Alexa Is Paperless (5)

Alexa Is Paperless (1)
Alexa Is Paperless (2)
Alexa Is Paperless (3)
Alexa Is Paperless (4)

City Bakery After PaperlessPost
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Friday 2 PM On: PaperlessPost.com
Alexa's PaperlessPost
Alexa Hirschfeld: CNN 2010 Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs
Social Media Week: The Best NY Tech MeetUp Ever

Alexa Is Paperless (4)

Alexa Is Paperless (1)
Alexa Is Paperless (2)
Alexa Is Paperless (3)

Alexa says she is a very internal person. As in, she does not attend many events. She stays focused on her customers and her team, and that right there is more than a full time commitment. The media and pundits are lagging indicators. They are usually three months behind. It is so much more productive to get on the phone with a customer who might feel compelled to pick up the phone.

Alexa Is Paperless (3)

Alexa Is Paperless (1)
Alexa Is Paperless (2)

Deploying the basic product meant people started sending cards out to people in their network. Everyone who received the cards were potential new users. Many of them did come along as users. And when these new users sent out cards, the circle only widened.

Alexa Is Paperless (2)

Alexa Is Paperless (1)

Alexa grew up in New York City. She attended Harvard. She was at CBS for two years after college. She did not find the medium - television - all that interesting. Everything had already been figured out. The idea for the company first came from her brother who is a cofounder. I don't know of another brother sister cofounding team to a tech startup.

She thinks the ability to appreciate what people bring to the table is key. She thinks it is important to know what she does not know. Every wanna be leader pays lip service to the team concept, but Alexa means it.

Alexa Is Paperless (1)

I managed to show up on time. I simply ran after I got out of the train. I was on time. I showed up at 2 PM. At first I went into the wrong building. I was supposed to show up at 151, but I walked into 115. The place did not have an elevator, and I am having thoughts of walking up nine flights of stairs. I will definitely be late, I thought. Then I realized I got the house number wrong. I got out quick. And I ran. I showed up. On time.



I took an immediate liking to Alexa's new office. This would be my idea of a great office space. There was this big, open space in the middle. There were work tables. People ended up facing each other, although at some distance. There were unused work spaces. Obviously Alexa had expansion plans.

Microfinance, Not Just Microcredit

Image via WikipediaOne of the major lessons the microfinance industry has learned over the decades is that the poor need more than microcredit. They need a broad swath of financial services.

As soon as they start a business, they want to be able to open up a savings account with you. They want to be able to make easy payments. They want to be able to receive money from relatives who might have gone to some distant city or country.

And you have to offer the whole package deal. Although I do think microcredit continues to be the crown jewel of microfinance. But people don't just wear jewelry. They also like to wear clothes, also undergarments perhaps.

Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, FoodSpotting: Sharks

Image via CrunchBaseI asked a question at the final event during Social Media Week I attended.

Microsoft tried to buy or bury Google. "My question is for the FourSquare guy. Google tried to buy or bury Facebook. Facebook tried to buy or bury FourSquare." Well, Facebook tried to buy or bury Twitter first. "But FourSquare instead has attempted integration with FoodSpotting. And that is right by the market, right by the consumer, right by FourSquare, and right by FoodSpotting. Where did that wisdom come from? What made you want to do the right thing?"

And yesterday news was that Google was attempting a much deeper integration of Twitter in its search results. Integration is key. Facebook should similarly attempt deep integration with web properties like FoodSpotting. And there are going to be many, many players in that space. FoodSpotting has occupied but one vertical.