Trends

Remember when Nevada was the only state where you could place a legal, regulated bet on a sporting event? Neither do I, and that was just two years ago. 

It’s no secret that the past decade has sent companies flocking toward the subscription model. And who can blame them: that sweet recurring revenue and the promise of a $1B exit (a la Dollar Shave Club) is compelling. But it’s not too late to launch a subscription box — you just have to know what market to enter. 

Would you like business advice from Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren? How about The Athletic’s Alex Mather or ThirdLove’s Heidi Zak?

Stainless steel blenders and tumblers are everywhere. People get them as free giveaways at conventions or as corporate gifts. But they’re not always easy to carry around, often having no lids or requiring a lid that won’t fit exactly right on another model of tumbler. 

An archive of businesses we’ve profiled from our small business database of over 700 companies

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Many of you have asked for advice on the best way to do market research. We’ve had a few posts about this in our Facebook group (here, here, and here), and we thought it would be helpful to provide a dynamic template and two examples of market research in action.

Venture capital can be deeply complex, but most firms still operate off the familiar model: make smart bets and hope that one pays off in the unicorn hunt. For that very reason, many firms will only bet on businesses that at least have the potential to “be the next Uber” or at least enter unicorn territory.

The name Ergonofis represents a hybrid between ergonomics and office. It fits: Co-founder Samuel Finn likes to think his company’s product, an adjustable desk allowing people to stand and sit throughout the day, provides the most efficient way to stay healthy and get through a work day.  

Sometimes you just want to keep other people from smelling your stuff. Enter Revelry Supply. Based in Santa Cruz, CA, the lifestyle cannabis business makes odor-absorbing luggage — duffels, backpacks, personal bags, etc. — aimed at cannabis users.

If you visited Seattle in the last couple years, you may have seen the wall-size posters of entrepreneurs featured throughout the Amazon Marketplace. They were commissioned by Amazon and designed by a company called GBPro.