This week on the Art of Startup War, Brian MacMahon of Expert DOJO interviews Bobbi Hamilton of Chi Universe about her company that turns yoga into a game for kids. This podcast shares amazing advice about how to build a successful startup and the struggles that must come before success.
Hamilton has previous experience with yoga based startups, but after her first company’s product was stolen from her, she felt hurt. She lost a great deal of self esteem and will to continue down the startup path and for good reason. Yet, she persevered and after a few years began her next project, called Chi Universe.
Yet, Hamilton’s obstacles were far from over. In addition to facing the normal struggles that business owners often come across, as a female entrepreneur she had some particularly difficult battles to face. Especially when it came to finding investors, she often found that people would not invest until she desperately needed money, only to save her at the last minute. She came across others still who would attempt to manipulate her or her company. And still, about 70-80% of the investors she spoke to were only pretending to be interested or only pretending to be an investor. While the last problem is relatively common to entrepreneurs, her experiences otherwise show the disparity between the experiences of male and female-led businesses.
At the end of the podcast, Hamilton’s business has clearly made great strides. From her many brewing partnerships with companies like the NFL and Nickelodeon, she is almost ready to go public. All she needs now is one more round of investment, and some organic customer growth via word of mouth.Chi universe was able to find investment in the Expert DOJO startup community. To hear the rest of the episode, click here, or look for episode #116 of the Art of Startup War wherever you get your podcasts.