TOP FRANCHISES IN EVERY CATEGORY

TIM FERRISS’ DO YOU

GUIDE TO NEED
SATISFACTION A FRANCHISE
P. 32
BROKER? P. 66

START A
BUSINESS AT
ANY AGE
P. 12

BUILD AN EARN MORE

WITHOUT
INVESTING
IRRESISTIBLE MORE P. 16

BRAND
Summer 2017
Display until 9/18/17

How Dylan Lauren

Made Dylan’s Candy Bar
a Global Name
P. 24
Own your own
sandwich shop.

Franchise opportunities are now

available locally and worldwide

If you enjoy working with people, leading your own team, learning new
skills and are ready for an exciting new challenge, contact us today!
The Subway® franchise fee is $15,000 which is included in the total
investment. The total investment can range from $116,000 to
$263,150+ (See Franchise Disclosure Document for further details.)
Restaurant owners should have half of the total investment in cash
and finance the other half. Please visit subway.com or call Ralph Piselli,
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SUMMER 2017 CONTENTS
32
Man In Progress
Tim Ferriss is on a constant
quest for self-improvement—
but he knows when to stop.
By Aaron Gell

FEATURES
24 40 49 66
Dylan Lauren’s Lessons Learned The 2017 Most Who You
Sweet Success Along the Way Wanted List Gonna Call?
How her Candy Bar Franchise pros reveal Franchising’s hottest A franchise broker can make
reinvented the treats shop. what, why, and how categories of the year. your career—or derail it.
By J.J. McCorvey they do it. Follow their lead. By Tracy Stapp Herold By Jason Daley

COVER PHOTOGRAPH AND THIS PAGE © ROBERT MAXWELL

COVER GROOMING, MATT FUGATE FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS USING KERASTASE AURA BOTANICA

Startups [Summer 2017] 1

CONTENTS SUMMER 2017

DEPARTMENTS
7 Opportunity
14
These startups struggled
before they hit it rich.

12 Get Started
Age 12 or 61? It’s never too early
or late to start a business.

22
14 Money
Learn how three startups got
retired NBA star Shane Battier
(right) to invest.

16 Location

BATTIER PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF NBA PHOTOS; ILLUSTRATION © MATT CHASE; PHOTOGRAPH © DAVID RINELLA
Sometimes the best way to
expand is to stay put.

18 Team
How Kayak founder Paul English
built a billion-dollar team.

20 Tools
Spot a liar in your email’s
inbox in three easy steps.
It’s the truth!

22 Shout Out
You can make a lasting
first impression (or blow it)
in only a few seconds.

76 Franchise
Success
Meet two deaf brothers 80 Closing
who built a business based Thoughts
on trust, and a team that made
macarons the hot new treat.
A founder gave himself no choice
but to succeed. And he did. 7
2 Startups [Summer 2017]
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4 Startups [Summer 2017]

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 OPPORTUNITY

Glacial to
Gangbusters
Sarah Kauss slowly, patiently persuaded
the world to buy her $35 fashion-forward
water bottles. Now sales are at $100 million.

W
hen S’well founder Sarah Kauss finally made
the leap from making manual invoices in Excel
to using QuickBooks, in 2010, she called in an
accounting pro to get her set up. He looked at
her statements—and the scant $2,000 she had
left in savings—as well as the rent on her
New York City apartment, where she
was working and storing the 3,000
high-end water bottles she hoped to
sell. “You know,” he said, after a long
pause, “you could get a real job.”
She didn’t. Instead, she spent two
long years as S’well’s sole employee,
bootstrapping her line of sleek, stainless
steel water bottles with $30,000 in savings
after a successful, hard-charging career in com-
mercial real estate development. It paid off: The company’s
overall sales hit $50 million in 2015—a fivefold increase from
2014. In 2016, the number doubled, to $100 million. But Kauss
credits this boom to those early, lean years, when she inten-
tionally grew slowly, with no investors to answer to. “I got to be
really picky,” she says. “Target wanted to work with us for four
years, and I kept saying no because it would have cost us the
Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog, which we’re in every year. I
knew I needed to build the brand awareness to a certain point
before we could have a diffusion line. But telling an investor I’d
turned down Target? I wouldn’t have gotten away with that.”
That wear-every-hat mentality meant Kauss was the one
PHOTOGRAPH © DAVID RINELLA (BOTTLES); PHOTOGRAPH © BOBBY FISHER (KAUSS)

writing individual emails to customers when the company’s

first shipment was delayed by three months in 2010, as
well as the one cold-pitching then Starbucks CEO Howard
Schultz when she saw him standing alone at the grand
opening of a Starbucks in Seattle.
In her first year in business, she packed her calendar with
17 trade shows to meet specialty-store owners face-to-face.
The $35 price tag stirred healthy skepticism, but Kauss
insisted that there was a market for eco-minded, fashion-
conscious consumers like her. “I’d used another brand’s
water bottle for years, but I was paying a lot of money for
my handbag and then pulling out something that looked
like a hiking accessory,” she says. “I wanted to create a
bottle that felt more like a luxury product.”
To do that, she designed a bottle that keeps beverages

Startups [Summer 2017] 7

OPPORTUNITY
cold for 24 hours or hot for 12
without creating condensation that
would drip inside a handbag. And
instead of sticking to five primary
colors like most water brands, S’well
mirrored the catwalks, releasing
two seasons of fresh designs a
year. There are currently 100-plus
designs on the market, including
its best-selling Teakwood. (When
S’well introduced a rose-gold
design, it earned the startup a call
from Apple, asking if the company
could have a custom design for
employees.)
The idea connected with con-
sumers. Her bottles are sold in
some 2,600 shops, such as yoga
studios, wine stores, and menswear
boutiques, as well as nationwide
retailers like Nordstrom, Williams
Sonoma, and Neiman Marcus, and
more than 10,000 Starbucks loca-
tions internationally. And last year,
S’well did finally work with Target—
by launching the slightly less expen-
sive line S’ip by S’well.
Despite all that, Kauss still
believes in growing slowly. “There’s
this cult among entrepreneurs of
‘Who’s your investor? What’s your
growth rate?’” she says. “But if you
don’t have a billion-dollar company
in the first six months, that doesn’t
mean you should give up.” Scale can’t
come at the expense of the brand.
That’s why her team vets retail part-
ners (asking for photos of the interior
and a list of other brands they carry)
and turns down most of them.
“It took me two years to
convince Blooming-
dale’s to carry S’well,
but if I’d settled for
retailers that weren’t
brand-right in that time, I
might never have convinced them,”
she says. “That’s one of the blessings
of not having a venture partner.
I didn’t have a timeline. So if it took
me longer to hit my stride while
staying true to the brand, then it
took me longer.”
—KATE ROCKWOOD
8 Startups [Summer 2017]
Peloton Masters the Sprint
From a rough start to a rapid ascent, the
cycling-based workout program has pulled ahead
of the pack in the fitness world.
PELOTON’S FIRST cycling studio
wasn’t exactly an architectural master-
piece. “We created this 10-by-10 busted,
back-office studio with some black
curtains and cut a hole in one for the
camera lens. We put eight really cheap
bikes in the audience and a nicer bike on
a pedestal, propped up on some bricks,”
recalls cofounder and CEO John Foley.
“This is where we recruited our instruc-
tors.” He seems, at least in part, horrified
at the memory. “I can’t believe they left
their jobs for us.”
That was in 2012, when the boot-
strapped startup was attempting to lure
top-notch cycling instructors away from
their current jobs at the SoulCycles and
Flywheels of the world. At Peloton, they
would record classes in a yet-to-be-built
studio in New York City; classes would
then be streamed live or on-demand to
Peloton customers around the world for
$39 per month. The company would sell
$2,000 stationary bikes for the home,
outfitted with a built-in tablet that people
could use to watch the classes as well as
track their fitness goals. Five years later,
the company has come a long way from
those creepy black curtains:
Sales in 2016 reached more
than $150 million.
But for Peloton’s
first three
Peloton’s
custom
bike and
tablet.
years, investors wouldn’t touch it. “The
last company I started sold to Barry
Diller for $120 million, I went to Har-
vard Business School, I have led massive
companies,” says Foley, who was the
president of Barnes & Noble’s online
division when he decided to launch
Peloton. “In my mind’s eye, I was some-
one you’d want to bet on.” But investors
told him his company was just too far-
fetched. They were concerned he was
doing too much—hardware, software,
a bike, content, and his own logistics.
“The difficulty is a 10 out of 10,” they’d
tell him, “and you don’t know if there’s
a market.”
But Foley believed he was seeing
what nobody else was. Yes, in-person
indoor-cycling classes were booming,
but they wouldn’t boom forever. “Young
people are going broke going to Soul-
Cycle each week,” he says. “But they do
the math on Peloton and know the bike
will pay for itself in x amount of time.”
The company went forward without
institutional investors; it managed to
deliver several hundred bikes on its
own, and the over-the-moon feedback
from early adopters was enough to
keep Foley going. “People would
write and say, ‘I feel like I have a uni-
corn in my living room,’” he recalls.
And Foley might just have a unicorn
of a startup. Classes currently reach more
than 100,000 customers worldwide, and
a new rollout of commercial-grade bikes
to gyms, universities, hotels, and even
U.S. firehouses could rapidly grow that
number. Foley believes they can reach 20
million subscribers in the not-so-distant
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PELOTON
future. “If you ask women what they like
about a group fitness class, they’ll tell you
15 things about the instructor, the
environment, and the social pressure, but
nothing about the bike,” Foley says. “It’s
not about the hardware. It’s about the
content. But we can deliver both.”
—STEPHANIE SCHOMER
 #10
FRANCHISE 500 INC. 500 FASTEST HOT CONCEPTS
TOP NEW FRANCHISE GROWING PRIVATE AWARD
– ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE, 2017
COMPANIES – NATION’S RESTAURANT NEWS, 2016
– INC. MAGAZINE, 2015 & 2016

*As disclosed in Item 19 of Nékter Franchise, Inc.’s 2017 Franchise Disclosure Document. The above figure reflects the average for the 11 franchised locations that opened before January 1, 2016
and operated for the full 2016 calendar year. 45% of these franchised locations met or surpassed the average. The results for new locations may differ from the represented performance.
There is no assurance that you will sell as much. This is not a franchise offering. An offering is made by Franchise Disclosure Document only.
OPPORTUNITY
The Value of “No”
Thrive Market’s founders learned from rejection.
RAISING FUNDS is hard. But for
Gunnar Lovelace (below) and Nick Green
(right), co-CEOs of organic food e-retailer
Thrive Market, it seemed impossible. In
2014, the pair spent four months on the
road, being turned down by all of the
more than 50 VCs they met.
“The venture community pro-
vides a great ecosystem, but
it also lives in a bubble,”
Lovelace says. “The
folks making decisions
are predominantly
men, not the female
consumer that’s driv-
ing the market we’re in.”
10 Startups [Summer 2017]
The pair started contacting influenc-
ers instead—healthy-food bloggers,
celebrities—who could help spread the
word about their affordable organic food.
To their surprise, many of the bloggers
wanted to invest. Thrive realized it had
a new opportunity here: If influencers
put down cash, they’d become heavy
advocates as well. “We built a really
interesting program: Bloggers
earn additional equity from
their activity with us, like
sharing an email with their
audiences about the benefits
of saturated fats and linking
to our coconut oil,” Lovelace
says. The
company
works with
a vast web
(THIS PAGE) PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THRIVE MARKET
of 1,500
bloggers, and
brought in its first
$10 million this way.
Thrive Market now has more than
400,000 members across the country, 600
employees, and a run rate of more than
$100 million. “We wouldn’t have suc-
ceeded nearly as well if we had been led
by a traditional firm prelaunch,” Lovelace
says. “The solution just didn’t occur to us
until we were desperate.” —S.S.
Going It Alone,
for Good Reason
Technology Group Solutions
is a company like no other.
AFTER MORE THAN 35 years work-
ing in IT, Lenora Payne is used to being
the odd woman out in a male-driven
industry. “Years ago, I remember being
the only woman at events,” she says.
“And to be a woman and black? I didn’t
see that in the industry until I started
running my own company.”
As a founder and the CEO of Kansas
City’s Technology Group Solutions—one
of the fastest-growing women-led com-
panies in the country—Payne is eager
to see more women in the field, but she
admits that’s easier said than done. “I’d
love to find a woman technician, but
they’re not around,” she says. “Years
ago, when I was working for a previous
employer, there was a woman named
Kathy, the first woman I knew who fixed
computers. The guys would always want
to help her carry the monitors, which
were 40 pounds. She and I would get
together and put them in the back of
her car because we wanted to prove, We
can do this!”
Payne never planned to be an
entrepreneur, but after realizing that
there wasn’t a single government-certified
minority-owned business in all of Kansas
City that could provide full-service IT,
she took the plunge in 2005. “I had no
idea what to do,” Payne says. “And I didn’t
feel comfortable with the sporadic cash
flow for at least two years.” She started
feeling comfortable once million-dollar
accounts started signing on, though it
still takes her by surprise. The year 2016
brought $55 million in revenue, and the
company averages 20 percent growth each
year. “When we got our first big client,
I remember thinking, Oh my God!” she
recalls. “I would have never thought that
this was possible.” —S.S.
Startups [Summer 2017] 11
GET STARTED
It’s Never Too Late (or Early)
These entrepreneurs prove you can start a business at any age.
Madison Robinson (now 19)
Founder, FishFlops
AGE AT LAUNCH: 12 years old
BONA FIDES: Has sold more
than 400,000 pairs of her
whimsical kids’ shoes
I first showed my dad sketches of
flip-flops with sea characters on the
soles when I was 8, and we finally went
into production when I was 12. My dad
handled the finances, but I stocked the
warehouse, packed shipments, sketched
designs. I could miss only three days
of high school each semester, so I
saved those for the big things, like a
trade show or a TV interview or a pitch
meeting. I’m now majoring in business
at Texas A&M. I want to push into the
tween and adult markets.”
Jeff Platt (now 31)
CEO, Sky Zone
AGE AT LAUNCH: 21 years old
BONA FIDES: 170 trampoline
parks in five countries, with
$300 million in revenue in 2016
When I was a junior in college, my
dad wanted to create a professional
trampoline sport. He set up a facility to
house tournaments in Las Vegas, planned
a schedule, and…there wasn’t much inter-
est. But local kids were willing to pay $8
a pop just to bounce! So he offered that
instead. We opened a second location in
St. Louis three weeks after I graduated.
My mother was diagnosed with cancer a
month after that, and Dad looked at me
and said, ‘This is in your hands.’ I moved
from copilot to CEO overnight, and
worked, worked, worked—120 hours a
week. I realized I didn’t want to man-
age day-to-day operations of the stores,
shifted the growth strategy to franchis-
ing, and got totally reinvigorated.”
12 Startups [Summer 2017]
Robinson
models her
FishFlops.
Courtney Adeleye (now 36)
Founder, Mane Choice
AGE AT LAUNCH: 32 years old
BONA FIDES: The haircare line
is sold at Rite Aid, Walgreens,
CVS, Target, and Walmart; it hit
$12 million in revenue in 2016
I had used a dye that made my
hair brittle, so I decided to lay off the
chemicals. When it started growing out,
it was totally new to me—I’d been using
relaxers since age 10. I turned into a
mad scientist, mixing conditioners in my
kitchen. I posted hair videos to YouTube
as a hobby, but people online were asking
where they could buy the conditioner.
So I bought 100 empty bottles and a
$200 machine to pump product in my
kitchen. I filled orders by hand until one
Black Friday I sold $45,000 in orders in a
single day—and then I finally invested in
a bigger machine.”
Lisa Tomasi (now 53)
Founder, YouGiveGoods
AGE AT LAUNCH: 48 years old
BONA FIDES: Counts big-name
brands (NFL, Morgan Stanley,
Coldwell Banker) as partners and
has shipped a million-plus pounds
of food to local food banks
Raising my daughters was my
full-time job for 20 years. Becoming an
entrepreneur took me by surprise. In
2010, after the earthquake in Haiti, we
planned to donate money, but friends
who were volunteering said they really
needed supplies. What if there was a site
where you could buy products nonprofits
needed? I couldn’t get the idea out of my
head. The biggest challenge was stepping
out of mommy zone. I learned to not be
afraid of people’s doubt. We launched in
2011 with friends as users, and now we
have hundreds of partners.”
Mark Snow (now 67)
Founder, SafelyFiled
AGE AT LAUNCH: 61 years old
BONA FIDES: Snagged a patent
for his digital storage app
I worked for a large organization
for a long time, basically starting new
companies for them. When I was in my
late 50s, they gave me a handshake and
got rid of me. I had so much experience
starting businesses for other people, I
realized I could launch my own. The idea
came to me for SafelyFiled: a storage sys-
tem for paper and digital documents. An
advantage of being older is that you have
PHOTOGRAPH © DAVID YELLEN
relationships you’ve built over years. I
raised $600,000, and we’re now in the
final stages of working out two massive
partnerships that could bring our user
numbers to millions.”
—KATE ROCKWOOD
MONEY
Why a VC Says Yes
Shane Battier, startup investor and
former NBA player, lays it out.
S
hane Battier retired from basketball in 2014 with two
championship rings, and is now a philanthropist and
an investor working with seven tech companies.
Like many part-time investors, he’s driven
primarily by ideas that excite him. “Out-
side of obviously trying to make some
money,” he says, “what’s the point if
you can’t enjoy the journey and the
people you’re with?” Here’s how three
entrepreneurs got Battier to sign on.
—JASON FEIFER
Rhone
THE APPROACH:
GIVE BEFORE TAKING
In 2015, Battier and other local celebri-
ties signed up for the South Beach
Triathlon to raise money for charity.
When Rhone cofounder Nate Checketts
learned of this, he immediately
offered to sponsor Battier’s foundation
and outfit him for the race. Rhone
makes athleisure wear for men, and
Checketts thought Battier, who has a
reputation as a nice and thoughtful
guy, would be a perfect brand repre-
sentative. It was an insightful move:
Battier is highly involved in his char-
ity, the Take Charge
Foundation, and
the sponsorship
made an impact
on him. He liked
the clothing,
too—which is key,
because Battier says
he’ll invest only in products
he’d buy himself. “I said, ‘I’d like to
learn more about your company and
see how I can help,’” Battier recalls
telling Checketts. About a month after
the event, Battier suggested the two
have breakfast. He spent the meal
peppering Checketts with questions
about Rhone—and, impressed with
Checketts’ experience and execution
up to that point, he agreed to invest.
14 Startups [Summer 2017]
LeagueApps
THE APPROACH:
SPEAK THE INVESTOR’S
LANGUAGE
In February 2015, Battier attended a
dinner for sports-tech companies,
hosted by the professional develop-
ment firm Gerson Lehrman
Group. He especially
loved meeting Jer-
emy Goldberg, the
president of League-
Apps, which makes
tools to manage youth
sports leagues. The two
bonded over how poorly run
those leagues are—Battier has two
kids, so he knows—and they kept in
touch after. Two things impressed
Battier from there: Goldberg talked
in detail about building LeagueApps’
company culture, and the inspiration
he drew from great coaches and sports
teams. Then Goldberg invited Battier
to talk to his team about winning
cultures. “That really spoke to me,
that these guys are trying to bring a
championship mentality to business,”
he says, and so he used the trip as
an opportunity to do some recon-
naissance: “I think it’s important to
visit the offices and see who’s on the
ground and if there’s a spirit and a
belief in what they do,” Battier says.
He invested a few weeks later.
Mars Reel
THE APPROACH:
EMBRACE YOUR
SCRAPPINESS
Like many investors, Battier works
mostly with experienced founders.
But he was also itching for a
challenge: “I wanted to take
on a project where I felt
I could make an impact
on the ground level,” he
says. So in June 2015, his
friend Jason Robins, CEO
of DraftKings, connected
him with 25-year-old twins
Bradley and Brandon Deyo. Their com-
pany, Mars Reel, produces highlight
BATTIER PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF NBA PHOTOS; PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS © SANDIE BURKE; PHOTOGRAPH © GETTY IMAGES/
reels from high school and college
basketball games. The Deyos were up
JOHN LUND (DOLLAR BILLS); PHOTOGRAPH © GETTY IMAGES/SEUNG-HO YEON (BOXING GLOVES)
front about their inexperience: Raised
by their single mom, they dropped out
of college to pursue Mars Reel. They
had pieced together only $15,000 in
funding by the time they met Battier.
He was hooked by the underdog
tale—but, he says, “the story only gets
you in the door. What you’re made
of gets you on the dance floor.” So
they walked Battier through
what they could do with
real investment, and how
they’d attracted, at the
time, 700,000 monthly
video views despite no
marketing budget. I believe
in these guys, Battier decided.
Mars Reel is now up to 35 million
monthly views.
LOCATION
Do I Stay
or Do
I Grow?
An entrepreneur
considers a second
location—but it may
not make sense.
BY ADAM BORNSTEIN
Q: I own a private gym. We’re prof-
itable, and my current space is
small, so I’m eager to expand. Should
I open another small gym somewhere
else or just get one big, new space?
—Kevin, New York
A: Kevin’s question could be about
any business; many entrepreneurs
grapple with the same issue. But gyms
are a perfect way in, because the busi-
ness is straightforward. You have many
up-front costs in equipment and regular
costs in rent and staff. And it’s a gym, so
people pay to…use the gym! But a cre-
ative owner can find lots of other ways
to make money—with classes, personal
trainers, and more.
I’ve seen Kevin’s gym, and it’s nice: He
has only 1,500 square feet, which is tiny
by industry standards, but he has an 8 to
15 percent profit margin per year. That’s
great. And yet, I asked, how often does
his gym run at maximum profitability—
making as much money as is possible
in the space? He dug into his books and
came back with a number: It happens
10 percent of the week.
Once a business starts making
consistent profit, many entrepreneurs
believe they need to invest significantly
more money in order to spark addi-
tional growth. But that’s not always true.
Opening a new facility is risky—it means
you’re effectively doubling down on
quantity instead of quality, by focusing
on new space instead of making your
old space as great as it can be. So I asked
Kevin another question: Can your gym
be more profitable without adding space?
16 Startups [Summer 2017]
Then I told him about Luka Hocevar.
Luka is the owner of Vigor Ground Fit-
ness and Performance Center in Seattle.
He started out in a 1,000-square-foot
garage, but soon Luka began tinkering
with ways to maximize it. He offered
group-coaching sessions for a fraction of
the cost of one-on-one training, building
community and trust. Then he split those
sessions into three tiers—a large group, a
small group, and semi-private instruction,
which ranged from $347 a month to $650
a month—to maximize revenue on an
hour-by-hour basis. These groups could be
scheduled to all use the gym in efficient,
well-organized ways. For example, during
the 7 a.m. hour (high time at a gym), a
large class ran at the same time that three
coaches worked with smaller groups.
Meanwhile, another coach could do a
strategy session with a high-paying client
in one office, and another coach could
work on nutrition plans with another
client. Luka was generating up to six rev-
enue streams at once, all without needing
more space or employees.
The result: His monthly revenue dou-
bled. Luka even saved money, because his
trainers were earning more in less time.
He eventually did max out his space, and
moved to a new, 4,600-square-foot gym.
And his revenue has tripled.
Luka’s experience should make
Kevin—and anyone!—consider some big
questions. Among them: What is your
current profit margin, and how close are
you to running at maximum capacity?
What one thing could you do to imme-
diately increase profit? Is it smarter for
you to increase what you charge or to
take on more clients? (Hey, it could also
be a combination.) And where are you,
the manager or owner, spending most of
your time—and how does that directly
influence revenue and profitability?
If the answers to those questions lead
in the direction of “We make as much
money as possible,” then, yes, it’s time to
think about real estate. But otherwise,
there’s work to do.
That’s the realization Kevin came to.
He’d avoided hiring another employee
but realized that was holding him back.
Kevin is his gym’s best salesperson—
but by not hiring someone else, he was
spending too much time on the gym
floor working with clients, and not
enough time finding new customers.
So he hired a part-time coach. In one
month, Kevin made more money in
additional revenue than he spent paying
the new guy.
Opening a new location seems like a
hard move, but it’s really the easy way
out. That’s because, even though it’s a big
and risky investment, it’s predictable. A
guy like Kevin knows how to open a new
location, because he already opened the
old one. The harder work comes from
looking inward and rethinking how you
do business. There’s risk there, too, of
ILLUSTRATION © GARY TAXALI
course. But the payoff is far greater.
ADAM BORNSTEIN IS THE FOUNDER
OF PEN NAME CONSULTING, A MAR-
KETING AND BRANDING AGENCY, AND
THE CREATOR OF THE TWO12 EVENT.
 OWN A LOCAL BUSINESS
WITH NATIONAL BACKING

