I recently went one on one with with Fran Maier. Fran is the founder and CEO of BabyQuip and is a serial entrepreneur and brand builder who spent over a decade leading TRUSTe (now TrustArc) - the leading privacy trustmark and compliance provider - and was a co-founder and the first General Manager of Match.com.

Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here? What experiences, failures, setbacks or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?

Fran: Adam, BabyQuip is actually my 5th startup, so it's been quite a journey. My first was Match.com in the mid 90s where I was co-Founder and first General Manager. That was a wild ride! Match was #1 from the start and still is. In 1998 we sold Match for way too little and way too soon (another story), and I regret that I did not put together the investment group to buy it, in part because as a woman in Silicon Valley I didn’t really have the support, and also because I didn’t have the confidence. So that was a big lesson for me.

Nonetheless, I’m always happy to learn of relationships that started online (which is the norm now), because I had something to do with it!

After Match, I held chief marketing roles at Women.com and Bluelight.com, both who were born in the late 90’s and basically crashed during the dot-com bust. Prior to BabyQuip, I was Founder and CEO of TRUSTe (now TrustArc), an internet privacy compliance and technology company, best known for its privacy trustmark TRUSTe.    In 2008, I transitioned the company from non-profit industry association to a venture backed for-profit company and raised the initial investment. This time I had more confidence! 

Another throughput in all of these is that I like to build trusted brands, that’s my Superpower.

In the context of building a company, mistakes are always made, but in the long run it’s the things you do right that make the difference. Some common themes that I try to bring to every endeavor are:

• Build a durable and trusted brand. This was critical for Match (back then especially, people were very wary of online matchmaking) and is critical for BabyQuip too. Our brand values include safety, cleanliness and family first, and these touchstones (or commitments) make a real difference to our customers—parents.

• Make an Impact, every day. Especially as CEO, with everything that you have to do, I find it most helpful to focus on what would have the greatest impact on success. Some days it's running a forecast, other days it's hanging out with the team, and some days it's doing this!

• Watch the Spend (both ways). Of course, every company needs to understand its cash flow. The #1 job of start-up founders, is often said, is not to run out of cash. Given. But on the other end, you can underspend too. At BabyQuip, we spent aggressively in the early years to get customers because we were creating a new category and brand. (We did this at Match too). 

• Use Data. Market research, transaction data, external data. