In an trade—occasion planning providers—that was rocked to its core by Covid-19, Kim Gamez finds satisfaction in having an exit. After Mi Padrino shrank throughout the pandemic, the startup did not have the exponential exit she and her traders had hoped for; nonetheless, it had one which was ok. The phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed.
The corporate’s worth was its massive Latina consumer base, social media following, and trusted fame.
In 2015, when Gamez and her husband had been requested to be padrinos for his or her niece’s quinceañera, they had been delighted. In Latin America, padrinos sponsor totally different facets of a celebration, together with the gown, venue, music, and cake.
Quinceañeras rejoice a lady’s fifteenth birthday and transition from childhood to maturity. “It is not accomplished due to the monetary standing of a household however as a result of the neighborhood is honoring the particular person being celebrated,” mentioned Gamez.
A padrino might also tackle the function of organizing the presents, which was the case for Gamez. “It is a wonderful a part of [her husband’s Mexican] tradition, however I hated the method. On the time, there was nothing that organized the method.
Gamez noticed a gap available in the market she may fill by organizing the gift-giving course of on-line. PayPal, Venmo, and Fb could possibly be used to present money presents, so she centered elsewhere.
There was an untapped alternative to attach reward givers to the reward producers. She used a dropship mannequin that enabled wholesalers and artists to promote their wares with out going via distributors. The sellers had been chargeable for fulfilling the orders. I first wrote about Mi Padrino and its enterprise mannequin in 2019.
Later, Mi Padrino enabled distributors like DJs, musicians, photographers, and venues, amongst others, to promote their providers.
Mi Padrino grew from 50,000 customers within the first yr to hundreds of thousands of customers earlier than the pandemic. It had a major social media following, too.
When the pandemic struck, occasions stopped. The corporate pivoted.
One in all Mi Padrino’s producers began making masks. Mi Padrino facilitated colleges’ and well being techniques’ buy of them for free of charge. Later, it constructed an internet site to promote masks to make cash. The masks helped maintain them via the summer time of 2020, then everybody bought into the masks sport.
By the winter of 2021, Gamez laid off 17 of her 20 workers. Nevertheless, she knew she had one thing of worth to any firm that needed to interrupt into the Latina market. “Mi Padrino was thought-about a trusted model,” she mentioned. “We had hundreds of thousands of customers and an enormous social media following.”
Gamez was launched to Queenly, a market for formal put on for girls of all ages and sizes. Andreessen Horowitz is amongst its traders. “It [Mi Padrino] is a superb match for them,” Gamez mentioned. “And it was nice timing for us,”.
“It wasn’t the exit everybody needed, but it surely was an exit,” mentioned Gamez. Mi Padrino’s traders included Astia Angels, Chloe Capital, Spend money on Detroit, Spend money on Michigan, Portfolia, and Texas HALO.
Throughout the financial downturn attributable to the pandemic, Gamez grew her fame as a thought chief and parlayed that right into a job as the top of digital advertising and marketing at David’s Bridal. She began as a advisor and impressed them along with her concepts on how you can construct natural visitors.
Gamez can also be leveraging her startup expertise as Entrepreneur in Residence on the College of Michigan and Michigan State. Her recommendation to startup founders who’re elevating cash throughout the present enterprise capital downturn:
- Focus: “Do not boil the ocean,” she mentioned. Mi Padrino did not use off-the-shelf software program. As an alternative, it constructed totally different techniques for the three traces of enterprise and needed to keep all of them. It was quite a bit for a small group.
- Develop slower: Uncover what clients need quite than counting on assumptions. Even when they’re constructed utilizing Excel spreadsheets, check ideas.
- The proof is within the pudding: Earlier than elevating enterprise capital, present that the corporate can generate income.
What classes have you ever discovered by navigating via the pandemic?