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TEAM
Paul English
(right) of Lola.

You once hired a going to play out,

guy who’d earned so I try to manage
an Olympic medal my own expecta-
in rowing. You said, tions. Like, there’s
“This guy is hard- a guy I just hired
core, and I bet that who is developing
translates.” In that the user interface
instance, you were of the next ver-
right. Have you ever sion of Lola, and
been wrong? he’s unbelievably
I’ve made the strong. I’m trying
mistake of hiring to temper myself

Build a Billion- to give each other

positive energy. So
when something
someone whose
style is so radically
different from the
so I don’t focus
too much on him,
because what if he

Dollar Team is dysfunctional, I

talk to each person
individually and
team that it just
didn’t work. So
the trick there is,
disappoints me,
like, a month from
now, and he’s not
Paul English sold Kayak to then bring them I want diversity of as fast a coder as
Priceline in 2012 for $1.8 billion. together and style, but not too I think he is? I’m
say, “You’re both much diversity. attracted to shiny
Now he is back with Lola, a mobile extremely valued There’s a fine line. new objects.
app that combines AI with human here, but you’re
travel agents to plan and book not clicking, and I You’ve talked about You’ve taught
trips. At both companies, he says, want to know what having bipolar dis- classes on
the key to success is the people we need to do.” order and your own entrepreneurship
he hires. BY ASHLEA HALPERN Sometimes it’s just hypomania and OCD at MIT. If your
a matter of being tendencies. How students learned
open and naming does that impact just one thing from
a problem. how you build your you, what would
How did your nical chops? The serve interactions, teams? it to be?
hiring experiences other 50 percent debug them, and That’s very hands-on. My friends call If I had a class of
at Kayak help you is: Are they an make sure we’re So without these one- it my pedestal 50 students and
with Lola? energy amplifier? set up for success. on-ones working, complex. When I wanted to predict
The most Are they someone the whole company meet somebody by the end of the
important thing people enjoy being What is your won’t work? who has a skill I semester which
I learned to do is around? A lot of debugging strategy Yeah, and it won’t don’t have, I put one of them would
focus on the team. what I focused for workplace work well. I’m not them on a ped- create a billion-
When I interview on at Kayak and friction? interested in run- estal. I probably dollar company, I
people now, there what I’m focusing If I have two peo- ning a “successful” fall a little in love think it would be
PHOTOGRAPH © JENNI LEE

are two things I on even more so ple who don’t work company, I’m inter- with everyone, in the kid who can
look for. One is at Lola is playing well together and I ested in running an some way. But I’ve energize a team of
their GSD—“get the role of coach just separate them, exciting company seen this movie five. I believe that
shit done”—score. or organizational I’ve lost the ability where people love enough times to is a skill that can
Do they have tech- psychologist. I ob- for those people their job. know how it’s be learned.

18 Startups [Summer 2017]

TOOLS
How
to Spot
a Liar
in Your
Inbox
BY VANESSA VAN EDWARDS
P
eople often write to me and ask,
“How do I know if someone is
lying by email?” Then I ask them
to forward me their juiciest, most private
emails, purely for research purposes.
(OK, that’s a lie.) These people’s anxiety
is understandable. It’s hard to lie in
person; it’s far easier from the privacy of
a keyboard. Who hasn’t gotten an email
saying, “Sorry I’m late; train got stuck”
or “Your message must have gone to
spam” and wondered if it was true?
Here’s a scary number: Social psychol-
ogy expert Jerald Jellison estimates that
we are lied to as many as 200 times per
day. That isn’t all by email, of course, but
plenty of it may be—and even the small-
est false details can impact the productiv-
ity and financial success of a business.
Knowing how to decipher truth from
lies helps you make better deals, find the
right partners, and land the right hires.
That’s why, as more and more of our busi-
ness communication happens digitally,
it’s essential to be able to spot written
deception. Success depends on it.
Luckily, the science of lie hunting
extends into the digital world. It’s called
statement analysis, and it’s a process
that analyzes how people use words to
determine whether they’re being honest.
The technique is the brainchild of Mark
McClish, a former instructor at the U.S.
Marshals Academy, who studied deceptive
statements and found linguistic patterns
among lies. Here are three of his key
warning signs to look for in your emails.
20 Startups [Summer 2017]
A LACK OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
People don’t like to take ownership of their lies, so
they will often distance themselves from them. A liar
might say, “Got stuck in traffic” instead of “I got stuck
in traffic.” A dishonest person might also use less my,
me, and ours in favor of the, a, and that. Let’s say you
email a manager to complain about a deliverable that
didn’t meet expectations. Instead of replying with
“My team followed the instructions we received,” the VAGUE LANGUAGE.
manager might write, “The team followed the instruc-
tions that were given.” The latter separates them from
the issue of not following directions.
Research shows that people
feel more comfortable lying
by omission than outright.
(Making blatant lies in email
does leave a dangerous paper
trail.) A good example of this
type of lie is when you send
an email to ask for a project
update. Someone with noth-
ing to hide will usually write
back with specific details. But
if things aren’t going well, an
individual might offer a brief
and noncommittal answer,
like “The project is looking
good. We’re making consider-
able progress.” Something is
considerable here, but it’s
not progress.
TENSE INCONSISTENCIES.
When people come up with lies, their brains often have a hard time keeping track of timelines. When fibbing
about a past event, it’s typical to accidentally switch to the present tense; that’s because the lie is being cre-
ated in the moment. If someone is bending the truth about a meeting, they might type, “Spoke to the client
yesterday, and he says he likes the ideas presented to him.” The sentence starts in the past tense (spoke)
then shifts to the present (likes) when the distortion begins. Even worse? It also lacks personal pronouns!
None of these warning signs guarantee that someone is lying, so don’t be quick
ILLUSTRATION © SHUTTERSTOCK/STUDIO_G; PHOTOGRAPH © MAGGIE KIRKLAND
to accuse. Your email correspondent could just be a bad writer. But these are red
flags. When one or more of them appear in an email, take it as a signal to get fur-
ther clarity. Circle back with a phone call, plan an in-person meeting, and do some
background research. Always ask follow-up questions; to encourage honesty and
foster open discussions, start out with Why. Research shows that it’s more difficult
for people to lie about their intentions than about specific things.
Remember that honesty is a two-way street. As you write emails, avoid mak-
ing these mistakes yourself—and I don’t mean hide your lie. I mean, you know,
don’t lie. Always use personal pronouns, choose direct lan-
guage, and keep your tenses straight. Or else someone might
just forward your email to me.
VANESSA VAN EDWARDS IS THE FOUNDER OF
SCIENCE OF PEOPLE.
 A FIT FOR EVERYONE.
This father and son team are part of a diverse group
of franchisees that includes professional athletes,
doctors, lawyers, C-level executives, multi-brand
entrepreneurs and even a pop star. They’ve all chosen
Retro Fitness to grow and expand their portfolios.

Bob Polizzano & Bob Polizzano Jr.

Retro Fitness Franchise Owners, Philadelphia, PA

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6JKUKUPQVCPQHHGTVQUGNNCHTCPEJKUG1HHGTKPIUOCFGD[RTQURGEVWUQPN[4GVTQ(KVPGUU..%#NNTKIJVUTGUGTXGF
SHOUT OUT
How to Win People Over
in Two Seconds
S
ay you have a big
pitch coming up. You
make an impressive
agenda, put together a killer
deck, and practice answering
hard questions. But there’s a
problem. This is all focused
on the middle and end of
your pitch, and it skips over
the most important part: the
first two seconds. And if you
don’t nail those, guess what?
Your hard work is irrelevant.
Here’s why. In 1992,
researchers Nalini Ambady
and Robert Rosenthal, then
at Harvard, found that
our first impressions are
essential for our success. In
their experiment, they asked
students to rate two-second
video clips of professors
teaching. Then they took
these ratings and compared
them with those same pro-
fessors’ student evaluations
after an entire semester of teaching. The
result: Teachers who got low video-clip
ratings also got poor student evalu-
ations. And teachers who got strong
ratings on their video clips also received
the best student evaluations.
Consider that. Teachers were judged
the same whether it was based on a
two-second clip or dozens of hours of
teaching. And here’s the kicker: The two-
second clips were muted! That means the
students watching the videos were judg-
ing based on body language alone.
Ambady and Rosenthal call this
behavior “thin-slicing.” They argue that
we make quick judgments—or thin
slices—of people we meet, and rarely
change them. This isn’t just important
for teachers. Multiple studies have found
thin-slicing happens in dating, parent-
ing, and looking at social media profiles.
22 Startups [Summer 2017]
The lesson is clear: If we don’t nail our
first impression, all our hard preparation
is wasted. But you can turn that to your
advantage—because to win over a crowd,
you only have to supercharge the first
two seconds! Here’s how.
STEP #1:
The grand entrance.
We like to think that we make our first
impression once we start talking—and it’s
why we spend so much effort on openers
and introductions. Unfortunately, your
first impression happens the moment
someone sees you. How you take the
stage and how you enter a room are just
as important as your opening line.
Make sure you are overprepared. Have
you controlled your environment before
your pitch starts? Are your slides set
up? Your microphone tested? Your bags
stashed away? Your first two
seconds shouldn’t be spent
fumbling with any of that.
When you take the stage,
walk into a boardroom, or
enter a classroom, do it with
purpose and a smile.
If you have to wait for
your audience to file in, be
sure you’re not checking your
phone, distributing handouts,
or frantically reviewing slides.
Instead, take a seat up front
and greet people individually
as they come in.
STEP #2:
Own your content.
The best teachers show that
they are confident about their
material and happy to be
presenting it to you. In those
first two seconds, you want
to do the same. Prepare
an enthusiastic opening
line—not so much because
the words matter, but because when you
know what you’re saying, you can really
focus on the delivery. Show passion and
true excitement. That’s what’s memorable.
Once you’re past two seconds, make
eye contact with each person in the
room so they feel you’re speaking right
to them. You can do this easily in small
boardrooms or classrooms, of course.
But you can also do it if you have a large
auditorium; just make a figure eight in
the room, like in the illustration shown
above. Hit each corner, with a pause in
the middle. You can restart this figure
eight every few minutes as you pitch.
ILLUSTRATION © MATT CHASE
Once you’ve done all that, relax.
Your audience has thin-sliced you, and
that slice contains nothing but great
things. Now it’s time to make that first
impression pay off.
—VANESSA VAN EDWARDS
You have what it takes to be successful, and Big O Tires has the industry-leading
knowledge and resources to help get you there. Enjoy the freedom of operating
your business independently while leveraging the support, resources and
established brand recognition of a multi-million dollar network.

