was a mock-up. And we took a glass just from, you know, a stemless wine glass. We painted it white. It was like an arts and craft project. We put a cupcake topper for a lid and a random silicone sleeve on it. And we took that to our engineer. And then they came up with a 3D printed version. And it probably took...
• 14:30
  I would say three months, Chanton, to get a full, a working prototype. And then we took that prototype to our manufacturer. And that probably took another, I'd say, three months. So maybe six months from mock-up to prototype. Yeah, wow. So it is quite a long time then until you can take that vision and bring it into reality and be ready to place that first order.
• 14:57
  During all of this, were you doing further marketing to build a community or were you starting essentially a community from the day of launch? And how did your launch go? I think that we had with the Kickstarter campaign, we did have that already existing community. So that was great because we had probably...
• 15:18
  I mean, it doesn't sound like a lot right now, but we had probably about 750 backers to the campaign. So to us, that was huge. You know, having almost a thousand people like our product was amazing, you know, so we had that.
• 15:34
  And then from there, like Reagan said, we were building our website and we had the final product. So we were able to start pounding the pavement and going store to store. We'd look online and go into cities that we liked their shops and whatnot.
• 15:51
  And so it was, you know, it was like cold calling, just going in and showing our product and hopefully getting a meeting with the buyers and whatnot. And because our line initially started, we were heavy wholesale and less online, you know, direct to consumer. So I think in the beginning, our business was probably 60% wholesale and 40% online. So we built a big following through retail as well.
• 16:19
  Wow. Okay. And so what were you doing or at what point did you start thinking, hey, we need to focus more on direct to consumer and build this side of the business? I would say once we had our product, I mean, we started, once we got into stores and we got into, you know, we started attending trade shows and whatnot. So again, that's more wholesale, but as far as online, we started doing, you know, email marketing campaigns with our list. What else would you say, Regan?
• 16:49
  It happened pretty organically. So we, again, as Shannon said, we were more heavily into retail, small independent boutiques. It's like 60% of our business, 40% was online. And then when it online really exploded was when we were on Shark Tank and that drove our sales through the roof. And that's when we decided too that we really liked, obviously, the margins from our website. Yeah.
• 17:13
  But we're always balancing wholesale and retail, you know, to make all of our customers happy, our website customers and our wholesalers. So...
• 17:22
  It's a constant balance and it's constantly shifting. So pre-COVID, you know, we were more heavily wholesale, but now a lot of our stores are temporarily closed. And we've really focused more on our website through, as Shannon said, email marketing and really heavily focusing on our social media and Facebook and Instagram ads and trying to drive those customers because we don't have the sales with our stores right now.
• 17:46
  And also, even before we did Shark Tank, too, we would try to, in order to increase our website direct to consumer, we would apply for every type of contest we could. And one of the big ones we applied for, I think that it was in 2016, was,
• 18:04
  I want to say, and the Today Show was doing a segment called The Next Big Thing. So we were like, okay, this is brand new to market. You know, there's not anything else there out there like it. So why don't we apply for this and see if we can get it? And fortunately, we did. We didn't win the contest.
• 18:21
  But at least we got on the show. And so, you know, we got probably several hundred orders from that and, you know, added those people to our database and whatnot. So we were just we were actively just trying to, you know, get any sort of press or, you know, promotion that we possibly could. I'm eager to talk about the Shark Tank experience and how that came about and, you know, what the impact was for you.
• 18:48
  Yes. So we, you know, whenever we attended trade shows, especially the big gifting shows, everyone who came to our booth was, saw it and was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. Have you guys ever thought of Shark Tank? And it was always kind of in the back of our mind. It was like our pie in the sky that yes, eventually we would want to apply for it, but we, you know, we needed to
• 19:10
  bring up our sales and all of that. We don't want to go on the show and look like idiots and have them not, you know, think we were established enough or whatnot. And then one afternoon, Reagan decided to email the casting email address for Shark Tank. It was in the summer. What year was that? I think 2016. Yep. It was 2016 in the summer. And
• 19:36
  Just, hey, this is our product. We think you guys would really love it. It's the first on the market, you know, portable wine glass. It's actually glass. And we didn't hear anything for probably a few months. And then we were working one day and all of a sudden there was a phone call coming in from a 310 Culver City. So Reagan answered it. And sure enough, it was the producers from Shark Tank. We got your email and we'd like to talk to you. So we were dying, obviously.
• 20:05
  Oh my gosh, this is amazing. Are you kidding? We had almost kind of forgot about it because it was such just like a on the whim email that we had sent. So they called us and we started working with them immediately on a paperwork to fill out a lot of back and forth working with the producers on our pitch and all of that. So that was probably, I would say three months of back and forth with the producers.
• 20:35
  And then it was terrifying, but it worked out really well for us. We ended up getting three sharks. We got Mark Cuban, Lori Grenier, and Robert Herjavec. They all went in together and invested in our product. And we were over the moon, absolutely over the moon.
• 20:53
  But we couldn't say anything because that was September of 2016. And the show didn't actually air until April of 2017. So we had several months of actually not even knowing if we were going to air because they don't actually tell you until about two weeks before your air date. So we kind of had to keep everything under wraps for a while and couldn't really go into any detail at all.
