The Future Beau Girl (Reflection from BEAUTYCON)

Anyone could be Kim Kardashian without the sex tape, go figure. Just find something you enjoy and visually record it. What does this have to do with Beau Exchange Bombshells? Pre Beauty Con nothing, Post Beauty Con...everything. The generations to come don't care about old starlet glam and  real movie stars. They probably don't event know who George Clooney is. And that's because they are too busy look at YouTube and Vine.

 This was the first time we went to Beauty Con and realized 1. we are getting old and 2. the generations to come are soooo smart and don't take any information as gospel.

We enjoyed the panels, the walk off, the wine in juicy cups in the parent section and the beauty divas that appeared. The YouTubers are for sure the new celebrity and the internet will if not already surpass television watched by preteens. They girls had sophisticated questions, detailed knowledge of make up technique and a willingness to learn and listen.

So the Shameless Mayas and P'Triques of the world are cashing in on their indie fame, traveling and making guess appearances. It makes me think about the original media genius named Andy Warhol, not only did he bring us the Realty TV experience but the significant technique to being famous for simply being famous. I like to call it the Kim K effect. Keep yourself in front of a camera at much as possible. 15 minutes of fame is now years of prolong affairs with the internet, fashion professional running with trends and executives that want to capitalize on everything possible, big or small.

The lesson for the demi celebs, I hope you are doing all in the name of have a peaceful mind while you sleep. For the demi celeb admires, know you too and take over YouTube. For all Beautastic ladies, gentlemen and everything in between, you are all superstars to us no camera needed just your strong will and freed opinions.

Internet Week. A Week was Enough

May 19th was the beginning of Internet Week this year and even those we discussed the game plan the week before, we were not prepared for the exhaustion that was to come.

The Beau Exchange girls started with an event at AlleyNYC on Monday, XO Group Tuesday, Startupfix on Wednesday, Closing party and after party to the closing party on Thursday. Disrupting Stereotypes panel by AintIlatina.com on Friday, BeautyCon Saturday and our Tech and Social Good Wedding that Sunday. Now if you are a social butterfly on radiation this chain of events would suit you just fine, but to go to all of these events in addition to the panels during the day and actually working... This is something you could only do every once and a while as we are still somewhat young. Of course the point of participating so heavily was to engage ourselves in the community and to soak in all of the information that will help our company function smoothly and with significance, with the help of experienced techies

We met great people, gathered a lot of information and learned a lot of what we needed to function better as a business and an entity.

The biggest lesson was knowing that we were not crazy to start Beau Exchange. Those who lack fear in fighting for their dreams and passions will overcome obstacles without realizing the challenges were even challenges at all. This feeling we have of working so hard to make our idea a reality and the frustration, anguish, sleepless nights, loneliness and self doubt that may occur every so often is just a feeling and not some sign that we are in over your head.

Dream big and just leap, the net may not be there at first but just enjoy feelings out of control, light and free. That net will appear but by then you would have experienced one of your most thrilling moments of your life.

Don't Freak OUT... Its only TECH DAY

Tech Day in NYC was on April 24th and we were so excited to be apart of such a grand group of companies. Although we were sticking out like a sore thumb, it worked in our favor and we got over 100 sign ups for our beta launch. While bumping Lady Gaga and giving away chocolate kisses we were able to showcase Beau Exchange and engage the community with our mission.

The night before I felt very small as I got a preview of the booths to come the next day. I began to attempt last minute "fixes" to look bigger or grander among the other start ups. The day of I realized that this is our first expo and we should be proud to have reach this far.

We were among heavy weights like Gilt, Meetup and Uber while making friends with Liquor Box, Elite Daily, Stylinity, Renthop and Select. I was happy to discover cool stuff from Mashfeed, Chloe+Isabel and Lettrs. I knew we had something special when Tech Yoda, Gary Guide expressed his excitement to see Beau Exchange flourish.  Even Alley Wire took a liking to us.

Everyone starts somewhere. You have to be confident in what you're creating and can't compare your success to others. When you are passionate about your work you do lose track of things, by either comparing yourself to unrelated companies or being completely oblivion to the improvements that could be made to your company. Either way without balance and a clear mind your company could crumble before it even get noticed. Participate in Expos to showcase your best self and embrace all vendors, even your competition.

Was paying hundreds of dollars to sit for eight hours in one spot while snacking on everything insight worth it? ABSOLUTELY!

YOUR STARTUP IS A HOBBY UNTIL YOU MAKE YOUR FIRST DOLLAR

So I had a great brunch with a lovely reporter from the New York Time over the weekend to get her insight on where she saw the economy of startups, the pattern of startup culture and the overall objective perspective on our company.

This brilliant women said some thing that really created that +Oprah Winffrey ah ha moment. She said your startup is nothing but a hobby unless you sell something. The idea of "owner" your own startup see to be a "trend" in the past couple of years, where multi-million dollar invested companies with highly experience professional can't even survive at time.