• More than 50 years of experience in the tire & automotive service industries
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www.bigofranchise.com
877-890-5874
 IT
WAS
NEVER
INTENDED
TO
BE
JUST
A CANDY
STORE
How Dylan Lauren broke through
a sugar-stuffed market and built
Dylan’s Candy Bar, one of the most
beloved sweets brands in the world.
BY J.J. MCCORVEY O PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT MAXWELL
 How Dylan Lauren broke
through a sugar-stuffed market
and built Dylan’s Candy Bar,
one of the most beloved sweets
brands in the world.
BY J.J. MCCORVEY

Startups [Summer 2017] 25

 OH
MY
GOD,
THAT’S
TERRIBLE!”
Dylan Lauren has just taken a
bite out of an organic peanut butter
cup, let out a sound almost identi-
cal to Lucille Ball’s signature “uugh,”
and promptly spat out the barely
masticated substance into a napkin.
She then slides one across the table
and suggests that I try it for myself.
So I do, and she’s right—it’s terrible,
and tastes every bit as you’d expect
a sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free
Reese’s cup facsimile would.
I’m sitting in on a biweekly licens-
ing meeting at the Upper East Side
headquarters of Dylan’s Candy Bar,
where buyers Lauren Ulstad and
Michele Polito present Lauren, who
is the cofounder and CEO of the
eponymous confectionery empire
(and is intent on tasting and testing
every single thing her company
sells), with samples of products from
manufacturers around the world
that could sit alongside signature
items such as the Whirly Pop lol-
lipop and chocolate-covered Swedish
fish. There have been some winners
today—from a bar of strawberry-
almond nougat to a candy glow
stick for the upcoming Halloween
season—but one thing’s for sure:
The “peanut double chocolate honey
patties” ain’t happening.
After all, Lauren didn’t build her
candy queendom by selling yucky
product. Founded in 2001, Dylan’s
Candy Bar now boasts 19 store
locations across the U.S.—includ-
ing eight “minicandybars” at major
airports, such as JFK and Houston
George Bush—which carry more
than 7,000 different types of treats
and see more than six million visi-
tors a year. Sales have grown 20 per-
cent year over year for the past three
years, executives tell me. Fans of
Lauren’s emporium include Michelle
Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Hugh
26 Startups [Summer 2017]
Jackman, and Suri Cruise, while
properties from Wonder Woman to
Despicable Me and Hello Kitty clamor
to partner with the company for
cobranded treats, toys, trinkets, and
other commemorative items. Lauren
herself has been immortalized as a
collector’s Barbie doll, and currently
appears as a mentor on ABC’s Shark
Tank for tykes, The Toy Box.
Despite consumers’ shifting
toward healthier foods and away
from certain sugary indulgences (see:
chocolate honey patties), the con-
fectionery industry is surprisingly
robust and thriving. Americans spent
more than $21.5 billion on candy
last year, according to Nielsen, with
annual candy sales growing 2 percent
to 4 percent over the past five. But
that doesn’t mean entering the mar-
ket was easy. It’s extremely crowded
and full of major players with a bazil-
lion products—from Mars and Her-
shey’s to raspberry sour Warheads
and buttered-popcorn-flavored Jelly
Bellies. Even a savvy candy fan like
Lauren could get lost in the noise.
But there was an opening. “Some
of the standard, conventional
candy that has been on the market
for years hasn’t innovated,” says
Marcia Mogelonsky, a confection-
ery analyst at Mintel. “When you
go into a supermarket and go to the
candy aisle, there’s nothing that
jumps out at you.”
This left an opportunity to make
the kind of candy people talk about.
But Lauren had a hunch, based on
her own saccharine obsession: The
candy itself—even the best candy
she could find—would take her only
so far. She had to make the experi-
ence of buying candy just as sweet.
OOO
W
hen Lauren flings
open the door to
her 15,000-square-
foot flagship
store, a mere three blocks from her
corporate offices, it’s like walking
into Willy Wonka’s factory—and I
imagine the 100 or so visitors and
Dylan Lauren at
a “cupcake booth”
in her Manhattan
flagship shop.
tourists who are scurrying about
the place at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday
must feel the same.
Part of the wonderment of a
Dylan’s store is the sheer volume and
assortment of candy that enrap-
tures visitors as they enter. Here, at
the front of the store, Lauren has
personally plucked what she believes
are the best treats from around the
world—some of which she white-
labels and brings under the Dylan’s
brand umbrella, such as the Whirly
GROOMING, MATT FUGATE FOR EXCLUSIVE ARTISTS USING KERASTASE AURA BOTANICA
Pops and Dylan’s Candy Bar choco-
late bars, while some brands stand on
their own, either for nostalgia’s sake
(there’s actually a “nostalgia corner,”
featuring Life Savers, Charleston
Chews, and artwork from vintage
ads) or because they convey a slightly
different message than the signature
Dylan’s whimsy.
Then there’s the sheer scale and
proportion of the place that unfolds
before them. There’s the giant lolli-
pop tree, with its translucent, Techni-
colored sucker-branches stretching
over their heads; the 10-foot-wide
tackle box of gum balls, gummy
bears, and Runts hanging behind

the cash register; and the glowing
staircase, constructed with actual
gummy snacks and candy necklaces,
stretching upward across the build-
ing’s three floors, literally enticing
customers with each step they take.
As I marvel over the space, Lauren—
who I am realizing is equally hilarious
and meticulous—somehow zeroes
in on what isn’t excessive enough. “I
have to tell Lauren [Ulstad] that we
don’t have enough bunnies here!”
she yells over the Counting Crows
hit “Hard Candy,” standing in front of
a Shaq-size chocolate bunny, which
is flanked by a shelf of candied hares,
ILLUSTRATION © THE NOUN PROJECT/ JORDAN SATOW
eggs, and other confections. (We’re
here just before Easter.)
It makes sense that Lauren would
be the most obsessive about this
location: Aside from its flagship
status and the proximity to her
office, it was also her first. While
she’s always had a bit of a candy
fixation—she compared herself to
an Everlasting Gobstopper in one of
her college application essays (“I’m
very well-rounded, and have a color-
ful personality…”)—it wasn’t until
she was an art history major at Duke
University that she got the idea for a
pop-art candy store that boasted the
trappings of a modern museum and
the ultrasensory details that would
make people want to buy stuff.
“Because of my passion for design
and sort of seeing what my dad did
with fashion, I knew I wanted to cre-
ate a lifestyle brand,” she says—her
dad being clothing magnate Ralph
Lauren. “So it was never intended to
be just a candy store.”
She had the concept and the
cash—having a father worth
$5.6 billion certainly had its perks—
but she needed the right partner.
“I definitely am a creative type. I’m
very heavy in the details on strategy,
but don’t enjoy looking at spread-
sheets and numbers.” In 2000, she
was introduced through a mutual
friend to Jeff Rubin, a merchandis-
ing expert who had set up a candy
department in FAO Schwarz, the
famed New York City toy store, called
“FAO Schweetz.” The duo entered
into a 50-50 partnership, spent about
a year and a half planning, contacting
nearly 200 candy vendors, and hit the
industry trade shows to find the best
goods to stock. The flagship opened
its doors on October 11, 2001—
exactly one month after the terrorist
attack on the World Trade Center. 
“I think New York needed a happy
place,” Lauren says.
There are several factors respon-
sible for Dylan’s success over the
years. First, the company knew
its target customers. With its first
store situated on 60th Street and
Third Avenue—across the street
from luxury retailer Bloomingdale’s,
and only a couple of avenues from
midtown proper—Dylan’s has always
sat in a comfortable median between
upscale and lowbrow, the perfect

trap for both its well-to-do neighbors

Americans and New York City tourists. (The
store, which sees around two million
spent more than visitors per year, is frequently cited

$21.5 billion on “top 10” destination lists.) “Dylan’s

isn’t just for kids,” Lauren makes a
on candy point to tell me, more than once. “It’s
for the kid in the adult.”
last year. Next, it grew smart and strategi-
cally, in a way that allowed it the
space to cultivate a following and

Startups [Summer 2017] 27

 strong brand identity. The two-story
shop opened with candy, some
T-shirts, and candy jewelry for sale,
plus a party room. It wasn’t until
2005 that Lauren expanded to the
third floor and launched a “celebra-
tions” business that included corpo-
rate events and off-site parties—and
continued to expand into private-
label candy and merchandise, which
today makes up 40 percent of
annual sales. Dylan’s didn’t embark
on its U.S. expansion until years
later, launching its Los Angeles out-
post in 2012. “I didn’t want to dilute
the brand by opening stores in every
city and every mall,” says Lauren,
who also rebuffed an offer to sell her
products in Target stores. “My goal
is to open more flagship stores in
major cities—the right corner and
location, which takes a long time.”
That could be taken as a bit of
casual shade thrown toward another
event that occurred in 2005: the
departure of Rubin, who wanted to
take Dylan’s mass-market. Rubin
went on to launch It’Sugar, based in
Florida, another candy chain with
a decidedly more aggressive—and
raunchier—approach to the busi-
ness: It has more than 100 locations
in the U.S. and abroad and is known
for such products as Dingle Bearies
(chocolate-covered gummy bears)
and Schweddy Balls (salty chocolate
balls named for the SNL skit).   the company has made significant
But Dylan’s has cultivated an
outsize image that belies its 19
locations. Its strategic licensing
partnerships, from becoming the
“We’re in a
fast, aggressive
expansion mode,
both
globally
and across markets.”
28 Startups [Summer 2017]
official “curator of treats” for the
Broadway version of Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory to exclusive
collaborations with Claire’s and
Havaianas flip-flops, put its iconic
rainbow logo in front of consum-
ers of all ages. Meanwhile, Dylan’s
celebrity clientele conveys to its
followers that they, too, should be
Dylan’s clientele.  launched nearly four years ago.
“This is exactly what I wanted
to do,” Lauren says. “You can buy
candy anywhere, but I was trying to
break the mold of the candy world
and make it sort of a lifestyle gift
store for a high-end customer. That’s
aspirational to anyone.”
OOO
T
oday, Dylan’s Candy Bar
is at what Lauren and
her executive team call
an “inflection point.” In
October, it will celebrate what Lauren
calls the company’s “sweet 16,” and
Lauren believes she’s accomplished
what she originally set out to do:
She built a brand that people love,
and that still feels special and a little
exclusive. Now it’s begun restructur-
ing for a bigger, bolder future—one
with many more Dylan’s stores across
the world, where the strength of the
brand can really be put to the test.
Within the past several years,
changes to its management team,
which included hiring Tushar Adya,
a former McKinsey consultant, as
president and chief operating officer.
“I think we’ve finally gotten to the
point of being able to execute on the
vision at a much faster pace,” Adya
says. “We’re in a fast, aggressive
expansion mode, both globally and
across markets.”
The beginning of this plan has
been to expand its licensed-shop
model in airports, the first of which
(There are eight in all, the most
recent being at Tampa International
Airport.) Run by travel retail giant
Paradies Lagardère, the shops typi-
cally run between 600 and 1,000
square feet, and offer the chain an
opportunity to capture new fans
who might not be familiar with the
Dylan’s brand. “It’s a captive audi-
ence,” Adya says. “It’s great from a
brand-building perspective, because
you have millions of eyeballs on the
brand, and people really enjoy being
able to get a little treat or a last-min-
ute gift before getting on a plane.”
The company has also taken full
control of its own Long Island–based
warehouse—allowing for more con-
trol and visibility into its inventory—
and has been focused on accelerating
its merchandising business. Last year,
it brought on the renowned manage-
ment agency IMG to negotiate new
licensing partnerships and take the
brand into new markets, such as sta-
tionery, bakeware, and housewares.
Among more recent additions to the
product portfolio is a six-foot-wide
pool float that looks like a giant,
multicolored Life Saver, intended
to tap into an apparent “pool float
craze.” (Who knew?)
Soon Dylan’s will embark on its
biggest initiative yet: propagating its
brand across international waters. By
January, it will open a stand-alone,
ILLUSTRATION © THE NOUN PROJECT/HOPKINS
8,500-square-foot store in Dubai,
which represents a larger expansion
across the Middle East, according
to Adya. Over the next four years,
Dylan’s plans to open six to eight
stores in Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, and
Qatar. Setting up shop in the region
has presented a new set of challenges
for the company, such as having to
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 adhere to stricter food regulations,
which means finding new locally
based vendors and limiting its prod-
uct assortment in some stores. To
navigate all that, Dylan’s hired a local
operator, Chalhoub Group, which also
oversees several Ralph Lauren stores.
The move represents a major
growth opportunity, considering the
backdrop of the booming travel and
tourism scene of the United Arab
Emirates. Dubai International Airport
is currently the third busiest airport
in the world, having served more than
83 million passengers last year—a
7 percent increase from 2015—and
is expected to overtake Beijing and
Atlanta for the top title in the next
10 years. Meanwhile, Lauren is
actively looking for partners to help
take Dylan’s into Japan and the U.K.
It might seem to be a surprising
strategy for Lauren, who spent so
long worrying about diluting her
brand by putting a store in “every
city and every mall.” But it’s all
part of a natural evolution. “I think
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30 Startups [Summer 2017]
some brands don’t have the stable
roots in the ground to grow,” Lauren
says. “We’re still a lean organiza-
tion, but I just feel like I have more
people [who can help me] control
the outcome internally. We want
everyone to feel like, ‘Wow, can we
get a Dylan’s Candy Bar in our city?’”
OOO
F
or all of her fascination
with and focus on the
physical retail experience,
Lauren seems to har-
bor an equal amount of antipathy
toward e-commerce. “Social media
and the internet…that’s not my
favorite,” she confesses on our walk
from the store back to her office,
during which I’m finding it increas-
ingly difficult to keep up with her
brisk pace. (She works out five times
a week, I later learn.) “I really hope
that the art of retail is not dead,
because I think there’s nothing as
fun as going into a place and getting
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inspired, spending 45 minutes [in a
store] as a tourist coming into the
city, or even for me to window-shop
in New York. I mean online is great,
but it’s a little lazy.”
Lauren’s neo-Luddism is sort
of endearing, but if Dylan’s truly
wants to take its brand to global
heights, the internet will be key.
According to Mintel, people in
other countries buy candy online
at increasingly greater rates than
Americans do. For example, a whop-
ping 37 percent of Chinese consum-
ers purchase sweets online, versus
12 percent of Americans. “What’s
interesting about that is, they’re
not just buying what they know,”
Mogelonsky emphasizes. “They actu-
ally go online and look for candy,
and they buy candy they’ve never
tasted before. We’re way behind.” 
Plus, up-and-coming competitors
are taking advantage of digital inno-
vation to create fun new experiences
around candy. Last year, Sugarfina,
an artisan candy emporium that
started as an e-commerce-only outfit,
generated so much excitement online
with its rosé-infused gummy bear
presale that nearly 18,000 customers
flocked to its website—and crashed
it. Meanwhile, subscription boxes
geared toward curating the best
sweets from around the world, in
much the same way Lauren does for
Dylan’s, have grown in popularity as
well. There’s MunchPak, for example,
which prides itself on offering cus-
tomers the hardest-to-find candies
around, while both Mouth and Graze
offer craft treats with healthier
options for those who are indeed try-
ing to reduce their sugar intake.
Lauren is aware of the stakes in
this changing retail landscape, and
so, like many entrepreneurs, she’s
accepted a hard truth: Sometimes
the customer doesn’t share your full
vision. “Unfortunately, with the state
of the way people shop these days, I
have to keep up with that,” she says.
“A lot of people don’t have a Dylan’s
Candy Bar in their neck of the woods,
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and they want to be able to buy stuff
from us at all parts of the evening. I
have to reach those people, too.”
As such, Lauren’s operations
team has taken some recent steps to
become more competitive online. A
little more than a year ago, the com-
pany switched over from a rather
old-school, on-premises inventory
and sales management system to a
cloud-based one developed by the
Oracle-owned NetSuite. The move
resulted in a reported 66 percent
decrease in e-commerce processing
times, a 32 percent increase in order
volume, and double-digit revenue
growth—a great start for more
ambitious initiatives down the line.
“These investments [in systems]
make the infrastructure a lot stron-
ger and stable so we can be able to
execute bigger opportunities,” says
Adya. Currently, e-commerce makes
up less than 10 percent of the com-
pany’s sales. Within the next two
years, he plans to double that.
In the meantime, Lauren, the
visionary, will stay focused on what
she loves most: the experience.
Back in the buying meeting, she’s
scrupulously poring over new good-
ies and merchandise to be ready for
the upcoming and all-too-important
Halloween and Christmas holidays.
“That looks demonic!” she exclaims
after being presented with a clear,
plastic gummy-bear-shaped con-
tainer with red antlers, which will
be filled later with red (or green)
gummies. Then, sea-salt caramel
milk chocolate squares, which she
(understandably) deems “a bad flavor
for a kid,” its intended buyer. She’ll
let them slide under one condition—
that they’re named Green Booger
Caramel, which of course screams
trick-or-treat. (They ended up nam-
ing them Eat Me If You Dare.)
“Nothing goes without me check-
ing everything. My name’s on the
door,” she later tells me. “Maybe one
day we’ll open a candy hotel or a
candy theme park. I wanna take over
the world with candy, you know?”
Startups [Summer 2017] 31
32 Startups [Summer 2017]
 The key to
BY AARON GELL Tim Ferriss’
PHOTOGRAPHS BY
ROBERT MAXWELL
never-ending
quest to
do everything
faster, better,
and more
profitably:
You have to
know when
TO STOP.
[Summer 2017]