• 21:18
  But it was it was an amazing experience and it helped launch our product even further. I think I read you did a deal for two hundred thousand dollars. I didn't see what the percentage of the company was in exchange for. What did that two hundred thousand dollars help you do? And more so, what did that mentorship from the sharks help you with?
• 21:42
  So the $200,000 was basically we just used it for inventory. That's all we used it for. But the downside, like I said, we've had some failures of that. As soon as we aired on Shark Tank, we were, I think, seven days after that we were served with a lawsuit, a frivolous lawsuit. And so we basically used all that money to cover everything.
• 22:07
  the lawsuit costs. So that was really tough. We have had lots of highs and lots of lows. And but that was what happened. What was the lawsuit for?
• 22:19
  It was a trademark infringement lawsuit. Damn it. Dang. Wow. Expensive. Yeah, we settled it. We settled it favorably in our favor after I think it was 600 and 676 days and just a ton of money. So that was a big blow to our business. But we survived and, you know, we're doing well. So yeah.
• 22:42
  And what was the mentorship side of things like after the show aired and having those sharks involved in the business? They've been really amazing. I mean, we work probably closest with Mark Cuban's team. His whole team is just, I mean, they just want to see you succeed. So they're available to you at any time with any sort of
• 23:06
  any type of business question that you have. And they're there really just to help you develop your business. They want to, like I said, they want to see you succeed. So they are, you know, anytime, email us, call us, we'll be there. We've been out to Dallas a couple times to meet with the team. Robert's team as well. They're really great about, you know, social media and marketing. And then Lori definitely on the product side, the consumer side. So it's definitely been a positive experience for us.
• 23:36
  I bet. How exciting. Looking back, you said that you had a few challenges and struggles that you've had to go through. Is there anything that you wish you did differently or sooner or in a different way?
• 23:53
  I would say I wish we didn't worry so much when the bad things happen. You know, we take it so personally when we failed at our first Kickstarter and when we were served with a lawsuit. It was every little thing was really devastating to Shannon and I.
• 24:07
  And I think I wish I would have trusted that everything would be fine and just to keep moving along and just to keep because we're thriving now. And we wasted a lot of time, I think, worrying about the outcome and just know that we're going to be fine. And there's a quote, I forget who said it, but it's businesses only fail because the entrepreneur gives up. And I love that. We're just not going to give up. And I think that is my takeaway. Yeah.
• 24:36
  Hmm. That's a really good one. I love that. Where is the business today? And what does the future look like say over the next 12 months? What can you shout about and get us excited for?
• 24:49
  Well, like I said earlier, we're working on a handful of new products, which we're really excited about. As Reagan had mentioned earlier, when we were tied up in this lawsuit, we lost a couple of years of not being able to innovate and to create new products. So now that we're free from all of that, we, I mean...
• 25:09
  Obviously, our brainstorming was going on while all of that lawsuit was going on. So we were ready to go as soon as we could. So we're working on new products. We've onboarded a brand new PR team, which has been amazing. You know, they've been really helpful in getting our brand out there.
• 25:26
  So we're definitely going to, you know, jump more into PR and just we're heavy on social media too. And we're great on social media right now with our followers and whatnot. But it's a lot of it is product based showing, you know, the wine glass and the champagne flutes and all of that. But Reagan and I really want to get.
• 25:45
  more in front of the camera, which is sometimes kind of hard for us because we think like, well, people probably don't really, you know, care about what we have to say, I guess, like, you know, our followers, I think do. So we're going to get more into doing like Instagram lives and just getting in front of the camera and doing more of the Instagram reels and just, you know, just showing our, you know, and just presenting like our, our day to day and our, you know, how it, what it takes to run a business and whatnot. And, um,
• 26:13
  Like Regan had mentioned earlier, we did hit, you know, hit kind of a low with COVID because a lot of our wholesale, our stores and whatnot had shut down so that we did suffer from that. But we came back with our online sales increasing. What do you think in terms of channels, what's performing really well for you right now of your social media channels? Instagram is probably the one that we use the most and that we see the best results from.
• 26:42
  Well, I'll be excited to watch you on the reels there on the IG lives. You should do wine club. Yeah, no kidding. Happy hours. Love that. Amazing. I have a question for you both now. So we'll start with you, Shannon. What advice do you have for women who have a big idea and want to start their own business? Yeah.
• 27:05
  I would say to do it. Absolutely do it. I mean, Reagan and I didn't do it the traditional way to where as we had this big idea, we just knew that we wanted to do something on our own. So it's okay if you don't have this grand idea, but you have that passion to build something of your own, just to do one thing every day to project that idea or that business further, because it can get overwhelming.
• 27:34
  If you look at the big picture and you think like, oh my gosh, I could never get to this level. There's so many things to do in between. But if you just take it day by day and make sure that you do something every day to move it ahead, you'll be fine and you'll succeed. So do it. Absolutely.
• 27:52
  Totally. The compound effect is so real. It's so important. Yes. What about you, Regan? What's your key piece of advice for women who have a big idea? One thing every single day. It's like, don't let a week go by. It's like one small thing and do it. And
• 28:09
  If I have the second key piece of advice is to look for other women in your community. There's so many people that you can talk to. And just when you think that you can't do something, there's so many people doing it. And it's really inspirational to stay in that community of women that are, you know, making great businesses. Mm hmm. Yeah, absolutely.
• 28:32
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 28:57
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 29:20
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.