Entrepreneurship, Raleigh-Durham

Welcome, Alon Greyber!

We are pleased to welcome back another member into the Colopy Ventures team this summer!  Alon Greyber worked here last summer, and will join us again this summer as an engineering intern.  

Hey, Alon! It’s great to have you here as another intern to work with.  I heard that you worked here last summer too. What did you work on then?

Last summer I worked with the startup Peoplelove on their web development.  

Do you know what you’ll be working on this summer?

As of now, my main focus will be on the web design of Joe’s project-in-progress, Grepbeat.   I may also do more work with Peoplelove, now known as Pugbee.

When and how did you learn web design?

I starting teaching myself programming in the sixth grade and I’ve stuck with it ever since.  I’m now a computer science major at NC State, and I’ve continued to learn more programming languages.  

So after coming back to work here again, I presume you’re also interested in startups.  Have you ever thought of starting your own company?

Actually, I have tried to start a few before!  In high school, I ran a photobooth business for parties called DreamIt Photos,  and I used to sell photography professionally. I also started a programming startup called “SpeakUp” which would help people train for speeches through an automated system.  I started it my freshman year of college, but decided to stop working on it once I found out there was already a similar program on the market.

Wow, those all sound great!  Do you have any other interests beyond your work in programming?

Yes!  As I’ve mentioned, I’m interested in photography which was the foundation that led me to starting those photography businesses.  I’m also passionate about Robotics. Since leaving my high school in Durham, I still go back to help mentor the team there.

This all sounds great and I can’t wait to work with you here!

Emma Markson is studying business at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a marketing intern at Colopy Ventures.  Outside of working with startups, you might see her running around her hometown of Cary or embarking on her next road trip.

Entrepreneurship

Interview with Chris Geiss, Seguno Founder

Hello! My name is Emma and today I had the pleasure of talking to Seguno’s founder, Chris Geiss.  Seguno is one of Colopy Ventures’ latest investments.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me about Seguno. To start, what is Seguno? 

Sure, thanks for having me. I started Seguno last year with my co-founder and high school friend, Marc Baumbach.  We build marketing software for retailers to help them drive more revenue while spending less time.

Oh, alright, so what inspired you to start Seguno?  

Having spent 5 years at Bronto Software, I fell in love with the commerce marketing space, and Marc and I became very well versed in this field. We saw an opportunity to bring our knowledge to people who aren’t exactly sure how to get started with marketing. Instead of email being an afterthought, because it can be overwhelming to get started, we want to help merchants really drive revenue through this important channel.

Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?  

I didn’t always know I wanted to be an entrepreneur but I’ve been entrepreneurial since I was a kid, growing up in Syracuse, New York. From selling candy and bracelets in school to being a magician on the weekends, I’ve always enjoyed the process. I really caught the bug in college though and knew software startups were for me. Ever since then, Marc and I have been dabbling with side projects, hackathons, and even started a few companies.

That’s great!  So, you mentioned earlier how you’d help retailers drive revenue while saving time.  How does Seguno allow retailers to do this?

Unlike similar solutions, we’re not looking to be the center of our users’ universe. We believe the center of the universe for merchants is their commerce platform so we want to keep it as the one source of truth for their data and fit seamlessly into their everyday workflows. No more context switching or having to learn new tools. We’re also baking in all the sophisticated strategies and best practices we learned from working with some of the best brands in the business so these merchants can really punch above their weight.

Oh, so is there any commerce platform you’re starting with first?

Focus is important so we have started with Shopify, a multi-channel commerce platform for everyone from solopreneurs to global brands. We chose Shopify because they continue to make real advancements to their platform that are enabling us to bring our vision to life. This wasn’t possible before so it’s great to see it all come together.

Do you have any customers yet?  What stage is Seguno in?

We have a couple apps in the Shopify marketplace right now with over 1,300 customers but the Seguno platform is launching this Summer. We are a mighty, two-man operation so our focus is product fit and growth. After the product feels right and we’ve garnered enough traction, we’ll look to raise another round to expand our team.

Is there anything else you’d like to add that anyone reading this should know?

I’m always interested in connecting with anyone who is passionate about this space, so please reach out. The more we can help merchants deliver a better experience for their customers, the more we all win.

Sounds like you are doing wonderful work and I can’t wait to see you continue on with this.  Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me today.

Stay tuned for their launch this summer.  If you would like to learn more about Seguno, you can find more information on their website or by visiting them in the Colopy Ventures office.

Emma Markson is studying business at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a marketing intern at Colopy Ventures.  Outside of working with startups, you might see her running around her hometown of Cary or embarking on her next road trip.