We are on week three of Profiles and Founders: Where Are They Now? As I mentioned in Part I and Part II, I’ve been contributing to Forbes for two and half years now and have had the opportunity to profile great companies and interview some interesting founders. Every once in a while a reader follows up via email asking how a company is doing. I thought it would be neat to do a “where are they now?” series to check in on all the companies profiled in my column. This is the third of seven weeks of five company catch-ups. This week we check in with Bribin You, Cory Vines, DietBetter, Beckett Simonon, and Jon Teo.
Bribin You
On February 14th 2013, I wrote about a side project called Bribin You, from Startup Giraffe, a development shop in New York. The concept was fairly simple. It was a web tool that let you bribe people to read the emails you have sent to them. Since my post, the team at Startup Giraffe have shuttered the project. It was a great experiment but the team has moved on to greener pastures. I still, personally, think there is an interesting opportunity around monetary compensation and emails. Hopefully we’ll see more experiments in the future.
Cory Vines
On April 9th 2013, I wrote about a Montreal-based startup called Cory Vines. Since I wrote about Cory Vines (dubbed the Warby Parker of Activewear) a lot has happened. Cory Vines is on track to do three times their first year’s sales. They have restructured their product offering to provide three distinct collections for their consumers to better orient themselves with the products that will empower their fitness activities of choice. Additionally, they have expanded their 3-person bootstrapped team into a 10-person operation. Most importantly, they’ve progressed from being an online-only eCommerce brand to a company that's passionate about providing direct-to-consumer retail through omni-channel offerings.
In the next few months, you'll be able to see them in a major department store and select gyms and studios across North America. The cornerstone of this new direction was the opening of a 3-month pop-up shop in the heart of Montreal. Aptly titled Le Sweat Shop, they aim to be a unique lifestyle retail experience, a one-stop shop for your active, well-balanced life - there, you'll find their latest gear and you can hang out and grab a fresh pressed refreshment at their juice bar.
Credit: Cory Vines
DietBetter
On April 25th 2013, I wrote about a NYC-based startup called DietBetter (formerly known as DietBet). DietBetter, which uses financial incentives to keep dieters accountable, has now paid out over $6 million to its winners. Since my article about them they've signed up some of the biggest fitness celebrities to lead dietbets, including Jillian Michaels, who just led their biggest game with a $272,000 pot and over 9000 players. Dietbetting has been spreading around the world with players from over 70 countries using the platform to lose over one million pounds.
Beckett Simonon
On June 20th 2013, I wrote about a Colombia-based startup called Beckett Simonon. Beckett Simonon sells high quality Men’s shoes direct-to-consumer. The article was a mix of a company highlight and discussion about the issues around Immigration reform. I caught up with the founders and they shared some updates. The first is that their sales in the first semester of 2014 have grown 54% compared to the second semester of 2013. They reached 2.2 million page views on their website. They established new manufacturing facilities in Colombia in order to serve the Latin American market. They are developing special products for the retail channel, both with their own brand and also for other brands’ private-labels. They continue to bootstrap and are happy they have financial control over their own destiny and company goals.
Jon Teo
On August 8th 2013, I wrote about a SV-based investor named Jonathan Teo. Jon was a key player at funds that invested in
Credit: Jon Teo
