Episode 100: Wombi Rose and John Wise - Founders at Lovepop

Welcome to Episode 100 of The VentureFizz Podcast, the flagship podcast from the leading authority for jobs & careers in the tech industry. Today, we are hitting a major milestone: Episode 100!!! There’s no doubt, The VentureFizz Podcast is the top podcast focused on entrepreneurship and tech across Boston & New York. Before I introduce today’s guests, I do want to take a moment to say some “thank yous” to: -Christina Luconi, Chief People Officer at Rapid7, for being my very first guest and being willing to experiment. -All of our guests, for taking the time to share your background and all the amazing advice for others (including myself) to learn from. -Alex Culafi. Alex does lots of different things here at VentureFizz, but it was his knowledge in this world of podcasting that allowed us to start creating this amazing content. -And, of course, you, our audience, for listening to all of these great stories. I hope each interview has maybe provided you with a little bit of inspiration and some helpful tips that you can apply to your own business. Thank you, thank you, and thank you! or this milestone episode, I was excited to interview Wombi Rose and John Wise, the Founders of Lovepop. I first learned about Lovepop through TJ Mahony, who made an investment in the company, and it was one of those companies that immediately made sense. The greeting card industry was in need of disruption and Wombi & John’s background in naval architecture made them uniquely qualified to tackle this market. Lovepop creates beautiful laser-cut pop-up cards, and the company is on a mission to create one billion magical moments. You might have seen Lovepop on ABC’s Shark Tank, when they landed an investment from Kevin O’Leary, who is still very involved in the company today. Since then, Lovepop has done an amazing job of building a successful consumer brand and scaling the company. In this episode of our podcast, we cover lots of topics, like: -Wombi and John’s backgrounds, including how they met in college and reunited at Harvard Business School. -The inspiration behind their product and a deep dive into the history of the company. -How Lovepop’s business was built from the ground up, and lessons learned along the way. -The whole Shark Tank experience and what it has meant for the company. -Advice for founders looking to build a consumer brand. -How the company determines whether a potential hire will be a good fit. -Plus, a lot more. Brex, the corporate credit card for startups, is the sponsor for this week’s podcast. Brex founders Henrique and Pedro built a payments business in Brazil but kept getting rejected for a corporate credit card when they were in Y Combinator. So they decided to build Brex, with instant online sign-up, no founder liability required and limits 10 to 20 times higher than standard cards; it is a must-have for entrepreneurs. Sign up for Brex at brex.com and get card fees waived by entering the code “fizz” during signup. Lastly, if you like the show, please remember to subscribe to and review us on iTunes, or your podcast player of choice!