Launching the Creator Nova Marketplace with Mark Fleming.
Launching the Creator Nova Marketplace with Mark Fleming.
Mark’s entrepreneur journey, the launching of Creator Nova – a marketplace empowering brand influencers to launch their own beauty brands – and how influencers can leverage this platform to tap into the huge market for creator-led beauty brands.
Mark Fleming is an entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Creator Nova – Creator Nova is the marketplace empowering entrepreneurial influencers to launch beauty brands, simply and swiftly.
Mark grew up in Toledo, Ohio in a family of manufacturing engineers. This was the beginning of Mark’s passion for business and, specifically, for manufacturing consumer products. Before founding Creator Nova, Mark worked at Alibaba and lived in China. In his role at Alibaba, he helped more than 50 US startups enter global markets. This experience helped Mark understand from a first-hand perspective, the pain content creators experience in building consumer products and getting them to global markets. Mark’s work experience, combined with his MBA from Kellogg, provide the solid business savvy required to build Creator Nova and attract top influencers in the beauty sector.
Mark lives in the San Francisco Bay area.
Launching the Creator Nova Marketplace with Mark Fleming – topics and questions covered in this episode of The How of Business podcast include:
- Mark shares his experiences with launching his business Creator Nova, and “the rise of the creator economy.”
- How would you describe your diverse career before starting your first small business?
- What led you to the idea and launch of Creator Nova?
- Why did you decide to have a co-founder?
- The key to successful partnerships is to partner with someone who thinks differently but has the same values as you.
- When did you know you wanted to be your own boss? Who were early entrepreneurial influences?
- Why are you a small business owner? What does it provide you?
- Please introduce Creator Nova and how it works…
(“…Creator Nova is a marketplace empowering entrepreneurial influencers to launch beauty brands, simply and swiftly. We consolidate all the steps in the product creation process into one platform offering guidance in selecting products and services at every stage: niche formulators, curated manufacturers, e-commerce fulfillment, product and packaging design experts. Our marketplace is the tool influencers use to manifest their dreams into reality and turn loyal followers into customers.”) - How are influencers doing this without your platform?
- The Creator Nova platform supports entrepreneurial influencers.
- Please walk us through an example of how this works.
- Who is your ideal customer or avatar?
- Please summarize the benefits for the creator.
- “86% of beauty followers want creator-led brands.”
- “70% of Asian and African-American women feel that their beauty needs are not being met.”
- What’s the typical End Goal for influencers?
- If their end goal is to get their product into a retailer, will you eventually assist with that?
- Describe the Creator Nova community.
- What’s your advice for an influencer who wants to eventually launch their own beauty brand? What do they need to focus on and what should they be measuring?
- What is your business model – how do you make money?
- When are you planning to be profitable?
- How did you fund the launch?
- Currently raising $700K in pre-seed round to reach 62 million consumers (reach of the 250 influencer waiting list).
- How long from idea to launching this business?
- How did you test or prototype the platform?
- Please share your experience in the XRC Labs accelerator program. What was the value and benefit for you and Creator Nova?
- What’s next for Creator Nova?
Episode Host: Henry Lopez is a serial entrepreneur, small business coach, and the host of this episode of The How of Business podcast show – dedicated to helping you start, run and grow your small business.
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