I love seeing industries get disrupted. I believe that there are no longer any barriers of entry to any industry. If you combined better technology and a superior customer experience you can compete.
Business is a competitive landscape and isn’t reserved for the weak or passive. For the past six years, I’ve studied Amazon, Apple, Zappos, Southwest and Westjet to understand how they have leveraged customer experience to become billion dollar brands.
Now, it’s time to uncover the next great brands that are going to disrupt industries that have stagnated for far too long.
I’m bullish and betting my chips on ZenPayroll and Silvercar.
The common theme with these companies are that they are leveraging two things to enter their industries: technology and a superior customer experience. It’s also worth noting that their competitors are massive companies that have owned their markets for decades.
I’m a huge advocate in the belief that there are no longer any barriers of entry into any industry. If you develop a better customer experience and combine it with advanced technology you can compete.
Founders: Joshua Reeves (Founder, CEO & Co-Founder), Edward Kim (CTO & Co-Founder), Tomer London (CPO & Co-Founder).
Industry they are disrupting: payroll processing.
Why I’m bullish: I’ve had the opportunity to connect with some members of their team and have seen their product. Both their team and product are amazing! Plus, they are just as passionate about customer and employee experience as I am.
I have personally done business with their competitors and can confidently say that their process is much more superior. They are turning a system in business that isn’t the most sexy or glamorous and making it more efficient.
They have also gained the financial backing of Google Ventures, Salesforce, Aaron Levie (Box), Drew Houston (Dropbox), Jeremy Stoppelman (Yelp) and others investors.
Recent news: They announced a partnership and integration with Freshbooks. They also recently raised another round of $20M from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and General Catalyst Ventures.
Founders: led by Austin Ventures
Industry they are disrupting: rental car industry.
Why I’m bullish: Have you ever rented a car before? It can be an awful customer experience. By downloading the Silvercar app, you are a few clicks away from driving away in a silver Audi A4 (which is the model of car they supply). They are well on their way to reinventing the rental car experience. The rental car industry was due for disruption and I’m confident that Silvercar will capture market share.
How good are they? They are one of the few companies that bring value to the QR code.
Recent news: they completed a $6M round in financing.
Who else has my attention?
- Shyp: Shyp is an app that allows you to snap a picture of a parcel you want shipped. One of their “Shyp Heros” arrives and takes care of the shipping process for you. My only concern with Shyp is the amount of volume they must do to have favourable shipping rates and influence margins. The reason they have caught my eye is because they are providing a solution to a headache. I mean, who genuinely likes visiting Fedex? To date, Shyp has raised $2.1M in funding and is led by Joshua Scott and Kevin Gibbon.
- Oscar: Based in New York, Oscar is setting out to disrupt the healthcare industry. For me, I don’t get excited to sign up, pay or renew my healthcare because it’s a very mundane process. If Oscar, led by Josh Kushner, can simplify this process they will be in a position to take market share away from other industry leaders. They have raised $40M in investments and poached talent from Google and Tumblr.
What companies do you think will start disrupting their industries because of technology and customer experience?
Source: B2C_Business
These Two Companies Will Disrupt Their Industries With Customer Experience
No comments:
Post a Comment