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Jackie came straight here from BIA, landing at twelve o'clock. It took only two and a half hours to get downtown, and I was worried I might miss my flight because I knew Jeff would be upset if that happened.
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I just got back from Minneapolis, actually, from New York.
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You have finished your second Techstars program. Can you talk about why someone would go through Techstars a second time? We're still doing retrospectives on it. Our first Techstars experience was in Boulder, where I barely knew what Techstars really was, to be quite frank.
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It's been fascinating to hear the last two speakers. With Andy discussing the transfer of skill sets, I can relate to that. I was a schoolteacher with Teach for America and then moved into oppositional research for political candidates. Now, I'm the CEO of a wearable tech company, and I swear those skill sets transferred.
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However, I had to figure out HR and finance, which was a challenge. My first experience with Techstars was really about figuring out what it means to build a team and a company, and how to communicate with investors. Those are very coachable skills, although they can be awkward to practice.
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In this second experience, we partnered with Target for our consumer electronics product. I had never worked in retail before, so I felt the need to learn how things operated. I needed to understand what in-caps are, what peg velocity means, and how to form partnerships with a corporation that has 341,000 employees without getting crushed by them.
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We learned a ton, but it was completely different from our first experience. Going back to the beginning, I taught Spanish at a bilingual school.
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You were teaching bilingual Spanish politics, and now you are the CEO of a tech company. Quite the evolution! I was actually an intern while also taking on CEO responsibilities simultaneously.
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People used to joke about my title; I'd say, 'Let it go, it's not a big deal, it’s about what you’re working on.' I came up with the idea for Revolar while I was in college and started the patent process during my senior year.
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We recently received our patent award, which was super exciting. Someone told me it would take years to bootstrap the idea. I thought teaching would be good prep because it pays well, although I found out that teaching wasn't a 9-to-5 job.
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I realized that as I was new to the teaching profession, I underestimated how much time it truly consumes.
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Once I started teaching, I figured I had my afternoons free to work on my projects, but that was far from the truth.
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However, through my experience, I gained significant leadership and emotional intelligence skills that have proven invaluable.
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Interestingly enough, a member of our board is Jenny Law, the CEO of MakerBot, and we discussed how scaling a company is much like the development of a child.
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When we were a small team, it felt like being in kindergarten, where everything is easy, and everyone is friends. As we grew, it became more awkward, like being in middle school, where communication became more complicated.
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Now, I feel like our company is in high school—it's a little better than before, but we still have a long way to go in terms of communication. This second time with Techstars is about making sure we celebrate our achievements.
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The team has ensured we're recognized for being back-to-back Techstars champions, especially as the only female-led company that has managed to do Techstars twice.
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I truly believe that our business would not be where it is today without that experience.
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The inspiration for Revolar is deeply personal. My little sister was assaulted twice before the age of 17. After her second attack, she had to be homeschooled during her senior year of high school.
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My mother bought her pepper spray, the common tool people expect you to use for safety. However, my sister was disciplined because she had the pepper spray on her keychain at a testing site, which led to negative consequences that really frustrated me.
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I was furious because they suspended her and marked it on her permanent record that she brought a weapon. I had studied abroad and learned that we are quite lucky in the U.S. to have self-defense laws, which is not the case in many countries, including Italy, where I was told I'd be jailed for using pepper spray.
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This disparity motivated me to explore how people communicate when they need help. I realized that while everyone usually has a smartphone on them, it can be difficult to access it quickly in an emergency.
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Calling 911 can be a privilege that not everyone feels safe doing. Growing up in Latin America, my family wouldn't call the police, and it made me think about how you could reach out to loved ones when it matters most.
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That inspiration led me to start the patent process for Revolar. So, after leaving teaching, I decided to do Revolar full-time.
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We kicked off by getting a 3D printer, testing the idea further and building an initial prototype. I remember feeling like it was magic to see the vision come to life.
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I was able to connect with people who helped push the idea forward. The first thing I did was find a co-founder to move in with me, someone who understood what a business needs to succeed.
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We went to Denver Startup Week to network and present our idea. My friends helped me look like a bigger team, and we pulled off a lot of connections which led to successful partnerships.
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At the event, I had a bold moment where I expressed that my goal was to end rape culture through technology and how to get connected within the community.
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That led to meeting mentors that helped guide me and connect me with resources that became instrumental in our success. It’s been quite the adventure since then.
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Through our journey, we successfully launched Kickstarter, receiving funding while putting everything together rapidly.
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We also found really dedicated and knowledgeable advisors along the way, who helped us scale the product exponentially.
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Now, we have our devices available at major retail sites like Best Buy, Amazon, and soon at Target, which is incredibly exciting.
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With the growth of our company, we have many opportunities for talented individuals to join us as we move forward.
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At this point, we’re looking to hire in positions across various fields. It’s an exhilarating time as we expand and refine the product.
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Revolar is making a significant impact, and I'm grateful for the journey.
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Thank you, Jackie, for sharing your inspiring story.