TIM
FERRISS
HAS PLENTY OF
SOUND ADVICE
for someone undertaking the grueling
physical and psychological endurance test
that is the miracle of modern air travel.
To avoid jet lag, book your flight on
a Dreamliner if at all possible. Newer
aircraft have improved pressure systems,
which means the altitude takes less of a
toll. Use TSA Precheck and Global Entry
to evade the sock-footed Forced March
of Doom, but arrive ludicrously early
anyway and spend a few hours working
in the airport lounge to avoid unneces-
sary stress. Hydrate. Use a zinc spray
34 Startups [Summer 2017]
to bolster your immune system. Squirt
saline into your nostrils. Pop one gram
of vitamin C every hour and lysine every
few hours for the duration of your trip.
If you must check baggage containing
expensive equipment, consider packing
a starter pistol as well and register it at
check-in so the airline authorities are
extra attentive to your stuff and won’t
misplace it. Hydrate some more. And at
your soonest opportunity after arriving
on terra firma, hop on a stationary bike
for 10 minutes of vigorous pedaling.
I followed approximately zero percent
of this program when I arrive bleary-eyed
and a few minutes late at a Santa Monica
steakhouse for an audience with the
superman of self-improvement. Fortu-
nately, as he rises to greet me—clad in a
reddish V-neck T-shirt and blue sweat-
pants by Rhone (a sponsor of his podcast)
and a pair of flip-flops by Havaianas (not
a sponsor)—it’s clear he’s in good enough
shape for both of us. Ferriss, 39, is the
picture of vitality, a walking, talking,
admirably cut advertisement for the outer
limits of human potential. The wildly suc-
cessful author, podcaster, blogger, tango
master, and angel investor offers me a
firm handshake and a ready smile. Having
just come from a photo shoot, he’s lugging
a giant gym bag and a backpack, which he
admits make him feel a little like Bruce
Banner—better known as the Incredible
Hulk, one of his preschool idols.
Ferriss, who lives in San Francisco,
is in Los Angeles for the week to tape a
new TV series, Fear(less) with Tim Ferriss,
essentially a televised version of his pop-
ular podcast. It will premiere on DirecTV
sometime in 2017. This will be Ferriss’
second run at television. His first, The
Tim Ferriss Experiment, featured the host
striving to master a new field every week
(parkour, tactical shooting, rally car driv-
ing, speaking Tagalog, drumming, etc.).
Turner Broadcasting shot 13 episodes
only to shelve the series before it aired
following a back-office shakeup. Ferriss
eventually got the digital rights and put
the show on iTunes, where it topped the
nonfiction series charts for weeks.
Meanwhile, he had begun the labori-
ous process of promoting a book, Tools
of Titans, a 704-page bid to extend the
streak of best-sellers that began with
The 4-Hour Workweek, the 2007 publish-
ing supernova that collected 26 rejec-
tions before finally finding its way to
bookshelves. He followed it up with The
4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Chef. This
new book is “a tool kit for changing
your life.” It’s a compendium of action-
able wisdom—“field-tested beliefs and
habits”—most of them gleaned from
more than 200 interviews he conducted
for the podcast, featuring everyone from
Gen. Stanley McChrystal to actor and
musician Jamie Foxx.
The book is, frankly, a firehose of
advice. So much advice that no one
person could possibly find it all manage-
able, let alone useful. But Ferriss doesn’t
expect it to be used as a bible, with every
word followed. That’s not the way self-
improvement works, he says. And he
should know: He has achieved guru status
not by adopting every idea that comes his
way but by leading a life of trial and error,
and being willing to try new things and
embrace only what suits his particular
circumstances and ambitions. The critical
element isn’t the improvement—it’s the
openness to improvement, and the self-
awareness to know what’s working.
“My goal is for each reader to like 50
percent, love 25 percent, and never for-
get 10 percent,” he writes. As for the rest
of the massive volume? Maybe use it as a
kettlebell. Seriously. This is a big book.
QQQ
FERRISS GREW UP in East Hamp-
ton, N.Y., the fabulously wealthy ocean-
side enclave on the southern fork of
Long Island, famous for its graceful
shingled cottages nestled behind tower-
ing hedgerows and its Veuve-soaked
summertime social scene. That wasn’t
the Ferrisses’ world; they were “townies.”
Tim’s father was a real estate agent; his
mother, a physical therapist. And he was
a runt, he says. “I got my ass kicked con-
stantly. When kids went out to recess,
that was not a safe zone for me.”
Eventually, the Hulk fan had a button-
popping growth spurt of his own: five
inches and 60 pounds of muscle. His tor-
mentors were confused. “They were like,
‘This is the guy we always beat up.’ No,
this is the guy that throws you over a desk
and smashes your head into the floor.” Fer-
riss sips his iced tea, clearly relishing the
memory. He took up wrestling, mastering
the elemental combination of strength
and strategy, and the benefits of working
harder than the other guy. “I learned to
associate discomfort with getting better,”
he says. “And that transcended wrestling
and applied to a lot of other things in life.”
But rather than being the end of
Ferriss’ adolescent struggles, it was only
the beginning of a repeating pattern: He
would experience a setback, find a solu-
tion, and incorporate the lesson into his
life. During high school, a newly jacked
Ferriss took a series of service-industry
jobs that put him in direct contact with
the town’s moneyed elite. “There were
people who would verbally berate you
and treat you like you were at the bottom
of the caste system,” he says. And here,
growing up in the Hamptons with his
face pressed against the glass, is where
he suspects he learned to overvalue
money for a time, fueling his intense
drive for success. (Ferriss admits he now
has more in common with those one-
percenters he once despised than the
salt-of-the-earth types he grew up with.
“When I go back,” he says, “I don’t know
which world I belong to.”)
Eventually, this intensity and focus
brought him to Princeton University,
where he began working on a degree in
neuroscience, a field he remains obsessed
with despite switching majors to East
Asian studies. During his senior year,
in 1999, things started to go south. His
thesis wasn’t coming together. He failed
to get a second interview at McKinsey &
Company, the management consulting
powerhouse. A longtime girlfriend broke
up with him. Reeling, Ferriss decided to
take a year off, but he soon found that
being disconnected from school made
things worse. As his feelings of anxiety
and depression grew, he began to seri-
ously contemplate suicide—a period in
his life he spoke about publicly for the
first time in a 2015 Reddit Ask Me Any-
thing. “It was really just a matter of luck
that I didn’t wind up erasing myself,” he
says now. In typical style, he approached
the idea with voluminous research, care-
fully considering the various methods
and weighing the pros and cons of each.
One of the many books on suicide he
requested from the Princeton library
was unavailable, so he placed a hold
on it, forgetting that he had requested
that mail be sent to his parents’ address
during his leave. When the library sent a
notice informing him of the book’s avail-
ability, his mother opened it and called
him in a panic.
“Hearing my mom’s voice waver and
kind of break snapped me out of my self-
absorbed delusion,” he says. “I still battle
my demons and have ups and downs. But
I’ve become better at managing them.
I think, This is just the changing of the
seasons. You’ve been richly rewarded for
your up periods when you have these floods
of ideas and endurance and you can get five
weeks’ worth of stuff done in five days. This
is the tax you pay.”
He also found a lifeline in extreme
physical activity: He and a friend from
his wrestling days resolved to win a
Chinese kickboxing national competi-
tion. He went to a boxing gym, took
many beatings, made a careful study of
the sport’s rule book, and developed a
strategy designed to win. For example,
fights took place on an elevated mat,
and a participant who fell off more than
three times automatically forfeited the
match, so Ferriss focused on ways to
shove his opponent off the platform.
“I thought, If I can focus on my strengths
and cover my weaknesses enough to not
get knocked out, maybe I could actually do
something,” he says. He was right: He
won the national title. And perhaps more
important, he regained his confidence
and learned how to use a physical goal
to keep the rest of his life on track. “You
learn to manage fear,” he says. “And that
doesn’t mean getting rid of it. It means
you are learning to take action despite
fear, and that is a very useful inoculation
for everything you do later.”
After graduating, Ferriss moved
to Silicon Valley and wound up in a
dead-end sales job with a data storage
company. He resolved to start a business
of his own. “First, I asked myself: What
do I know really well?” he recalls. He real-
ized that he was already something of an
expert in the supplements industry, hav-
ing put his neuroscience knowledge to
use in college, making home-brew smart
drugs in his dorm bathroom. He found,
for instance, that after a few hits of a
diuretic nasal spray typically prescribed
for adolescent bed-wetting, he could
cram for his Chinese character quizzes
“and flip the pages like Rain Man.”
He asked himself another question:
Where am I absurdly price-insensitive?
Looking at his credit card statements,
the answer was obvious. “At the time, I
was spending probably $500 a month on
sports supplements, and back then I made
probably $40,000 pretax in the Bay Area.”
Then, a final question: What do I think
I can market effectively?
Ferriss had been a student of market-
ing since he was a kid. He often stayed
Startups [Summer 2017] 35
 up well past bedtime, immersed in
late-night infomercials. “I was curious
to find out how the mind works and
how we navigate our decisions,” he says.
He’d study the scripts, taking notes. On
occasion, he’d place an order just to see
what arrived, then return it for a refund.
He even kept a binder filled with ads that
had worked on him.
He combined all this insight into a
supplements company, BrainQuicken,
that launched in 2000. Sales were slug-
gish, but he noticed users raving about
the physical results they derived from the
product—even though it was designed to
enhance their minds. “I was hearing from
high-level NCAA athletes: ‘I’m jumping
higher!’ ‘My time off the blocks is faster!’”
The problem wasn’t the product, he
realized, but the positioning. “I thought
people wanted to be smarter,” he says,
“and they do. They just won’t spend $50
on it.” He kept the formula the same but
changed the name to BodyQuick and
targeted athletes. Soon, he had a hit.
Ferriss’ efforts to run the company
without letting it consume his life are at
the heart of The 4-Hour Workweek. The
book’s breakaway success (there are two
million in print in the U.S. alone) eventu-
ally led him to cash out and plunge into
investing. His large fan base in the tech
world meant he had tons of relation-
ships, which gave him a huge leg up. He
learned to focus on consumer-oriented
companies, where his promotional mojo
could be put to good effect. “I say yes only
to deals where I can materially affect the
outcome,” he says. And he stuck mostly
to angel investing, because he preferred
long-term commitment over the unend-
ing stress of the stock market.
The results have been impressive. His
portfolio has included such juggernauts
as Facebook, Uber, Alibaba, Wealthfront,
and Duolingo. “I’ve had multiple invest-
ments at $25,000 that have become
worth more than a million dollars,” he
reports, reaching for a forkful of spinach.
With many of his startups, Ferriss’
role goes well beyond writing a check and
later cashing a bigger one. He can now
offer the sum of his parts—the personal
knowledge, tested and retested through
his own life, of how to learn from adver-
sity and find untapped strength.
36 Startups [Summer 2017]
QQQ
AFTER LUNCH, Ferriss drops
by the nearby office of one of his port-
folio companies, Tradesy, a peer-to-peer
digital consignment shop for women’s
fashion, where users buy and sell their
stylish castoffs.
Tracy DiNunzio, the company’s
thirtysomething founder and CEO, who
launched the business in 2014, had no
shortage of eager investors when she
went out to do her Series B fund-raising
round. She passed on several extremely
well-regarded Silicon Valley figures in
favor of Ferriss. “He was our most value-
added investor,” she tells me, sitting
in a small conference room just off the
spacious main workspace. “I knew he had
already built a great brand for himself
and that he had an uncanny knack for
communications, but he delivered far
more than he promised. We started with
a brainstorming warmup conversation,
and he had more ideas than we’d heard
in a year. He also knew a lot more about
tech investing than I expected. I don’t
know how he learned it so quickly.”
“Buy lots of booze for people who like
to talk,” Ferriss says with a smile.
Like just about everyone who is lucky
enough to get an audience with Fer-
riss, DiNunzio starts with a few health
concerns. Running a startup takes a toll.
The company she started in her kitchen
now employs 110 people. And DiNunzio
recently embarked on a challenging shift
in emphasis: Rather than exclusively
chasing growth, the company’s north star
for years, she is now aiming for profitable
growth. “The operating gymnastics have
become more intense,” she says. “The days
are longer.”
“You signed up for the majors,” Ferriss
sympathizes.
“And we’re in a late quarter!” DiNun-
zio replies. “How do I get my energy up
so I can keep doing these 16-hour days,
six days a week?”
Ferriss offers a flood of fixes: Go on a
ketogenic diet, or try synthetic ketones.
Meditate more. Get comprehensive
blood work. Then the conversation turns
to another new challenge. Tradesy is see-
ing increasing competition from other
websites that are essentially copying
its central concept. Some of DiNunzio’s
core marketing messages are being lifted
verbatim by rivals. “Nothing we’ve said
in the past is still unique to us,” she says.
They need a new approach.
“Imitation,” Ferriss says with a grin.
“The sincerest form of driving your
cost per acquisition through the roof.”
He asks if the company’s slogans—for
instance, “Cash in your closet”—are
legally defensible. No, DiNunzio replies.
They didn’t get all of them trademarked.
PHOTOGRAPH © ANDREW KELLY
Next, Ferriss suggests a different focus.
“Ask yourself: What’s quantifiable that
other people can’t duplicate? Number of
years in business, number of customers,
units shipped? Come up with something
that’s empirically difficult for someone
else to mimic.” Another thought: customer
testimonials. “It’s something I ask myself
and a lot of startups,” he says. “How do
you utilize your customers? How can you
get them to do the marketing for you?”
All the ideas make good sense to
DiNunzio. Then, a bolt of lightning.
DiNunzio mentions that Tradesy’s
big advantage is its dominance in what’s
called organic search. Due to a lot of back-
end effort early on, postings on the site
rank high in Google’s search algorithm. In
fact, 70 percent of the site’s traffic comes
in through that route, so Tradesy has
been able to pull back on pricey Facebook
ads—which is great because such users
who arrive via search come in at no cost
and often wind up making a purchase.
Meanwhile, the other primary method
for attracting e-commerce customers,
through Facebook ads, usually captures
people who may be valuable over time but
often don’t buy anything right away.
This gives Ferriss an idea. “How could
you take away this crutch that your com-
petitors are using—given that they are
far more dependent on that paid media?”
he asks. He suggests a plan that many
businesses would consider unthinkable:
take Tradesy’s well-developed playbook
for paid acquisition and share it with the
world. Just hand some of the company’s
most hard-won trade secrets, free of
charge, to the many deep-pocketed retail-
ers, the Nordstroms of the world, who
are relatively new to the social market-
ing game. Given Tradesy’s advantage in
BUY
LOTS OF
BOOZE
FOR PEOPLE
WHO LIKE
TO TALK.”
organic search, Ferriss explains, “this sac-
rifice is actually going to hurt your com-
petitors more than it’s going to hurt you.”
That’s because the resulting increase in
competition for Facebook ads would force
Tradesy’s rival consignment websites to
pay more to find their customers.
“So maybe guest-author a post in an
industry journal?” he suggests.
DiNunzio has a better idea. “I just got
invited to speak at a major e-commerce
conference,” she says, eyes twinkling.
She turns to me. “I mean, what’s up
with him, right?” she asks incredulously
of Ferriss. “This is a more in-depth con-
versation about digital paid-marketing
strategy than I can usually have with
other e-commerce CEOs who do this for
a living. And then layer on top of it the
fucking Jedi strategy of making retailers
crush the margins of our competitors.”
Ferriss smiles.
“Now you get why he’s so good,”
she says.
QQQ
FERRISS WASN’T planning on writ-
ing another book, not yet anyway. Tools
of Titans began as a private project, an
attempt, after creating hundreds of hours’
worth of podcasts, to simply catalog the
wisdom his guests had imparted and mine
it for takeaways he might apply to his own
life. At the time, he was living in Paris,
where he’d gone to take a class in fiction
writing—a plan that soon found its way
to the back burner when he realized what
gold he was turning up in those mp3s.
“When I started the book, I thought
it would be a cakewalk,” he admits. It
wasn’t. He began, as he always does, by
studying the market—purchasing “six
to 12” successful books in the genre he
is entering. “As it turns out,” he says
bluntly, “most books of interviews are
fucking terrible. They’re not action-
able.” Determined to publish something
authentically results-driven, he read
through his transcripts, filled in gaps by
conducting additional interviews, and
wrote a number of original chapters
himself. (Despite his faith in outsourc-
ing, Ferriss shuns ghostwriters because
they’re not able to capture his voice.)
Some 700 pages of actionable advice
poses several challenges for the reader,
foremost among them: How do we decide
whose advice to take? For instance, the
chapter featuring Seth Rogen and his pro-
ducing partner, Evan Goldberg, includes
the oft-repeated writers’ workshop
admonition to “write what you know,” a
platitude Freakonomics author Steven
J. Dubner categorically denounces some
50 pages later. Of course, Rogen and
Goldberg make Hollywood blockbusters,
while Dubner comes out of journalism.
And that’s partly the point: Meaningful
nitty-gritty advice tends to be situational.
What works wonders for one person
might be disastrous for another.
Ferriss urges readers to subject ideas
to rigorous testing. “It’s only good advice
if it lends itself to a good experiment,” he
says. “And a good experiment is measur-
able and replicable.” That’s the opposite,
he says, of what fills most business-
oriented books. “It’s like, ‘active integ-
rity,’” he says. “What does that mean? It’s
like a cheesy motivational poster. Ninety
percent of the business-book content out
there consists of meaningless platitudes
like that. But once you define ‘good
advice’ as something you can test, it
takes care of itself.” And he adds, readers
who achieve genuine results become the
best evangelists. “If I win over 1,000 true
fans, I don’t need a marketing budget,”
he says—an idea popularized by Wired
cofounding editor Kevin Kelly, and, natu-
rally, featured in Tools of Titans.
At this point, clearly, he’s got many
more than 1,000 devotees. For instance,
Startups [Summer 2017] 37
 his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, has
been downloaded more than 100 million
times. In part, that’s because Ferriss is
a good host. But there’s more to it than
that. As with everything else, Ferriss’
approach to the genre has been extraor-
dinarily methodical, data-driven, and
results-oriented. He decided to start
with just six episodes, the number, he
reasoned, that would “maximize lessons
learned: getting better at conducting
interviews, getting rid of verbal tics,
learning to secure guests”—even if he
decided to bail. “That is a constant ques-
tion in my mind for almost every single
decision I make,” he says. “Even if this
fails, what other benefits can I derive
from it?”
The podcasting industry, Ferriss
goes on, “is rife with assumptions.” For
instance, “where in the Ten Command-
ments is it written that you have to
charge $10 to $12 CPM?” (the price for
1,000 impressions). Instead, he worked
backward, asking, What financial proposi-
tion would make this exciting for me? He
settled on an astronomical $60 CPM and
then set about creating a product that
would be worth the money. “That means
that when a sponsor signs with me, I
want to ensure they win.” He does it by
enlisting a team of people to make sure a
sponsor’s e-commerce game is optimized
to convert traffic into paying customers.
Meanwhile, although many episodes of
his show generate more than a mil-
lion downloads, he sets prices around a
guarantee of just 450,000. “It’s massive
underselling,” he says. “Why? Because I
want my sponsors to fucking love me.”
Although he puts minimal effort into
sales and typically insists on payment up
front, the show’s ad space is booked up
several quarters in advance.
“If I’d followed the playbook that
other successful podcasters are using, I
would have quit,” he says. “It wouldn’t
have been worth my time. It would be
stressful. And I wouldn’t have the space
to focus on the creative aspects, which
are what I enjoy.”
QQQ
BY THIS POINT, the 4-Hour Man is
on track to give me a 9-hour interview.
38 Startups [Summer 2017]
In fact, he seems so relaxed that I’m con-
vinced (haters to the contrary) he really
has organized his life to give himself all
the free time he can handle. But we’re on
a roll. “I’m sure any one of these places
would be more than happy to sell us
some alcohol,” he says cheerfully as we
stroll through downtown Santa Monica.
Is Tim Ferriss perfect? He’s certainly
working on it. But after close examina-
tion, I can confirm that he is, in fact, still a
human with vices. Ginger cookies are one.
Wine is another, which becomes apparent
as we settle into a cavernous gastropub
and Ferriss pores over the list. “If I have
a waiter whom I ask about an expensive
glass of wine—meaning, like, $5 more
than a cheap one—and he’s like, ‘Nah,
go with that bottle,’ like, you just got an
extra tip,” Ferriss says. “Have an opinion.
Do not just tell me everything’s good.”
He orders a Malbec.
“It’s important to know where you
have the ability to moderate and where
you don’t,” Ferriss says. “In the case
of alcohol, I don’t do moderation very
well. If I have one glass, I’m like, ‘I’m not
properly buzzed. I might as well have two
or three.’” That’s why two to four times a
year, he turns teetotaler for a month.
Soon our waiter arrives to take our
food order, and Ferriss puts him to the
test. “If you had to name your first and
second choice,” Ferriss asks him, “among
the hangar steak, the burger—”
“The burger, definitely,” the waiter
puts in quickly.
“Good man!” Ferriss exclaims, order-
ing the burger, no bun, with avocado
and bacon piled on top, brussels sprouts
instead of fries, and oysters to start.
Back on the subject of his imperfec-
tion, he readily admits to more than a
touch of OCD-like behavior. “I’ll have
books or stacks of things on a desk, and
if the spaces between them are not paral-
lel, it drives me crazy,” he says. “I’m very
obsessed with symmetry and clean lines.
But frankly, I don’t know anyone who’s
really good at what they do who doesn’t
have a bit of that. You have to give a shit
to a level that is a bit pathological.”
Given his intensity, I can’t help won-
dering if he might have one more vice:
an addiction to continuous self-improve-
ment. Will you ever experiment with
the idea of just chilling out? I ask him.
Maybe write a book about, say, kicking
back on the sofa, eating ginger cookies,
and becoming a slob? “Some experi-
ments are not very interesting to me,”
he replies with a laugh. “It’s a matter of
incentives. Why would you do it?”
I press him. Isn’t it possible, I ask, to
basically optimize yourself so compul-
sively you forget to actually live your
life? “Sure, and I’ve been there,” he
says. “Because the study and pursuit of
achievement is necessarily very future-
tense. If you can’t be happy with what
you have in the present, then you can
never be happy. A sole focus on produc-
tivity, calibrated and measured based on
some future outcome? Oh, you’re fucked,
pal. You’re going to psychological hell
in a handbasket if you don’t have some
kind of counterbalancing practice.”
That helps explain why despite his
success as an investor, Ferriss hasn’t
made an investment in a startup in a
year and a half. The research requires
too much mental energy. “Lots of tech
investors participate in popular deals out
of FOMO or social obligation,” he says.
“I manage my own money, so if I take a
break for a few years, who gives a shit?”
Instead, he is applying his freed-up cog-
nitive capacity to new challenges: He’s
tooling around with a screenplay based
on The 4-Hour Workweek, a project he
thinks of as “Dodgeball meets Fight Club.”
Meanwhile, in order to learn the movie
business, he’s planning on directing a
series of short films—a project
he admits may be a “take my money and
set it on fire in the middle of the street”
sort of venture.
So why do it? “Because I want to, and I
think it will be fun.”
The last glass of Malbec is almost
gone. Ferriss leans back from the table.
“Mostly, I just really want to insert
more absurdity into my life,” he says.
“I think this is a very therapeutic and
joy-inducing thing—to have, along with
the productivity, a very large dose of
absurdity. It’s a really good and healthy
thing for me to do.”
Read a longer version of this story,
with more on Ferriss’ background, at
entm.ag/ferrissprofile.
©2017 Firehouse Subs

