Chicago entrepreneur Reva Minkoff embodies the notion of failing forward. In 2012, when the digital marketer saw she soon would be out of a job, she joined the Founder Institute to translate her experience from event marketing platform Poggled, search agency Resolution Media and retailer Sears Holdings Corp. into a startup. Actually, she launched two: education technology platform DigitalGroundUp Inc., which offers short courses on digital marketing, and marketing consultancy Digital4Startups Inc. She discusses her progress and how she processes failure.
Q. What’s the status of your businesses?
A. Last year we launched the education platform live (online). In May, we started our collaboration with Facebook and introduced content and support around Facebook advertising for the financial services industry. It went from being a pay-per-course to a subscription model. Being able to work with Facebook gives us content and resources we wouldn’t have had otherwise. For the consulting business, we’ve worked with over 30 companies all over the world. The company has been making six figures (in revenue) for the last two years.
Q. You’ve blogged about the need for more honesty on the realities of being a founder. What’s been your reality pill?
A. The most important reality checks for me have been on the accounting and the business side and those state-regulatory things that need to get done. It’s really important to be set for it earlier rather than later. We’ve had a lot of issues with that (filing paperwork in a state in which her business shouldn’t have been filing, for example), and I think it’s 100 percent avoidable. If it’s not your thing, then you need to have people around you or in your network who know what they’re doing.
Q. How do you process failure?
A. I have a very specific reaction to failure, and that is to work my way out of it, which doesn’t always work. I do the legwork to set up my other options. There was one point where I lost a job at 5 p.m. and by 9 p.m., I had a website set up for a blog called Reverse Mortgage Minute. It felt like I started my own company, and had my own way to generate income by 9 p.m. I respond best to failure by asking, “What am I going to do about it?”
Q. How do you mentor staff about failure?
A. I hope I’ve gotten better at it. A lot of the time we try to overlook things or brush off what they’re not doing right or wait until it gets really bad. One guy that works for me said, “Anytime there’s something where you see there could be improvement, I want you to tell me right away.” For me, it’s trying to give feedback more constantly, letting people work through things even if they’re messing up the first time. I’ve tried to make sure that everybody knows when something goes wrong, it’s not “It’s your fault.” It’s “We have a setback, now as a team how are we going to get through this?” That’s helped a lot.
Q. Will having female-focused incubators like 1871’s WiSTEM help curb sexism in tech startups?
A. Anytime female founders get out there, it helps. I’ve seen positive change from being more active and vocal. There are lots of women doing this, and we’re taught to be quiet about it because people will judge if they knew we were mothers, wives or girlfriends. You can say “Be loud and proud about the fact that you’re a mom with three kids and you do this.” But the minute you do that, there are going to be a bunch of investors who would never invest in (you). I’m not sure having all this separate is going to help, but it is nice to have the support in the community with people that have your back.
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Q&As are edited for length and clarity.