What she said was right. You really are not a business or a company until you make your first dollar. Before that its just a great idea, side project or mental outlet. I think Beau Exchange have put so much effort in introducing ourselves to the public in this perfection of a image that we forget the simple truth. Beau Exchange is a fetus int he tech industry. The expectations and intensity we are putting on ourselves is unnecessary.

If you have an idea just launch it, display the word BETA on the homepage somewhere, go live and learn through the growing pains. No one is perfect, no one have all the answers and no one could judge you for trying you heart out to do something you are passionate about.

INCUBATE THIS!

So as fast as start-up companies have been popping up, incubators and accelerator programs are appearing out of thin air.

All though we have not launch yet, a lot of people are approaching Beau Exchange and we need a fairy tech mother to make sure we don't screw up. This week we are speaking with the incubator New Me, which is a cool program for minorities (ethnicity mostly direct African descent or Latin and women).

Really the two years in business school was enough but we really want to help of an expert and don't mine being in the lions den of all the lovely investors even if just to get our feet wet. We specifically has interest in New Me because it would be a great way to encourage others to start tech companies, create diversity in Silicon Valley and really provide opportunity for those with less access. If we blow up to be what so many expect us to, it would be great exposure for New Me as well.


With the different programs there to "help" you, the logically thought is well I choose a program that best fit my company culture, vision and overall good vibes. NO NO and ehhh NO. List below is what you should consider when approached or looking for an accelerator or incubator.

1. Do you research because incubators may have specific industries or technologies that they accept
2. Be prepared to leave home for a while (MAYBE) many of the programs are in California, London, Chile, Germany, Sweden and the average program is about four mouths. 
3. DO KNOW YOU COULD NEGOTIATE THE AGREEMENT! You do not have to accept the terms. If a program offer $40,000 for 10% of the company do know you don't have to accept that offer. I recommend a lawyer like ours SCJ Legal here in NYC.
4. Make sure you get your time with the mentors, advisers and even your peers.
5. Make sure you have all of the material they need for the application, for example two minute video, legal docs, or business plan. 
6. You have to understand that just because you are in a program does not guarantee that you are going to get investment and you're going to blowup into the next Youtube
7. If you are not going to use a program to help grow your company just have a group of advisers and cold call every person with money and a danger side.

NO DRINKING AND CODING, VERY DANGEROUS! AND OTHER LESSONS TO LEARN ON YOUR OWN

So I've have been blessed to have gotten a few years of experience before conducting my start-up and continue to find ways to learn in order to stay well rounded as a CEO.


Here are a few things I did to grow as a tech entrepreneur.

1. Ask an entrepreneur how to be an entrepreneur and also if they hate it, going mad, or living the dream
2. Join meetup groups to talk with others at the same stage as you in your start-up 
3. Cold email editors, venture capitalist, professors and anyone else for a meeting to ask a few questions you may need answered. The worst they could say is no and F*ck off.
4. If you don't know how to code, learn the basics. If you know how to code, learn business skills and marketing methods. Despite having partners that conduct specific role like our makeup of the fantastic three-o, you should still try to understand what your partner is somewhat talking about when she mention the functionality of Drupal 
5. Want to make money and learn different aspects of the industry? Do temp jobs at places like banks, law firms, insurance companies or even my route the New York Stock Exchange.
6. If you don't want to do temp work just get an internship. Cold email and call all the companies on your wish list and ask for an internship for a couple months. I've done it plenty of time. The worse they could say is "No we do not want free labor in return for teaching you something".
7. Turn off the Kardashians and watch documentaries that will help you better understand what you're getting yourself into, like "The Startup Kids" (which I watched again last night, I know I'm a dork). See the list HERE.

Everyone have their own journey to succeeding with their company, but one thing I know we all have in common is guts, hunger for glory and very little fear in the unknown. Stay focused, stay positive, and try to stay sane.

WOMANLY BOND: TECH IN COLOR EDITION

Black Female Tech Startup Entrepreneurs in NYC 

Had an amazing time with the bomb ladies of the meetup group. Beau Exchange hosted the first workshop with a great group of women from all over NYC at the Launch Pad in Brooklyn.

Things discussed

1. The challenges women of color face in working in a male dominated industry (we heard from the older women who have worked in tech since the early 90s and their experience over the years).
2. We heard of the need of more mentors to young girls of color who want to code and work in technology from Black Girls Code
3. We heard from Elizabeth Mwaga of Winning Diabetics on her journey as a serial entrepreneur 
4. We heard from Sung Jin Joo of SCJ Legal on basic things to know before starting your company 
5. Beau Exchange was honestly critics by the awesome duo Atim and Bonnie at Calabar Imports in Brooklyn

And the women really just engaged as a think tank, where we were able to refine our ideas and business models with great breakfast from Lazy Ibis. 

Major heavy hitters in all industries meet frequently in think tanks to make up the work we live in. There should be more think tanks among women and minorities so we too could shape our community's futures. I personally feel bless to have that moment in time with those women and to embrace each other as creative minds willing to grow.

Thank you to the women I got to experience for my whole Saturday. It was well worth it. I guess I get my hair washed Tuesday then.