#1 America’s Favorite Chain

for “Top 5 Brands Overall”
Restaurant Business

#1 America’s Most Loved

Fast Food Restaurant
Business Insider

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Sandwich Chain
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A ST R AT EG IC INI T I AT I V E OF T HE IN T ER N AT ION A L FR A NCHISE A S SOCI AT ION SINCE 19 91

 THIS
IS
HOW
WE
DO
IT
FRANCHISE PROS
TALK ABOUT
WHAT THEY DO,
WHY THEY DO IT,
AND WHAT
THEY’VE LEARNED.

INTERVIEWS BY KRISTIN HUNT, JOE KEOHANE & TRACY STAPP HEROLD

40 Startups [Summer 2017]

ILLUSTRATION BY PETER ARKLE; PORTRAITS BY KYLE HILTON

Startups [Summer 2017] 41

 FIND A
PRODUCT
THAT INSPIRES
FANATICISM.
Q RANDY GIANDONATO
AND RICK KROMER
OWNERS OF THREE
BEEF JERKY OUTLETS
KROMER: People come into the
store, they drop to their knees, they
say, “Oh my God—this is the great-
est place on Earth! I’m in heaven!”
They’re crazy.
GIANDONATO: You’d think we’d get
mainly guys, but we get all kinds of
people. Our store in Atlantic City
gets high rollers walking in with
their wives with diamonds on their
fingers, and families who are at the
outlets shopping.
DO IT ALL. DON’T BE AFRAID
TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY.
Q KEVIN ADAMS
OWNER OF A CULVER’S RESTAURANT IN SIERRA VISTA, ARIZ.
CULVER’S HAS A 16-week training program for new franchisees. You spend
12 weeks working in one of the family-owned restaurants in Wisconsin,
along with some classroom training. Then after those 12 weeks, each new
franchisee is required to go to two new stores and be part of the support
team for those stores’ opening training week and first week of operations.
Then your team has six days of training before your own store opens. The
opening sticks out most in my mind. It was just so intense. We were work-
ing 16-hour days. It was a big blur. I’m still in the restaurant at least five to
six days a week. I work the drive-thru window, I take orders, I clean tables,
I work the grill. I do it all.

KROMER: It’s not uncommon for a

group of women to come in from
the casino and spend a ridiculous
amount of money on beef jerky.

GIANDONATO: We’ve converted a BE PREPARED TO GET SOME FUNNY LOOKS

lot of people.
KROMER: One couple said, “We
were watching TV and you came on,
and my wife and I looked at each
other: ‘You thinking what I’m think-
ing?’ ‘Yeah: road trip…this week-
end.’” They didn’t give it a second
thought. They drove an hour and a
half to go to a beef jerky store.
ENTREPRENEUR: Ever get any weird
requests from these jerky junkies?
KROMER: I’ve had someone ask if
AS YOU WORK TOWARD YOUR GOAL.
Q HELEN McDONAGH
REGIONAL DEVELOPER FOR MASSAGE ENVY IN WEST AND NORTHEAST
LOS ANGELES AND A FRANCHISE OWNER IN GLENDALE, CALIF.
THERE ARE MANY FUNNY stories to see our brand pop up in shop-
when you run a massage business. ping centers, they’d say, “Oh! This is
When we first started in the Los legitimate.” They’d go, “Oh, Massage
Angeles market in 2004, if you went Envy? You guys are OK. We know
to the city and said you wanted you’re one of the good places.”
to open a massage establishment, For us, it’s about making mas-
they’d go, “Who are you, Heidi sage part of your health-and-
Fleiss?” And my name is Helen. So wellness lifestyle. We had a lady
it’d be, “Heidi? No, I’m Helen; this is with severe back issues who’d
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF BEEF JERKY OUTLET

we sold vegetarian beef jerky. And
I was like, Let’s analyze what you’re
asking me here.
GIANDONATO: It’s a dried piece of
tofu, is what it is.
KROMER: Right, we have some of it
on the wall next to our unicorn jerky.
a legitimate business.” The whole
idea of a place where you went
to get regular massages—and just
massages—was unheard of. Back
then, the people who got massages
went only to either really shitty
places or very high-end places.
The tide started to turn probably
in the past three or four years. As
planners and city attorneys started
never been able to bend down and
touch her toes; she was scheduled
for some type of back surgery. She
was seeing a particular therapist
who we consider a miracle worker.
After a couple of months, she bent
down and touched her toes right
in the lobby and started to cry.
The regular massage really
changed her life.

42 Startups [Summer 2017]

 IS THERE A ME IN TEAM ?
GIVE AND TAKE AND GIVE. FIGURE OUT HOW YOUR
Q DAN PARKER
OWNER OF TWO FRANCHISE COMMUNITY PREFERS
TERRITORIES FOR RIGHT AT HOME
IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TO COMMUNICATE.
Q AUSTIN SCHNEEWEIS
WHEN I WAS LOOKING into franchise OWNER OF SIX MERRY MAIDS
opportunities, Right at Home gave us FRANCHISES IN GREATER
a list of franchisees we could call and PHILADELPHIA AND PITTSBURGH
talk to. It was really outstanding. I think
I spoke to six different folks and came WE JUST IMPLEMENTED a texting
to know all of them later on. They were service. The customers love it. We
very candid and open about the pros usually reach out to them during the
and cons of the business. I felt really day, during business hours. But with
good about the availability of people our new texting system, they can
who were wearing the shoes that I was now text us to let us know, “Wow,
trying on. the cleaning went really well. I really
And I still do. These days, I routinely liked so-and-so who came in today;
get phone calls from new owners. We they did a great job.” We’re get-
work closely together. We refer one ting a lot more response and a lot
another; we support one another. We more interaction with our customers
have different groups on email where than we had historically, just due to
we talk back and forth about questions. adopting new technology.
They do a great job with that.

JUST BECAUSE IT’S EASY TO ORDER A BURGER

DOESN’T MEAN IT’S EASY TO RUN A FAST-FOOD JOINT.
Q NICK SHURGOT
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF CKE RESTAURANTS; PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MERRY MAIDS

PRESIDENT AND CEO OF SADDLE PEAK, WHICH OWNS AND OPERATES 44 HARDEE’S
RESTAURANTS IN ARKANSAS, MISSISSIPPI, TENNESSEE, GEORGIA, AND SOUTH CAROLINA

PEOPLE TURN UP their noses at fast food, but it’s a complex business. You have a ton of
employees that tend to be a little bit younger and new to the workforce, so you’ve got issues
with no-call-no-shows, and you’ve got to train younger folks to engage with guests, deliver
customer service, deal with complaints, and stuff like that. And then you’ve got equip-
ment that can break down, and massive deliveries of food twice a week. In the end,
your typical sales-per-man-hour metric is around $38 to $45. Compare that with
gas stations and grocery stores, where sales per man hour are between $400 and
$700. It’s just a very labor-intensive industry.
So, if I had a suggestion, I’d say if you’re going to get into fast-food franchising,
it’s best to do it with some amount of scale. You know, four, five, or six restaurants
[Shurgot started with eight], where you can have a district manager with a history in
operations who can help you. If you’re new to this and you’re trying to get acquainted
with how to run a good operation, plus manage the finances and the labor and all the
things an owner has to do, while also trying to maintain food costs and hire the right folks—it
just becomes too much.

Startups [Summer 2017] 43


MANAGE
UNREASONABLE
BEEFCAKE
EXPECTATIONS.
Q KEVEN ELWOOD
OWNER OF A COLLEGE HUNKS
HAULING JUNK FRANCHISE IN
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO.
I RETIRED from the military last
year. And while I was in the military
transition, where you have one year
left of service before you retire, I
was interviewing a bunch of fran-
chises. My career coach was like,
“Do not laugh, do not shun this:
College Hunks Hauling Junk.” I was
like, “Absolutely not. There’s no way
I’ll buy a company named College
Hunks. It’s not gonna happen.”
Now I’m about a year in, and I
can say it really helps with brand
awareness.
“H.U.N.K.S.” stands for “Honest.
Uniform. Nice. Knowledgeable. Ser-
vice.” So it’s more of a service prom-
ise than a muscle promise. But there
are adverse reactions. There are men
who are way too manly to buy from
College Hunks, and they’ll say as
much. And we definitely have some
women out there asking, “Where are
the guys in the tank tops and short
shorts?” because I have people on
my rolls who are well into their 30s.
But then they fall in love with the fact
that we bring them a cup of coffee
and really go the extra mile.
44 Startups [Summer 2017]
NEVER TREAT YOUR
COMMUNITY LIKE A
MERE REVENUE SOURCE.
Q JENNIFER AND CHRIS PURCELL
OWNERS OF A FIREHOUSE SUBS FRANCHISE IN ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.
JENNIFER: When we started research- JENNIFER: We also feed the local
ing companies, Firehouse stood out football and basketball teams
because it was founded by firemen and before games.
for its public safety foundation, which
gives nonmatching grants back to local CHRIS: I was the chairman of the
police, fire, EMS, and first-responder board for the local Chamber of Com-
organizations for equipment that a merce, Jennifer was on the board
lot of places don’t have the budgets of directors for the local Red Cross
anymore to buy. Plus, Chris is a career chapter, I’m still a member of the
firefighter, and he used to eat at the county economic development com-
original location in Jacksonville, Fla. mission. And we’re both involved in
children’s organizations and PTAs.
CHRIS: We’ve given four different
rounds of donations through the JENNIFER: Giving back feels good.
foundation, totaling almost $95,000. Your community appreciates it,
To give back to the community in an but they also give back to us—they
economically depressed area—to be patronize us—so it’s a win-win situa-
able to help local volunteer fire depart- tion. As an entrepreneur, you need to
ments, police, and EMS—has been our be involved in the community.
biggest accomplishment.
WHEN IT COMES TO MARKETING,
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE WELL.
Q DAVE BARKSDALE
OWNER OF FOUR PET SUPPLIES PLUS FRANCHISES IN TEXAS
EARLY ON, we did a lot of the mail-outs and things that worked really
well for franchises in other parts of the country, but for whatever reason,
we did not seem to be reaching many people in the San Antonio area. I
was skeptical about airing ads on television, especially for what it cost,
but we tried it. Then we took a survey of people coming in, and more than
half of them said they saw our commercials on TV. That was the reason
they stopped by. So we started focusing a little more on the airwaves to
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF FIREHOUSE SUBS
get the word out in San Antonio.
Now, for our Austin location, we’re working a lot with Facebook, emails;
we developed a free app with everything we want to send out—all the
coupons that corporate does for us, all our advertising, everything comes
through that app. We’re doing a lot of that, since it appears everyone
there carries a smartphone. Six months in I can tell you that’s what is
working. So much so, that I’m not doing much non-digital advertising
these days. I wasn’t happy with the results.
 HARNESS THE POWER OF HISTORICALLY NEGLECTED DEMOGRAPHICS.
Q BRIAN WESTON
PRESIDENT OF RESTAURANTS OF AMERICA, WHICH OWNS 19 HOOTERS LOCATIONS IN NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA,
AND COLORADO, AS WELL AS THE MALL OF AMERICA

I’LL GET RIGHT DOWN TO IT: Some of the things people have heard
about Hooters girls are not really true. The Hooter girl is a much
higher-quality individual than they anticipate. We don’t allow exposed
tattoos, the amount of jewelry is very limited, the uniform is a lot
more conservative than people assume. We teach the girls the service
standards they would learn at any restaurant.
And the Hooters demographic has changed immensely. We were
at one time very male-dominated; now we’re much more diversified.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF HOOTERS

Men, women, families, kids. We’re more socially acceptable today
than we’ve ever been. People come in, they see a nice-looking bar, a
great TV package. And the menu has expanded.
I had my sixth-grader’s soccer team in for their end-of-season
party. For a lot of them, it was their first time in there. The parents
were taken aback by how sweet the girls were, how easily they
worked with the kids. At the end, we did a team photo with a bunch of the girls. Before you know it, it’s plastered all over
Facebook. [Laughs] It’s the cheapest marketing, I’ll tell you.

46 Startups [Summer 2017]

 LOCK DOWN
THE YOUTH VOTE.
REMIND CUSTOMERS THAT Q JARED DOWNS
CO-OWNER OF SEVEN
YOUR NATIONAL CHAIN DIPPIN’ DOTS FRANCHISES
ON THE EASTERN SEABOARD
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MOSQUITO JOE; PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF DIPPIN’ DOTS

IS ALSO A MOM-AND-POP. AND IN THE MIDWEST

Q KEN WECKESSER
CO-OWNER OF FIVE MOSQUITO JOE IT’S KINDA NUTS when you
FRANCHISES IN SOUTHERN MARYLAND see a kid screaming up and
down until their mom or dad
FOR THE FIRST YEAR, my wife, Eileen, buys them one. They don’t
was basically the voice of our company. stop screaming. [Laughs] It’s
She spoke to every customer personally, kinda cool to see.
and she let them know that we’re a local
franchise, that we’re based in Maryland, this
is our second year, etc. Anyone who had
any questions, comments, concerns—what-
ever—was able to speak to Eileen directly.

