Do you like to give gifts that make a difference, but have trouble finding them? Boulder-based Given Goods Company is solving that problem by creating a marketplace for quality products that give back. Every product the company sells has some kind of tangible, social impact, and you can easily see what that impact is for each product as you shop.
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On September 16th, Given Goods relaunched with a whole new design, platform and merchandising strategy. Co-founder Cammy Houser shared some insights about the idea behind the company, the close-knit Given Goods team, and the importance of focusing on what matters most to you:
How did you come up with the idea for Given Goods?
Given Goods truly was the solution for my own problem--I really loved buying products with some kind of tangible impact but couldn't find them all in one place and had trouble finding the best quality items. I was in love with the idea of my purchases meaning more and had carefully followed the social entrepreneur space for a long time. It all felt like the right fit for me.
How would you describe the culture at Given Goods?
We are a very close-knit group with a sense of humor. We certainly work hard, but I appreciate that this is the group of people that I also want to have dinner with and get beers with and go to concerts with. It's nice to know those are your coworkers.
I also look up to everyone in many different ways. Each member of Given Goods (and this extends beyond the full time crew) brings so many inspiring passions, tastes and interests to the table that I find myself constantly wanting to be a little more like each of them.
Tell me a little about your team and each of your roles. How did you decide to work together?
Everyone on our team has a number of jobs, and they are all incredibly talented people. Riley End and I co-founded Given Goods and run the company as co-CEOs. This is a bit of a new concept, especially around the venture community, but we feel our strengths are truly complimentary and it has worked really well for us so far.
Riley takes care of everything operationally-oriented. He is incredibly steady in his vision for Given Goods as an operationally sound, scaleable business and he has run the company in that manner from day one. He is the constant voice of reason and balances me perfectly. We met in college and have been best friends for 10 years now.
I handle the customer facing side of the company. This broadly includes the growth of the Given Goods brand, marketing, customer acquisition and retention, partnerships and anything PR-related. My strengths are in the overall vision for Given Goods and idea generation.
Devon Taylor, our creative director, was our first official employee. He touches just about every part of Given Goods today from design to building the back end of the site, to generating our emails and copy. His vision for the brand is strongly aligned with mine and we work very closely together to make sure our customer experience is streamlined and cohesive. Devon has been making us look great since day one.
Jenny Houser also does a number of jobs for Given Goods and has actually been with the company since before there was a Given Goods to speak of. I originally asked Jen, who is a writer, to help me build out our blog. Little did she know that she would also become our full-on community manager, vendor relations expert and buyer. She has an incredible eye for product, is the most personable person I know, and is the voice behind the Given Goods brand.
What have been some of your biggest challenges so far?
There have been many! As you can see, we run a very lean team and are always pushing on many fronts. It’s always a challenge to keep the team as focused as possible so that we can get the most important things done well.
We recently finished Techstars here in Boulder which presented us with many challenges. We worked with a great team of mentors to continually figure out what our hardest problems were each day and how to solve them.
The relaunch was a big project and each piece of that was challenging, but we think we are now able to really scale Given Goods for the first time.
What have been some of your greatest accomplishments so far?
We are very proud of the relaunch! And we are so proud of the support our vendors and growing community have given us. Every day, something reminds me of how much we love these two groups of people and everything they care about. Its truly humbling to see both grow with us.
We are also incredibly proud to be members of the Techstars community and feel it’s been a hugely important piece of Given Goods.
How did your experience with Techstars influence your development as a company?
Techstars has been incredibly influential for us so far and I imagine will continue to be important to us over time. The access to amazing mentors, the constant (and now ingrained) demand for intellectual honesty and the amazing group of people we have been connected with is truly fantastic in every way. We were also part of a tremendous class of companies and individuals that I hope I will always know and from whom I constantly source knowledge and inspiration.
What are your future plans for new features, expansion, etc.?
Keep building, keep learning, keep growing! We need to prove ourselves before we can do anything else.
What advice would you give newer entrepreneurs who want to make a difference and incorporate social good into their business model?
Do it! Be sure to be genuine in your mission. There are several ways to start a socially impactful business, but make it about something that you care about. There are many different kinds of ways businesses are making an impact--whether they are B-Corps, pledging 1% of their exits, or building a model around the social impact space. Any company can do more and no genuine passion for doing good, when acted upon, is too small.
