Tanisha Robinson has a knack for knowing how to follow trends; and how to make money in the process.
A former Arabic linguist for the US Army, Robinson launched Fudha, a daily deal website targeting Central Ohio-based independent restaurants in 2010. The site offered daily coupons and donated a portion of each sale to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. The social enterprise contributed over 30,000 meals to the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, supported the local restaurant community, and saved its members over $250,000 on the best independent restaurants in Central Ohio.
A year later, at the height of its popularity, Robinson, who moved to Damascus, Syria, and worked in women’s and human rights throughout the Middle East for almost two years, sold Fudha for an undisclosed amount to 614 Media Group.
Now, she’s at it again. This year she launched TicketFire, a mobile app that allows ticket holders to scan their paper event tickets, and then share, sell or transfer those tickets to other people also using the app.
“We believe
that this revolutionizes the secondary ticket market. Basically, a lot of tickets go unsold, because of constraints around how to physically get the ticket somewhere. We solve this problem,†says Robinson, who studied Arabic and political theory at Ohio State University.But while Robinson is at work digitizing physical tickets with TicketFire, she’s doing the exact opposite with her other startups Skreened, LookHuman and Print Syndicate, design, marketing and ecommerce platforms focused on printing high-quality products from digital photos to consumers on-demand.
BlackEnterprise.com caught up with Robinson, our Tech Startup of the Week, after the 2013 Black Enterprise Entrepreneur’s Conference
where she spoke as a panelist about the usefulness of incubators and accelerators. Here, she talks juggling more than two tech startups, rocking the tech world from Columbus, Ohio, and advice on exiting a company.BlackEnterprise.com: What inspired you to launch TicketFire?
Robinson: Sheer frustration with the existing model. Right now, if you have a paper ticket and you lose it, there’s no help. Or if you want to give a ticket to someone, or sell it, you have to deal with an actual physical, in-person transaction. And it’s 2013! It just seems crazy that you can deposit a check and get on a plane with your phone, but you can’t get into a concert or baseball game.
Where did you get the money to start the business?
My partner and I both put in work and effort to get the idea off the ground with no money. From there, we’ve raised $25,000 from TechColumbus, and are in the process of raising more funds to expand the platform.
What practical advice or tips would you give tech entrepreneurs about exiting a business successfully and profitably?
Get as much advice as you can from people who have done it before and, hopefully, have great attorneys who have done it before.
What is unique about TicketFire compared to similar products like StubHub?
We actually complement StubHub. StubHub is a great platform where individuals can search and purchase hard-to-get tickets. TicketFire is simply a platform that allows people to use and move their tickets digitally, instead of physically (through FedEx, mail, or meeting in person).
What is different about the technology behind TicketFire?
We have a patent pending on our secret sauce, but as far as we know, we’re the only company that has approached this problem in this way. We aren’t trying to take down the ticketing system — we just want to make it better and bring it into digital era.
What advice do you have for startup entrepreneurs who are planning to participate in an incubator or accelerator?
Do your homework, and ensure that they have the network and/or industry experience to help you scale your business. That’s the only reason to participate.
What exactly are you doing with LookHuman and Print Syndicate? How do they all work together?
Print Syndicate is a design, marketing and technology company focused on creating timely, relevant, beautiful printed objects (mostly apparel). We syndicate our designs to e-commerce sites including Skreened.com, Zazzle.com and RedBubble.com, and sell products via our own e-commerce site, LookHuman.com.
Is it difficult to juggle more than one startup at a time? How do you do it?
Of course! It’s super stressful, and a lot of work, so I try to be efficient. I’m fortunate to have great business partners in both my companies who
are supportive of all of my work (not just my venture with them), and I have a wonderful fiancée (soon-to-be-wife) who supports my ambition, and also reminds me to stay balanced. I devote time every morning to pondering and thinking about strategy, I spend at least one day a week without my phone or laptop on, and I have amazing mentors.Why did you decide to keep your tech companies in the Midwest as opposed to move to Silicon Valley or New York?
Columbus is an amazing city. It’s smart, open and a great place to start a business. Overhead is low here, so I’m able to focus on investing in my companies instead of figuring out how to pay super high rent. I have amazing mentors, who are among the greatest business leaders and philanthropists in our community — and I don’t believe that I would have easy access to that caliber of mentor in Silicon Valley or NYC. We’ve also received great support from the City of Columbus, the State of Ohio, and CCAD.