Startups [Summer 2017] 47

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 FRANCHISE

FRANCHISING’S HOTTEST BUSINESS CATEGORIES FOR 2017

MOST
WANTED
PHOTOGRAPH © SHUTTERSTOCK/JOHAN SWANEPOEL

CONTENTS

Children’s Enrichment / 50 Q Electronics / 53 Q Entertainment/Recreation / 54 Q Fitness / 56 Q Hot Dogs / 59 Q Pest Control / 59

Pets / 60 Q Resale/Consignment/Estate Sales / 62 Q Restoration / 63 Q Staffing/Recruiting / 64

Startups [Summer 2017] 49

FRANCHISE

W
ant to know what people can’t get enough of in the
world of franchising? This year it runs the gamut, from
fun and games to more serious services, up-and-coming
brands to well-established players. Our picks for the 10
hottest franchise trends offer something for everyone.
So whatever your taste, dive in: One of the 257 compa-
nies on this list is sure to light your entrepreneurial fire.
As you page through, bear in mind that this list is not
intended as an endorsement of any particular franchise.
Even a sizzling concept can flame out in the wrong hands, so always take
your time to do your due diligence before you invest. Review all legal docu-
ments, consult with an attorney and an accountant, and talk to as many
current and former franchisees as you can to learn about their experiences.

CHILDREN’S ENRICHMENT
ABRAKADOODLE
Art-education programs
STARTUP COST
$37.8K-$80.5K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
220/2

AMAZING ATHLETES
Educational sports programs
STARTUP COST
$39.4K-$52.9K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
95/0
PHOTOGRAPH © LOREN DAVIS/AMAZING ATHLETES

AQUA-TOTS
SWIM SCHOOLS
Swimming lessons
STARTUP COST
$493.2K-$1M
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
Amazing 72/1
Athletes

50 Startups [Summer 2017]

BACH TO ROCK COMPUCHILD GYMBOREE HO MATH CHESS
Music schools Science, technology, engi- PLAY & MUSIC TUTORING CENTER
neering, art, and math classes Parent/child play and After-school math,
STARTUP COST learning programs chess, and puzzle
$360K-$505K STARTUP COST learning programs
$18.3K-$33K STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS $120.9K-$279.9K STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS $31.6K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
10/6 TOTAL UNITS
42/1 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
732/6
BRICKS BOTS 11/1
& BEAKERS D-BAT ACADEMIES
Science, technology, Indoor baseball and softball HAPPYFEET
engineering, and math training, batting cages, ICODE SCHOOL
merchandise LEGENDS
camps, classes, parties Computer programming,
INTERNATIONAL robotics, and creative arts
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST Soccer programs for training for ages 7 to 17
$17.6K-$27.5K $315.2K-$611.6K ages 2 to 18
STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS $231K-$321K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $22.5K-$29.4K
14/2 31/1 TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/1
BRICKS 4 KIDZ DRAMA KIDS 165/3
Lego-engineering classes, INTERNATIONAL
camps, parties After-school drama classes I9 SPORTS
and summer camps HI-FIVE SPORTS Youth sports leagues,
STARTUP COST CLUBS/HI-FIVE camps, and clinics
$34.5K-$52.8K STARTUP COST
SPORTS ZONES
$28.6K-$48.2K Youth sports camps,
STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS leagues, and classes $50.9K-$76.9K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
659/2 STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
216/0 $28.8K-$567.1K
128/16
BRITISH SWIM TOTAL UNITS
ENGINEERING FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
SCHOOL USA
Swimming lessons for FOR KIDS 8/4 ISLANDTIME
ages 3 months and older Math, science, technology, TREASURES
and engineering activities Art-based science, engineer-
STARTUP COST HIGH TOUCH- ing, and math classes
$82.2K-$127.7K STARTUP COST
HIGH TECH
$27.2K-$93.6K Science activities for
STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS schools/parties $13K-$25.9K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
45/1 STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
152/1 $61.3K-$66K
13/1
CHEF IT UP!/ TOTAL UNITS
E2 YOUNG ENGINEERS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
CHEF IT UP 2 GO! Engineering enrichment
Cooking parties, classes, 163/28 JUMPBUNCH
programs Mobile children’s sports
events for children
and adults and fitness programs
STARTUP COST
$36.4K-$59.2K HOBBY QUEST STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST Enrichment programs,
$16.4K-$61K camps, workshops, parties $40.3K-$73.5K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 85/3 $38.9K-$53.2K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED

11/2 57/0
TOTAL UNITS
GOLDFISH SWIM FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
THE CODER SCHOOL SCHOOL FRANCHISING 6/3 KIDOKINETICS
Coding classes for Infant and child Mobile children’s
ages 8 to 18 swimming lessons fitness programs

STARTUP COST STARTUP COST STARTUP COST

$77.3K-$139.1K $1.3M-$2.9M $42.9K-$57K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED

0/3 39/1 5/10

Startups [Summer 2017] 51

FRANCHISE

KIDS IN SPORTS LITTLE KICKERS NUTTY SCIENTISTS REDLINE ATHLETICS

FRANCHISING Preschool soccer programs Science enrichment and Youth athletic
Children’s sports entertainment programs training centers
classes, camps, parties STARTUP COST
$20K-$35K STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $52.7K-$265.1K $188.3K-$270.5K
$202.8K-$331.3K TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS 251/1
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 240/3 9/1
3/1
LITTLE MEDICAL
SCHOOL ONE SPORTS ROBOTHINK
KIDZART Healthcare-themed NATION Science, technology,
Art-education programs, after-school and Youth sports leagues engineering, and
products, and services summer-camp programs math programs
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST $32.99K-$138.8K
$36.4K-$44K $36.4K-$53.2K $40.7K-$110.5K
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
14/1

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE LITTLE GYM INTERNATIONAL

65/0 34/3 11/2
PARISI SPEED SCHOOL
KIDZ ON THE GO LPG SPORTS Youth sports performance ROMP N’ ROLL
Mobile children’s fitness training Recreational and enrichment
ACADEMY classes, camps, parties
programs Youth sports programs
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $100K-$199K
$100K-$125K $8.5K-$28.5K $240.1K-$347.5K
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 98/0
2/2 2/1 90/3
PARKER-ANDERSON
KINDERDANCE MAD SCIENCE GROUP ENRICHMENT
INTERNATIONAL Science education and Enrichment programs
Movement/educational entertainment programs
programs STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $37.4K-$109.5K
STARTUP COST $70.3K-$104.96K
$17.95K-$46.1K TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 5/1
146/1
136/2
PROFESSOR
MY GYM
LEARNINGRX EGGHEAD
CHILDREN’S Science and engineering
Learning enhancement,
cognitive training, FITNESS CENTER classes, camps, and parties
reading training Early-learning/ for ages 4 to 10
fitness programs
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$83.5K-$198K STARTUP COST $27.3K-$39K
$36.8K-$249.7K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED

75/1 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 8/0

425/0
THE LITTLE GYM
Development/fitness NO LIMITS
programs MARTIAL ARTS
Martial arts classes
STARTUP COST
$152.8K-$377K STARTUP COST
$139.8K-$331.95K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
340/0
0/2

52 Startups [Summer 2017]

SAFESPLASH SNAPOLOGY TASTE BUDS KITCHEN ZANIAC
SWIM SCHOOL Building, robotics, and Cooking events for Science, technology,
Child and adult animation programs children and adults engineering, and math
swimming lessons, after-school programs
parties, summer camps STARTUP COST STARTUP COST and camps
$39.5K-$185K $205.1K-$357.9K
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$44K-$1.3M TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS $219.5K-$378K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS 21/1 6/1 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
97/24 8/2
SOCCER SHOTS TGA PREMIER
FRANCHISING JUNIOR GOLF
SCHOOL OF ROCK Soccer programs for Golf enrichment programs
Music education ages 2 to 8
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST $21.5K-$62.8K ELECTRONICS
$113.1K-$343.6K $34.6K-$44.1K
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 53/2 CELLAIRIS
172/16 181/9 FRANCHISE
Cellphone and
TGA PREMIER wireless-device
accessories and repairs
SKYHAWKS STEM FOR KIDS YOUTH TENNIS
FRANCHISE GROUP Engineering, computer Tennis enrichment programs STARTUP COST
Sports camps and programs programming, and robotics
programs for ages 4 to 14 $52.4K-$330K
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $21.5K-$62.8K TOTAL UNITS
STARTUP COST
$22.8K-$59.8K $19.9K-$81.6K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED

TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS 567/3

FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
60/42 42/2
7/5 CPR-CELL
PHONE REPAIR
TIPPI TOES Electronics repairs and sales
Children’s dance classes
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $24.6K-$173.5K
The Little
Gym $52K-$62.5K TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
254/4
29/0
DEVICE PITSTOP
Electronics resales
TUTU SCHOOL and repairs
Children’s ballet schools
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $171K-$249K
$66.8K-$133.7K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 15/1
17/3
DIGITAL DOC
Electronics repairs,
YOUNG sales, and accessories
REMBRANDTS
STARTUP COST
FRANCHISE $73.3K-$151.1K
Drawing classes for
ages 3 to 12
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST
$41.3K-$48.1K 29/16

TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
99/0

Startups [Summer 2017] 53

FRANCHISE

BOTTLE & BOTTEGA

UbreakiFix Paint-and-sip studios
STARTUP COST
$96.8K-$158.3K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
18/2

CLIMBZONE
FRANCHISING
Climbing-wall family
entertainment centers
STARTUP COST
$1.9M-$2.98M
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/1

COLOR ME MINE
ENTERPRISES
Paint-your-own-ceramics
studios
STARTUP COST
EXPERIMAC SIMPLE WIRELESS ZONE $134.3K-$174.8K
Electronics resales COMPUTER REPAIR Wireless-communications
and repairs Electronics repairs stores TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$136.8K-$275.1K $109.9K-$189K $128K-$393.5K 132/8
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED THE COOP
38/2 5/2 360/37 FRANCHISE GROUP
Play and party spaces

ICARE REPAIR STAYMOBILE STARTUP COST

Electronics repairs, FRANCHISING $130.5K-$283.5K
resales, and accessories Electronics repairs
and accessories TOTAL UNITS
STARTUP COST
$55.9K-$120.99K STARTUP COST
ENTERTAINMENT/ FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED

RECREATION 2/1
$72.5K-$169K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
ADVENTURE KIDS CRUISE PLANNERS
4/6 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED Travel agencies
21/29 PLAYCARE
Childcare/ STARTUP COST
IDROPPED entertainment centers $2.1K-$22.9K
Electronics repairs TECHVOO STARTUP COST
Computer sales and service TOTAL UNITS
STARTUP COST $326.3K-$565K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
$60.1K-$119.1K STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS 2,432/1
$81.5K-$150.7K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS 9/4 DREAM VACATIONS
5/5 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED Travel agencies
0/3
AMERICAN STARTUP COST
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF UBREAKIFIX

KIX MOBILE POOLPLAYERS $3.2K-$21.9K

Phone and tablet sales, UBREAKIFIX ASSOCIATION
exchanges, and repairs Electronics repairs Recreational billiard leagues TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$88.7K-$234K 1,090/0
$84.6K-$197.95K $16.7K-$19.9K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/1 278/18 326/5

54 Startups [Summer 2017]

 EAGLERIDER GOLFTEC LAUNCH MONKEY
MOTORCYCLE RENTAL Indoor high-tech TRAMPOLINE PARK JOE’S PARTIES
Motorcycle, scooter, golf instruction Trampoline parks/ & PLAY
and ATV rentals and tours entertainment centers Family entertainment centers
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $125.3K-$470.4K STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$68.4K-$216.5K TOTAL UNITS
$1.1M-$1.9M $458.4K-$755.6K
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 107/93 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
72/5 13/2 51/0
JUNGLEQUEST
THE ESCAPE ZONE Indoor ziplines, rope MASTERPIECE
courses, and rock climbing PAINTING
Group escape-room-
adventure activities for ages 5 to 13 MIXERS PAINT & WITH A TWIST
PARTY STUDIOS Paint-and-sip studios
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST Paint-and-sip studios
$54.7K-$105.4K $311.5K-$492.6K STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $89.3K-$143.3K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS $27.6K-$65.3K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
0/1 TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/1 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 324/0
11/4
EXPEDIA KAMPGROUNDS
OF AMERICA PARTYFLIX
CRUISESHIPCENTERS MONKEY BIZNESS Inflatable movie screen
Travel agencies Campgrounds and RV parks
rentals
FRANCHISING
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST Indoor play and party centers STARTUP COST
$99.4K-$183.9K $225.95K-$4.5M $22K-$41K
STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS $328K-$668.5K TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
202/1 459/28 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 1/4
3/2
FREEDOM PINOT’S
BOAT CLUB PALETTE
Membership boat clubs Paint-and-sip studios
Pinot's
STARTUP COST Palette STARTUP COST
$144.2K-$178.7K $63.4K-$204.2K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
95/17 176/4

FUNTOPIA RENTMOTOPED
Indoor playgrounds Motorized-bicycle rentals
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$494.3K-$1.9M $180.2K-$223.8K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
2/6 0/0

GAMETRUCK ROCKIN’ JUMP

LICENSING Indoor trampoline arenas
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PINOT’S PALETTE

Mobile video-game theaters and party spaces

STARTUP COST STARTUP COST

$147.6K-$312.6K $1.1M-$2.5M
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED: FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
72/0 23/3

Startups [Summer 2017] 55

FRANCHISE

SAILTIME GROUP WINE & DESIGN BABY BOOT CAMP

Membership boat clubs Paint-and-sip studios Prenatal and 9Round
postpartum fitness
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$70.7K-$151.95K $46.2K-$95K STARTUP COST
$4.6K-$10.8K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
27/1 64/1
105/1
SCOOTER’S JUNGLE YOGI BEAR’S
Children’s entertainment JELLYSTONE PARK THE BARRE CODE
centers Barre fitness classes
CAMP-RESORTS
STARTUP COST Family camping resorts STARTUP COST
$591.95K-$871.4K STARTUP COST $184K-$357K
TOTAL UNITS $52K-$3M TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
4/1 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 23/6
84/0
SHARE MY COACH BLINK FITNESS
FRANCHISE Health and fitness centers
Privately owned RV rental
management STARTUP COST
$642.8K-$2.1M
STARTUP COST FITNESS TOTAL UNITS
$62.8K-$84.2K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS 0/46
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED ALKALIGN STUDIOS
6/1 Group fitness classes,
streaming fitness classes, BODYTEK FITNESS
nutrition coaching Gyms
SKY ZONE INDOOR STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
TRAMPOLINE PARK $168.3K-$491K $207.9K-$373K
Trampoline playing courts
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
STARTUP COST FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
$1.2M-$2.97M 1/2 CKO KICKBOXING
0/3 Kickboxing fitness classes
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST
ANYTIME FITNESS BURN BOOT CAMP
172/1 Fitness centers $132.5K-$397.5K
Women’s fitness centers
STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS
STARTUP COST FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
SUGAR PLUM $80K-$490.1K $62.9K-$106.5K
PARTIES 72/2
Birthday party venues TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST 3,495/38 CLUB PILATES
$94.3K-$149.1K 48/5 Pilates classes

TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST

FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $158.3K-$224.7K
0/1 TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
PHOTOGRAPH © BRIGITTA SULTANA/BABY BOOTCAMP

TRAVEL LEADERS 135/3

Travel agencies
STARTUP COST CRUNCH
$2.3K-$16.9K FRANCHISE
Fitness centers
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST
353/14 $304.5K-$2.1M
TOTAL UNITS
Baby Boot FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
Camp 115/10

56 Startups [Summer 2017]

 FITWALL HIGH ALTITUDE
Group and PERSONAL
semiprivate training
TRAINING
STARTUP COST Personal training
$310.6K-$626.2K STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS $261.3K-$365.5K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
4/2 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/1
4U FITNESS
Personal training using
electric muscle stimulation ILOVEKICKBOXING
Kickboxing fitness classes
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST
$142K-$343.5K
$120.8K-$362.2K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/3
165/7
GET IN SHAPE
FOR WOMEN IMPACT STRONG
Small-group personal KICKBOXING/FITNESS
training for women Kickboxing and fitness gyms

STARTUP COST STARTUP COST

$57.4K-$190.1K $61.2K-$87.3K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
73/1 5/1

GOLD’S GYM IRON TRIBE

Health and fitness centers FITNESS
Group personal-training gyms
STARTUP COST
$2.2M-$5M STARTUP COST
CYCLEBAR FIT4MOM $300K-$433.5K
Indoor cycling classes Prenatal and postpartum fit- TOTAL UNITS
ness and wellness programs FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS
$378.4K-$893.6K STARTUP COST 573/150 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
$6.2K-$23.7K 33/8
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS GYMGUYZ
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED Mobile personal training
30/3
256/1 STARTUP COST JAZZERCISE
$72.7K-$102.4K Group fitness classes,
EPIC HYBRID conventions, apparel,
FIT36 TOTAL UNITS and accessories
TRAINING Group fitness training
Fitness centers FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST 93/4 $3.5K-$12.9K
STARTUP COST
$62.6K-$139.8K $161.9K-$278.95K
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS HARD EXERCISE FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED WORKS 8,880/0
9/0 Fitness programs
2/2
STARTUP COST
JUST YOU FITNESS
FITNESS TOGETHER $102.2K-$403.5K Personal training
FIT BODY BOOT CAMP
PHOTOGRAPH © FISHEYE STUDIOS

