The Startup Story

Emma Rose Cohen, co-founder of FinalStraw

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About this episode

This week’s featured founder is Emma Rose Cohen, CEO and co-founder of FinalStraw. FinalStraw is a collapsible and reusable straw for a sucking alternative that will help reduce plastic waste across the globe. The inspirational and educational side of her story includes a Kickstarter experience that many hope for when they launch their Kickstarter campaign. In fact, FinalStraw raised $1.89 million during their campaign.

Today you will hear about Emma’s very high-level pre-launch strategy that helped FinalStraw to raise so much money during their campaign. We also discussed how she spent significant time researching the writers and influencers in the straw movement. In fact, prior to launching her campaign, she had hundreds of authors at-the-ready to help promote the campaign. She knew what thought streams to insert her product into to get people talking about it. You will learn how Emma kept her focus amidst all the noise and the negativity. Finally, we talked about how challenging growth can be for a startup after having such a successful Kickstarter campaign. But, we’ll start at the beginning of Emma’s story. This is Emma Rose’s startup story.

In this episode, you will hear
  • When Emma started thinking about how privileged she was in the world that she realized she had to figure out what her contribution to the world would be
  • About her visit to Thailand and how it changed her life as she picked up abandoned straws on the beach
  • How to maintain your perspective and passion as you begin to work on a new idea
  • That timing is everything - you can have an idea that you think will change the world, but the timing is so important because the world has to be ready for it
  • The importance of a pre-launch strategy
  • How important the valleys are in the process and the need to keep things together with a support network
  • Good entrepreneurs realize that failures are valuable
  • That every habit is like a muscle, and with fear of failure it is important to learn to let go of those boundaries and channel your inner self to overcome fear
  • The importance of having a goal and a symbol for it so that you know when you have succeeded in your mission and don’t accidentally pass it up
  • Celebrating wins along the way is critical to keeping everything exciting on the journey

    • “I would walk along a remote beach in Thailand every morning and pick up abandoned straws. Each morning I would collect two handfuls. I had to be part of the change” - Emma Rose Cohen, FinalStraw

    “I pivot in my approach quite a bit, but I am ALWAYS moving forward.” - Emma Rose Cohen, FinalStraw

    ## Resources from this episode

    Connect with Emma on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmarosecohen
    Follow Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmasirena/?hl=en
    FinalStraw on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_finalstraw_/?hl=en
    FinalStraw: https://finalstraw.com/
    Tim Ferris 4-Hour Work Week: https://amzn.to/2GlPa2o
    Tim Ferris Kickstarter Plan: https://tim.blog/2012/12/18/hacking-kickstarter-how-to-raise-100000-in-10-days-includes-successful-templates-e-mails-etc/
    Principles: LIfe and Work by Ray Dalio: https://amzn.to/2Pptt5Q

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    Full Episode Transcript

    Special Guest: Emma Rose Cohen.

    Sponsored By:

    • Movocash: Download the Movocash app today!
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    The Startup StoryBy James McKinney