We’ve just hit 90,000 members, we’ve moved offices to accommodate our growing team, and we’ve launched our brand new shave cream. Cornerstone is growing more than ever with our team going from 2 to 20 members in one year. In that time, my role as CEO of the company has changed quite drastically. What do I do when business is running smoothly and we have such a great team in place? Let me take you on a little journey of my day-to-day tasks in the first part of our A Day in the Life of a CEO series.
Raising Funds
A key part of a sound business is funding. It has been crucial to foster the dizzying growth that we’ve experienced in the last year.
We started two years ago with a government-backed Startup Loan. This was essential to our start, as the capital was key to conducting market research, developing our first prototypes and spreading the Cornerstone word. To scale our team, we then raised almost £1m in 4 weeks via the popular crowdfunding platform CrowdCube. They were incredibly helpful and we worked very closely with them on creating our campaign, due-diligence, and ensuring our company constitution was appropriate for investors. Not only did we surpass our funding goals, but it was great PR and we took in a variety of investors, including customers, that act as brand champions.
Our next move was angel investment to further back our expansion. We raised £1.6m in our latest round of funding, which has taken us to a total of £4.5m to date. To achieve this, a big part of my role has been meeting with investors who support us every step of the way.
Raising funds is not just about pitching your idea in a dark, cold room. Raising funds is all about building connections with people who truly believe in your vision. We have great on-going relationships with our circa 300 investors. I often meet with them to discuss new ideas, hear their advice and put plans into action. Some of them have gone further to become part of our board of directors and are a key part of our strategic thinking.
Hiring and Onboarding
You can have a great idea and pockets full of money, but you can’t do it all on your own. Hiring the best team possible is crucial for success. Growing our team has meant that we can now meet our ever-increasing number of customer queries, launch unique marketing campaigns including our TV ad, and build a relatable and inspirational brand.
In the past year, my role has involved everything from hiring new staff to making them feel welcome and ensuring the appropriate processes are in place for them to grow along with the company. A few things that have helped our team consolidate are our weekly Friday catch-ups followed by beers and mini ping-pong tournaments, as well as our monthly team lunches. As a joining gift, all of our members also receive three business books that illustrate our company culture, philosophy and vision. It’s imperative to have an across-the-board team that combines a wide range of skills, but also one that thrives together. You can have the most skilled staff, but if they don’t work as a team you won’t get very far.
So that is a little sneak peek into how we raise funds and hire new team members at Cornerstone from our A Day in the Life of a CEO series. Watch out for part two which covers suppliers and working on strategy.
Want to know more about startup life? Check out our other blog posts here. Do you have any questions about Cornerstone behind the scenes? Tweet us @Cornerstone_HQ!