Personal training TOTAL UNITS

Indoor fitness boot camps STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST $28K-$42.4K
$38K-$85.5K $125K-$190.8K 16/1
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 2/1
358/0 153/0

Startups [Summer 2017] 57

FRANCHISE

KAIA FIT PLANET FITNESS SELF MADE

Women’s fitness Fitness clubs TRAINING FACILITY
Private personal training and
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST supplement sales
$34K-$99.8K $853.4K-$3.7M
STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS $155.6K-$313.4K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
56/0 1,066/58 TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
1/3
KOKO FITCLUB POLESTAR PILATES
Fitness clubs Pilates studios
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
SNAP FITNESS
24-hour fitness centers
$185.3K-$396.3K $121.8K-$196.95K
STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS $148.2K-$458.5K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
89/3 Snap 1/1 TOTAL UNITS
Fitness FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
1,370/56
LEGACY FIT PRO MARTIAL
24-hour fitness centers ARTS FRANCHISE
STARTUP COST MY HOUSE FITNESS Martial arts instruction, TAPOUT FITNESS
fitness Fitness and martial arts
$207.7K-$381.5K FRANCHISE
Personal and group training, STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS boot camps, nutrition
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
$142.8K-$199.6K $83.6K-$597.5K
STARTUP COST
0/1 $115.4K-$213.3K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS 51/1 4/0
LIVE 2 B HEALTHY FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
SENIOR FITNESS 12/2
Exercise programs PURE BARRE TIGER-ROCK
for seniors Barre fitness classes MARTIAL ARTS
and apparel Martial arts and fitness
STARTUP COST 9ROUND programs
Kickboxing circuit-
$37.7K-$48.1K training programs
STARTUP COST
$154.5K-$282K STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST $89.9K-$197.6K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
$75.2K-$116.8K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
35/0 TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS 442/13 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 133/0
THE MAX 497/6
CHALLENGE RETRO FITNESS
10-week fitness and nutrition Health clubs TITLE BOXING CLUB
programs ORANGETHEORY Boxing and kickboxing
STARTUP COST fitness classes, personal
STARTUP COST FITNESS $941.4K-$1.9M training, apparel
$89.9K-$190K Group personal training
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $143.3K-$394.2K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $424.5K-$980.8K 148/0
TOTAL UNITS
43/1 TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
ROCK CLIMBING 155/3
MIAMI YOGA 668/12 FRANCHISING
Yoga studios Indoor rock-climbing gyms
UFC GYM
STARTUP COST PICKUP USA STARTUP COST Fitness, boxing, kickboxing,
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SNAP FITNESS

$99.1K-$199K FITNESS $874.1K-$1.7M and MMA classes

Basketball-focused
TOTAL UNITS fitness clubs TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $706.1K-$1.5M
STARTUP COST
0/1 2/2 TOTAL UNITS
$337.3K-$539.1K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS 118/12
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
1/1

58 Startups [Summer 2017]

 WORKOUT DOG HAUS
ANYTIME 24/7 INTERNATIONAL Mosquito Joe
24-hour health clubs Hot dogs, sausages,
hamburgers
STARTUP COST
$351.3K-$836.5K STARTUP COST
$362.1K-$849.4K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
108/0
17/2
XTEND BARRE
Fitness studios HOT DOG
STARTUP COST
ON A STICK
Corn dogs, lemonade,
$162.8K-$516.9K fries, funnel cakes
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $338.2K-$561K
59/2
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
19/69

UMAI SAVORY
HOT DOGS HOT DOGS
Gourmet fusion hot dogs
DAT DOG STARTUP COST
Hot dogs and sausages $118.2K-$226.8K
STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS
$502.3K-$927.5K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
MOSQUITO SHIELD
TOTAL UNITS 2/1 Outdoor pest control
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED: PEST CONTROL STARTUP COST
0/4 WIENERSCHNITZEL $73.1K-$106.8K
Hot dogs, ice cream BLACK DIAMOND
TOTAL UNITS
DAVE’S THE STARTUP COST
PEST CONTROL FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
Termite, bedbug, and
DOGHOUSE $303.6K-$1.3M other pest control 58/2
Hot dogs
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $96.9K-$183K
$25K-$245.7K MOSQUITO SQUAD
322/0 Outdoor pest control
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS
PHOTOGRAPH © ROBERT REMO/WIENERSCHNITZEL; PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MOSQUITO JOE

FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST

FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
1/2 $29.6K-$69.6K
4/1
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
CRITTER CONTROL
Wildlife management, 201/0
pest control
STARTUP COST SUPERIOR
$23.7K-$94.6K MOSQUITO
TOTAL UNITS DEFENSE
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED Outdoor pest control
100/5 STARTUP COST
$16.3K-$27.7K
MOSQUITO JOE TOTAL UNITS
Outdoor pest control FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED

STARTUP COST 8/1

$69.6K-$122.5K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
Wienerschnitzel 167/2

Startups [Summer 2017] 59

FRANCHISE

DEE-O-GEE
Fetch! Pet supplies and services
Pet Care
STARTUP COST
$161.5K-$387.5K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/2

D.O.G.
Dog daycare, boarding,
grooming
STARTUP COST
$429K-$548.5K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
1/2

DOGGIES
GONE WILD
Dog daycare and grooming
services
STARTUP COST
$375.6K-$618.8K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/2

THE DOG STOP

Dog daycare, boarding,
walking, grooming, training,
products
STARTUP COST
$181.5K-$399.7K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
BEN’S CAMP RUN-A-MUTT 5/4
BARKETPLACE Dog daycare and boarding
PETS Pet health-food stores
STARTUP COST
DOGTOPIA
STARTUP COST $187.9K-$467.1K Dog daycare, boarding,
AUSSIE PET MOBILE $189.8K-$352K TOTAL UNITS
training, spa services
Mobile pet grooming TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 8/1 $367.6K-$837.1K
$136.8K-$145.8K 0/1 TOTAL UNITS
CENTRAL BARK FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED CAMP BOW WOW DOGGY DAY CARE 51/4
230/0 Dog daycare, boarding, Dog daycare
training, grooming; in-home
pet care STARTUP COST THE DOG WIZARD
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF FETCH! PET CARE

BARKEFELLERS, $255.1K-$389K Dog training

STARTUP COST
THE PLACE $409.7K-$1.1M TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
FOR DOGS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $47.6K-$63.8K
TOTAL UNITS
Upscale pet hotels
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
24/1 TOTAL UNITS
STARTUP COST 127/8 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
$1M-$5M 19/0
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/3

60 Startups [Summer 2017]

 EARTHWISE PET BUTLER PET WANTS SYDNEE’S PET
PET SUPPLY Pet-waste cleanup Pet-food stores/delivery GROOMING
Pet food and supplies, and removal Pet grooming
grooming and self-wash STARTUP COST
services STARTUP COST $50.2K-$176.9K STARTUP COST
$30K-$42K $156.95K-$244.99K
STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS
$211K-$476K TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
64/0 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS 130/0 4/2
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
38/0 PREPPY PET
PETLAND Pet daycare, boarding, WAG N’ WASH
Pets, pet supplies, boarding, grooming
daycare, grooming NATURAL FOOD
FETCH! PET CARE
Pet-sitting, dog-walking STARTUP COST & BAKERY
STARTUP COST $96.95K-$259K Pet food and supplies,
STARTUP COST $273.5K-$1M grooming
$37K-$44.3K TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
13/1 $445.2K-$635.2K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 142/13 TOTAL UNITS
96/6 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
SIT MEANS SIT
PET PASSAGES DOG TRAINING 6/5
HUSSE Pet funeral and cremation Dog training
Pet-product delivery services and products
STARTUP COST WILD BIRDS
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $50.7K-$123.9K UNLIMITED
$27.1K-$88.7K $40.5K-$375K Bird-feeding supplies and
TOTAL UNITS nature gift items
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST
2/1 120/1 $146.7K-$228.4K
509/0
TOTAL UNITS
PETS ARE INN SITTER4PAWS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
IN HOME Pet-sitting, dog-walking
Pet care in private homes 306/0
PET SERVICES STARTUP COST
Pet-sitting, dog-walking STARTUP COST
$59.95K-$85.2K $21.3K-$46.8K
STARTUP COST ZOOM ROOM
TOTAL UNITS Indoor dog training and
$9.2K-$35.1K TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED socialization, pet products
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
15/0 5/1 STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
$132.8K-$308.7K
12/1
SPLASH AND DASH TOTAL UNITS
PET SUPPLIES PLUS
Retail pet supplies and FOR DOGS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
JUST 4 PAWS services Pet products and grooming 13/3
PET SPA STARTUP COST
Pet grooming STARTUP COST
$550.4K-$1.3M $110.8K-$177.6K
STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
$74.1K-$138.5K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS 188/203 12/0
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/1
PETS WAREHOUSE
Pets and pet supplies Ben's
PHOTOGRAPH © HOWARD GEORGE PHOTOGRAPHY

K-9 RESORTS Barketplace

Luxury dog daycare STARTUP COST
and boarding $219.8K-$485.7K
STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS
$915.7K-$1.3M FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
0/5
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
5/1

Startups [Summer 2017] 61

FRANCHISE

KID TO KID
New and used children’s and
RESALE/CONSIGNMENT/ maternity clothing and
products
ESTATE SALES
STARTUP COST
$259.9K-$419.4K
AETHER
ESTATE SALES TOTAL UNITS
Estate and consignment FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
sales, online auctions, down- 119/1
sizing services, appraisals
STARTUP COST
MUSIC GO ROUND
$64K-$114K TOTAL UNITS New and used musical instru-
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
ments and sound equipment

0/4 STARTUP COST

$261.5K-$334.8K
BLUE MOON TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
ESTATE SALES USA
Estate sales 33/0
STARTUP COST
$40.9K-$82.8K NEW USES
Home-furnishings and
TOTAL UNITS accessories resale stores
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
15/1 STARTUP COST
Plato's $187.5K-$286.5K
Closet
TOTAL UNITS
BRICKS & MINIFIGS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
Lego resale stores
CLOTHES MENTOR GRASONS CO. 10/1
STARTUP COST Women’s clothing and ESTATE SALE
accessories resale stores
$104.1K-$227.2K SERVICES
STARTUP COST Estate sales, online NTY CLOTHING
TOTAL UNITS auctions, staging
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $198K-$297K EXCHANGE
Teen-clothing and
15/2 TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST accessories resale stores
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $68.6K-$131K
STARTUP COST
CARING
143/1 TOTAL UNITS $181K-$292K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TRANSITIONS TOTAL UNITS
Sales of estates and CONSIGNMENT KING 17/0
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
household goods Consignment and
fund-raising events 2/1
STARTUP COST ISOLD IT
$58.1K-$85.8K STARTUP COST Online consignment
$37.9K-$48.5K and overstock sales ONCE UPON A CHILD
TOTAL UNITS New and used children’s
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST clothing, equipment,
188/0 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $46K-$223.5K furniture, toys
2/0 TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
CHILDREN’S
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $254.5K-$392.2K
ORCHARD GIFT CARD MONKEY 8/0
TOTAL UNITS
New and used children’s Gift-card buying FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
clothing, equipment, and reselling
accessories JUST BETWEEN 339/0
STARTUP COST FRIENDS
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PLATO’S CLOSET

STARTUP COST $10.95K-$27.6K FRANCHISE

$181K-$292K PLATO’S CLOSET
TOTAL UNITS SYSTEMS Teen- and young-adult-
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED Children’s and maternity clothing resale stores
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED consignment events
4/1 STARTUP COST
27/1 STARTUP COST $238.1K-$398.3K
$32.8K-$45.4K
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
464/0
154/5

62 Startups [Summer 2017]

 PLAY IT AGAIN 911 RESTORATION PAUL DAVIS
SPORTS Residential and commercial RESTORATION
New and used sporting RESTORATION property restoration Insurance restoration
goods/equipment
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST CERTIFIED $35.1K-$203.9K $188.2K-$391.1K
$240.3K-$397.2K RESTORATION TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS DRYCLEANING FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED NETWORK 60/0
Restoration of textiles 244/6
285/0 and electronics
STARTUP COST 1-800-PACKOUTS PUROCLEAN
RHEA LANA’S Building contents
$45.6K-$235.5K packing, cleaning,
Property damage restoration
FRANCHISE and remediation
storage, and restoration
TOTAL UNITS
SYSTEMS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST
Children’s consignment STARTUP COST
events 155/0 $109.2K-$440K $160.8K-$182.8K
TOTAL UNITS
STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
$18.1K-$36.1K DELTA DISASTER FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
SERVICES 41/1 228/0
TOTAL UNITS
Insurance/disaster restoration
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
74/3 STARTUP COST 1-800-WATER RAINBOW
$162.8K-$332.2K DAMAGE INTERNATIONAL
Restoration RESTORATION
STYLE ENCORE TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED & CLEANING
Women’s clothing and STARTUP COST Indoor cleaning
accessories resale stores 7/1 $79K and restoration
STARTUP COST TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
$256.5K-$390.7K DKI FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $171.7K-$278.1K
TOTAL UNITS Property restoration 40/1
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
48/0 $22.1K-$94.8K PAUL DAVIS 337/0
TOTAL UNITS EMERGENCY
UPTOWN FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED SERVICES RESTORATION 1
Emergency restoration
CHEAPSKATE 346/0 Water, fire, smoke,
Young-adult-clothing STARTUP COST and mold remediation
resale stores
DURACLEAN
$64.5K-$188.8K STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST Carpet and upholstery TOTAL UNITS $77.95K-$175.1K
$234.5K-$394K cleaning, disaster restora- FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
tion, mold remediation TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS 94/2 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED STARTUP COST 81/0
48/3 $64.6K-$115.9K
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
SERVICE
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF 1-800-PACKOUTS FRANCHISE, LLC STAFF MEMBERS

TEAM OF
WALLS OF BOOKS 274/9
New and used books PROFESSIONALS
Water/fire restoration,
STARTUP COST mold remediation
$77.9K-$170.7K 1-800-Packouts STARTUP COST
TOTAL UNITS $78.6K-$138.5K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
11/4 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
32/0

Startups [Summer 2017] 63

FRANCHISE

SERVPRO PATRICE
Insurance/disaster Express Employment & ASSOCIATES
restoration and cleaning Professionals Hospitality recruiting
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$156.1K-$209.95K $84.95K-$93.9K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
1,715/0 55/1

STEAMATIC PRIDESTAFF
Insurance/disaster Staffing
restoration, cleaning,
mold remediation STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST $141.3K-$217.7K
$74.4K-$173.5K TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED 66/3
176/0
REDWOOD
STORM GUARD ATWORK GROUP JOMSOM HEALTHCARE
Temporary, temp-to-hire, STAFFING STAFFING
RESTORATION and direct-hire staffing
Exterior restoration SERVICES Health-care staffing
STARTUP COST Temporary and permanent
STARTUP COST staffing, employment STARTUP COST
$99.5K-$174.5K services $136.7K-$179.5K
$148.4K-$292.1K
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS STARTUP COST
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED $82.6K-$133.3K FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
62/28 2/1
41/4 TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
EXPRESS 4/1 REMEDY
VITAL EMPLOYMENT
RESTORATION INTELLIGENT
Disaster restoration PROFESSIONALS STAFFING
Staffing, HR solutions LABOR FINDERS Staffing
Industrial staffing
STARTUP COST
STARTUP COST
$138.8K-$305.6K $120K-$196K STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$122.99K-$210.9K $151.8K-$258.3K
TOTAL UNITS
TOTAL UNITS TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
6/0 749/0 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
162/24 133/0

FORTUNE SANFORD ROSE

PERSONNEL LINK STAFFING
SERVICES ASSOCIATES
CONSULTANTS (FPC)
STAFFING/RECRUITING Executive recruiting Staffing, HR solutions INTERNATIONAL
Executive search
STARTUP COST and recruiting
STARTUP COST
ALL ABOUT $91.2K-$135K $99.5K-$174K
STARTUP COST
PEOPLE STAFFING TOTAL UNITS $108.3K-$143.6K
Temporary and TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
direct-hire staffing FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED TOTAL UNITS
65/1 33/7 FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
STARTUP COST
$274K-$297.6K 72/0
GLOBAL MRINETWORK
TOTAL UNITS Executive and
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED RECRUITERS professional staffing SPHERION
15/1 NETWORK STAFFING
PHOTOGRAPH © JAMES THACH

Executive search services STARTUP COST Staffing, recruiting

$66.6K-$99.8K
STARTUP COST STARTUP COST
$107.2K-$165.5K TOTAL UNITS $100.4K-$167.8K
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
TOTAL UNITS 555/0 TOTAL UNITS
FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED FRANCHISES/CO.-OWNED
175/0 184/0

64 Startups [Summer 2017]

 W
66 Startups [Summer 2017]
WHO
CAN YOU TURN TO?

