Last week three Chicago-based super-entrepreneurs came together for a Social Media Week panel at the Riverfront Theater. The founders of Sittercity, GrubHub andBelly lead a conversation focused on the benefits of social media while providing insider tips for startups looking for funding.
Highlights include elevating brand experiences through social media, tips for securing funding that's the best fit for your company and why you can never place enough value on entrepreneurial talent.
First, we explore how these founders are using social media to benefit their companies:
Stand out from the crowd
The opportunity to stand out on social media is now, says Matt Maloney, the co-founder and CEO of GrubHub. As more people are figuring out how to master social networking, the landscape is becoming increasingly competitive. We are still at the point where monitoring all potential channels and providing a resolution for customers can be a huge advantage from a service perspective.
Make a great first impression
Belly started with a social media model tangential to its business but is currently undergoing a redesign to build social directly into the product and make it a core part of the Belly experience. Why? Social “can differentiate you from competitors. Often the first things people do is look you up on Facebook,” said Logan LaHive, founder and CEO of Belly.
Elevate brand experience
Both Belly and GrubHub are using social media as an opportunity for a public and direct channel of communication that elevates the brand's previously established customer experience to a new level. “It’s not a conversion strategy, it’s a retention strategy,” Maloney said.
The conversation then changed to the tips they have picked up during previous rounds of funding:
Start local
For their first two rounds of funding, GrubHub made the decision to stay local. Maloney recommends this route if you want face time with your board members or need help solving business problems in the initial growth stages. As GrubHub grew they were looking for a different perspective. Maloney purposely expanded his search for funding outside of Chicago to get a fresh perspective and avoid a geographic bias. He was also looking to avoid the psychological concept of Groupthink, where the desire for a harmonious group decision overrides the critical appraisal of creative alternate routes.