You want to buy a franchise

but don’t know which one. A booming
industry of franchise brokers wants
to help—but first, you need to tell the
difference between a true expert and
someone just trying to make a buck.
BY JASON DALEY Q ILLUSTRATION BY MAREK HAIDUK

Startups [Summer 2017] 67

 Lisa Tubbs spent 20 years in
the corporate world as a success-
ful project manager, then finally
succumbed to the itch to run her
own business. She wanted to
follow in the footsteps of her
father, a commercial fisherman,
and her grandfather, a plumber.
So in 2016, she took a buyout at
her job and then met with a career
transition adviser to explore her
options. His verdict was that she
had an entrepreneurial spirit but
maybe not the confidence to go
it alone. Franchising was just the
thing for her.
Which franchise should she buy?
Tubbs was eager to find the answer.
She read up on the industry and
visited the International Franchise
Expo in New York City. But like
many potential franchisees, she
was overwhelmed by the sheer
number of brands and their jargon-
heavy pitches. So she asked her
career adviser for help, and he told
her to contact a franchise broker.
It was a decision that could have
made her career—or complicated it.
“There aren’t a lot of checks and
balances on these guys. A lot of them
are just in it for the money and
don’t care about the long-term
success of the franchisee.”
Franchise brokers are a relatively
new entity in the world of franchis-
ing. They’re a form of middlemen:
They help a potential franchisee
narrow down their choices to a few
brands that fit their particular skill
set and budget, and then look into
the finances and track records of
those brands to make sure they’re
worth considering as an invest-
ment. In exchange for connecting
68 Startups [Summer 2017]
a franchise with a new buyer, the
broker scores a commission from
the franchisor.
It can be a helpful service,
guiding future franchise owners
through many complex options
and on to success. But in the past
15 years, the number of franchise
brokers has exploded—going
from a small handful to an esti-
mated 1,500 in the United States.
That’s been fueled by an uptick in
franchising more broadly: There
are now 3,473 franchise brands
in the country, with at least 300
new ones launching each year,
and they offer varying levels of
information, disinformation, and
hype. And as competition for new
franchisees has risen, so have the
commissions some franchises are
willing to pay. In 2007, a broker
might have gotten $10,000 a sale.
Now that’s double.
Business like this is bound to
attract a mix of reputable insiders
and disreputable opportunists,
and the industry hasn’t totally
managed to separate the two.
There are no licenses or certi-
fications required to become a
franchise broker. Literally anyone
can work as one, whether or not
they’ve ever heard of an FDD
(franchise disclosure document,
the legally required prospectus
given to all potential franchisees).
And because brokers are paid
based on commission, they may be
incentivized to push clients
toward the franchisors who are
willing to pay the most—and not,
say, the ones that may be the most
suitable for a future franchisee.
“They use these assessment
tools that are usually meaning-
less,” says outspoken broker critic
Michael Seid, a 30-year fran-
chising veteran, founder of the
consultancy MSA Worldwide, and
author of Franchising for Dum-
mies. “If the best franchise for you
is a hairdresser, and they don’t
have a financial relationship with
a hairdresser, then they might
suggest a pet store. What’s good
for the broker and the franchi-
sor may not be that good for the
potential franchisee.”
Tubbs knew none of that when
she called her franchise broker. But
anyone who follows her path should
at least know this: There are ways to
tell a good broker from a bad one,
but you need to do your homework.
The bad stories often start the
same. Someone is thinking about
buying a franchise and googles
around for an opportunity they
like. The search quickly becomes
overwhelming. Then they end
up on one of dozens of what are
called informational franchise
“portals”—essentially online
directories of brands with their
boilerplate descriptions and cost
breakdowns listed, which prom-
ise to help potential franchisees
explore their options. Just fill out
this form, the portal page says,
and someone will get back to you.
The site is really what industry
types call a lead generator, grab-
bing names and phone numbers
and then selling them to franchi-
sors and brokers for about $25 to
$35 a pop.
The brokers call these franchise
newbies, offering their brokerage
service for free.
That’s roughly how Laurel, Md.,
resident Andrew Weiss first

In the past 15 years,
the number of franchise brokers
has exploded—going from
a small handful to an estimated
1,500 in the United States.
connected with a broker. He’d been
looking online for franchise oppor-
tunities and came across an epoxy-
floor-covering company called
Red Rhino. Weiss filled out a form
on a website and asked for more
information. Shortly after, he was
contacted by Christopher Conner,
president of a franchise brokerage
called Franchise Marketing Sys-
tems. So far, pretty standard stuff.
But then things took a turn.
ILLUSTRATION © THE NOUN PROJECT/ANBILERU ADALERU
Conner was a broker. But in this
case, he was actually working
directly for Red Rhino—and clearly
was trying to sign up new franchi-
sees at any cost. Conner fed Weiss
fraudulent information, failed to
give him that very necessary FDD
form, and didn’t disclose that
Red Rhino wasn’t actually regis-
tered to legally offer franchises in
Maryland. In fact, one of the only
documents Weiss received from
Conner was a worksheet saying
he could make 137 percent of his
investment in the first year and
983 percent of his investment by
year five. Weiss signed on, but he
sued when those profits didn’t
pan out. (These details are from a
Maryland Securities Commissioner
lawsuit against Red Rhino, which
the company lost. Conner and Red
Rhino are barred from operating
in the state. Weiss settled his case
against them but, as part of that
settlement, cannot talk about it.)
Weiss’ situation is unusual
in the degree of outright fraud
it entailed. Still, some brokers
are involved in plenty of other
questionable scenarios, accord-
ing to franchisee attorney Mario
Herman, who has represented
clients in other lawsuits indirectly
involving Conner. Many disputes
go unresolved; brokers who make
promises or fraudulent claims
usually do so over the phone, and
they typically have their clients
sign an agreement making any
oral communication nonbinding.
That means that when things
go wrong, franchise brokers are
legally protected (unless there’s
a paper trail like the one Weiss
had). And if a franchisee buys a
sandwich shop that ultimately
fails, it’s difficult to prove the
franchise broker is at fault.
Maybe the owners were just bad
at business.
“There aren’t a lot of checks and
balances on these guys,” Herman
says. “A lot of them are just in it for
the money and don’t care about the
long-term success of the franchisee.
There’s an old saying about some
franchise sales: If you can fog a mir-
ror, you can buy a franchise.”
Lisa Tubbs was lucky. She
hadn’t stumbled onto a broker on
her own; her career adviser had
given her a particular one to call.
It was Jack Armstrong, a franchise
broker in northern New Jersey for
FranNet, a well-respected firm.
After many conversations, Arm-
strong steered her toward a few
brands that fit her personality and
skill level. She eventually signed on
with The Cleaning Authority, a tech-
driven residential cleaning fran-
chise, and opened her Parsippany,
N.J., location in November 2016.
“Without meeting Jack, I’m
not so sure I would have wound
up owning a franchise, truthfully,”
she says. “I would have perceived
it as too complicated and requiring
skill sets I didn’t possess.”
But Tubbs’ route isn’t the only
successful one. Franchise experts
say there are many other ways a
prospective franchisee can find a
good broker—or at least, someone
just as helpful as a broker. The
Startups [Summer 2017] 69
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simplest route is to find one who is
take your business from
certified by the Franchise Bro-
kers Association. Former broker
Sabrina Wall founded the organi-
startup to game changer
zation in 2008, after working for
a brokerage with unprofessional
practices. She heard many franchi-
sors complain about her colleagues
in the field, and was motivated to
try to help codify best broker prac-
tices and offer training, regulation,
and certification. “I think for a Become the next
long time the way the industry
worked was dysfunctional, and it market leader
rewarded people for just getting
leads and throwing them at the Buy The Book
franchisor—and whatever stuck,
stuck,” Wall says. “Getting bad
matches doesn’t help the franchi-
sor, it doesn’t help the client who ™

is investing their life savings, and

it doesn’t help the broker whose
reputation gets tarnished. We visit entm.ag/simplify
want to lay the foundation of what
it really means to help people.”
Today, Wall says her organiza-
tion has about 76 certified brokers
(which, according to IBISWorld, is
5 percent of the estimated 1,500
franchise brokers in the U.S.). Wall
hopes more will become trained in
franchise law and compliance with
Federal Trade Commission regula-
tions. “It’s shocking how many
companies don’t teach their bro-
kers those laws,” Wall says. “We’ve
taken the approach of policing our
own backyard.”
Another option is to avoid bro-
kers and hire a franchise adviser
instead. This person does roughly
the same job—helps someone find
a good fit, and then helps them
navigate all the paperwork and fi-
nancial questions—but is paid by
the hour by the potential franchi-
see, not with a commission from
the franchise itself. That way, the
adviser doesn’t have the kind of
conflict of interest some brokers
do. One such person is former
franchise broker Joel Libava, who
in 2010 was so concerned about

Startups [Summer 2017] 71

 his industry that he decided to
get out of that game. Now he’s
able to offer franchisees unbiased
advice. “I don’t care what people
buy, as long as I help them find
something that’s right for them.
It’s a lot cleaner, but there aren’t
too many people around doing
this,” says Libava, who is based
in Cleveland. “Things are going
to stay the way they are because
brokers have a $20,000 check
staring them in the face instead
of a couple hundred bucks. Unless
they have a passion to help others,
most people will become brokers
instead of advisers.”
“The simple fact is that if you’re willing
to spend $50,000 or $100,000, your
entire life savings, on a franchise,
how do you not spend $5,000
to sit down with a great lawyer?”
Working with an adviser
can give potential franchisees
a broader pool of options, too.
Not all franchisors can afford to
pay brokers large sums, which
means brokers will rarely recom-
mend them. “For a small brand
just starting out and selling 10
franchises per year, those com-
missions add up to a big chunk of
their budget,” says Scott Mort-
ier, president of The Franchise
Whales, an incubator that helps
smaller franchise brands expand.
He works with upstart clients such
as Dental Fix Rx and GyroVille,
and actively discourages them
from working with brokers. “They
need [their money] to market and
develop their franchise, not to pay
broker commissions.”
Of course, a potential franchisee
72 Startups [Summer 2017]
can avoid brokers and advisers
entirely—and do the legwork of
finding a franchise on their own.
“If someone is unable or unwill-
ing to put the shoe leather down
and pick up one of the 100 books
out there about franchising, then
God bless them. I would choose
to be more protective of my own
assets than letting someone else,
like a broker, select a franchise for
me,” says Michael Seid, the 30-
year franchising vet. He suggests
potential franchisees read books,
devote many hours to research
and meetings, and hire someone
to help them understand all of
franchising’s financial and legal
requirements. “The simple fact
is that if you’re willing to spend
$50,000 or $100,000, your entire
life savings, on a franchise, how do
you not spend $5,000 to sit down
with a great lawyer?”
Some people don’t have the
time for all that—and even if they
did, they may have trouble sorting
out everything. That’s how Tubbs
felt. She put in the effort but still
needed help. Her broker helped
it all make sense, she says, and
she doesn’t feel led astray. But of
course, time will tell how well her
cleaning business does. “Once I
made this decision to pursue a
franchise, that’s been my focus,”
she says. “I’ve never looked back
and wished I’d taken a different
step along this process.”
LAUNCH, BUILD, AND GROW
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For more business ideas visit entm.ag/startyourown
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@EntBooks
FRANCHISE SUCCESS
Business as a
Second Language
Two deaf brothers, eager to work together,
find few barriers in franchising.
W
aylon and Jerrel Mathern
are like any small-business
owners: They know how
important communication skills are. But
the brothers have had to work harder
than most to get their message across.
They were born profoundly deaf, a term
that means they’re unable to detect
sound at all, and so have spent their
lives reaching out to people in a hearing-
impairment-unfriendly world. In suc-
ceeding, they defied the odds: About
50 percent of deaf or hard-of-hearing
people in the U.S. are unemployed, and
another 20 percent are underemployed.
The brothers first worked together as
kids on a lawn-care business (financed by
their grandfather) for seven years. After
college, they entered different industries
(business management for Waylon,
recreation management for Jerrel) but
76 Startups [Summer 2017]
always dreamed of teaming up again.
Their mother helped make it happen by
finding a franchise opportunity with
Tailored Living, which installs custom
closets and storage. Now the brothers
own the brand’s Seattle franchise, and
they have a clear division of labor: Jerrel
does floors, and Waylon is in charge of
cabinets. —JASON DALEY
How did you prep for ownership?
Jerrel: I reached out to several finan-
cial advisers who are profoundly deaf to
interview them about how they managed
to overcome obstacles. I did the same
with those who work at the corporate
headquarters around here, including
Starbucks, Amazon, Microsoft, and
Boeing. Never be afraid to ask if you can
job shadow or become an apprentice,
which can pay dividends down the road.
Brothers Waylon
(left) and
Jerrel Mathern.
Did you have to change or tweak the
franchise concept to make it fit your needs?
Waylon: The biggest change was to
make it more accessible for us as deaf
owners. For example, Convo Relay
Service has provided a fantastic platform
that enables us to communicate over
the telephone using sign language, and
we have an LED system that lights up to
alert us when phone calls come in.
Any advice for other deaf people
who would like to open a business?
Waylon: If you look hard enough, there
are excellent resources available. Ask,
ask, and ask. When you are fortunate
enough to hire staff, the key is to “find
the right person for the right seat on the
right bus,” which is a quote my mother
repeated time and time again. Each
employee we have has done more than
we expected, which of course contributes
to the bottom line. We couldn’t have
done it without them.
What do you value most in your employees?
Waylon: While most employers value
communication skills, we place emphasis
on our staff’s ability to communicate
well with our clients. It has made it much
easier for us to communicate with our
customers whenever needed without our
deafness getting in the way.
Do you have a philosophy that drives you?
Jerrel: We’re not happy until our cus-
tomers are pleased with our installations
and our level of customer service. We’ve
seen other businesses that have tun-
nel vision on the bottom line instead of
PHOTOGRAPH © JOHN CLARK
making sure their customers get quality
results. Thomas Watson Sr., former CEO
of IBM, once said, “To be successful, you
have to have your heart in your business,
and your business in your heart.” I find
that to be so true.
REACH MORE CUSTOMERS
WITH INSTAGRAM

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entm.ag/instagramforbusiness
FRANCHISE SUCCESS
The
Sweet
Spot
After stumbling onto a winning macaron
business, a group of friends is taking the
rainbow-colored cookies national.
B
ack in 2010, trend-hunting
foodies declared the macaron
the “new cupcake.” The little
French confection consists of frosting
or ganache sandwiched between two
meringues. They’re adorable but proved
too delicate and subtle to sate America’s
notorious supersize snacking needs. So
in the years since, the hype wore off and
everything from pies to doughnuts to
cronuts to cake pops stole the coveted
“new cupcake” title.
But if trendseekers were looking at
the bottom line, they wouldn’t be so fast
to move on. The brand Woops! opened a
78 Startups [Summer 2017]
Raj Bhatt
of Woops!
pop-up shop in New York’s Bryant Park
in 2012 and in nine weeks did $200,000
in sales. Macarons have been a win-
ner for them ever since. “It was like,
‘Whoops, we have a business,’” says Raj
Bhatt, co-CEO, who owns the company
with three friends, Gil Kiryati, Tal Avivi,
and Gal Danay.
In fact, it’s been so much of a business
that Woops! began franchising in 2015,
growing from 15 corporate stores to
34 locations around the country, includ-
ing Boston, Oklahoma City, and Tucson.
This year, Woops! is expanding primarily
through mall kiosks. —J.D.
Malls are dying. Why focus there?
The best upscale malls still have excel-
lent traffic, and because our kiosk looks
beautiful, they seek us out. As our kiosk
business was growing, we decided to dig
into the café business as well. We saw a
need for a really small-footprint café with
fresh pastries, great coffee, macarons, and
little European-style sandwiches. We tried
it out and did really well, so we also offer a
café concept: Woops! BakeShop.
Are you afraid the macaron trend has ended?
I’m always worried about trends. Every-
thing has a shelf life. But in New York,
where macarons have been around a long
time, we continue to do very well. Out-
side the big cities, we find that people
still don’t know what macarons are. That
said, we’re hedging our bets. Our goal
over the next five to 10 years is to keep
macarons as our core product but also
bring the best confections from around
the world to an American audience: Liege
Belgian waffles, traditional rugelach,
Argentinean alfajores, European “pillow”
cookies, and other things.
Making macarons is hard.
How do your franchisees do it?
We use a commissary system with our
bakery based in the Bronx. You need to
let them mature; once you put together
the two biscuits and the ganache, you
have to let them sit or put them in the
freezer to come together. Shipping them
frozen keeps them fresh until they’re
brought out and thawed for 20 minutes,
which allows the product to pull in the
humidity, and it turns out perfect.
PHOTOGRAPH © JULIANA SOHN
Would a French person dig your macarons?
At the Bryant Park pop-up, which we do
every year, we get a lot of international
traffic, and they are always pleasantly
surprised and say our macarons are as
good as in Paris!
 A DVER TI SEM ENT CLASSIFIED
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
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CLOSING THOUGHTS
No Turning Back
Vick Tipnes, founder and CEO of Blackstone Medical Services,
on his entrepreneurial point of no return.
O
nce, I heard an old war story that goes like this:
An army arrives by ship to attack their enemy, and
when everyone is safely on land, the captain says,
“OK, guys, let’s burn the ships.” The crew is like, What? Burn
the ships? And he says, “Yes, we are going to burn the ships.
Then we have to win, because we can’t go home.”
The real story, likely about Spanish conquistador
Hernán Cortés, is more complicated than that. (And his
ships were sunk, not burned.) But I like this simple ver-
sion, because it helped me make one of the most impor-
tant decisions of my life. Six years ago, I was starting
a company that tests people for sleep apnea. I had two
employees, one desk, and almost no money. I was going
80 Startups [Summer 2017]
through a divorce and raising two boys, and I had no col-
lege degree. It didn’t seem like the time to take a risk. It
was scary. Still, I signed a one-year lease on a little
office space, because I didn’t want to give myself a plan B.
I wanted to be locked in, with no option to lose.
So I worked hard. I spent nearly three years chas-
ing investors and raised more than a million dollars. My
ILLUSTRATION © VICK TIPNES
company grew. Today we have more than 30 employees, do
business in 38 states, and have millions in revenue. That’s
why I believe in that burning ship. Don’t give yourself an
out—because it may be too tempting. When you put pres-
sure on yourself to make something happen, you have no
choice but to actually make it happen.
 This is home.
It’s a place called satisfaction.

Pillar To Post offers the opportunity for you to create a business, a career,
and the life you want for yourself and your family. Our franchise owners enjoy
a great work-life balance and the power of the most recognized brand in the
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Learn more about why the Pillar To Post franchise opportunity

might be right for you. Contact us today!

franchise@pillartopost.com
877-963-3129

pillartopostfranchise.com
Each office independently owned and operated.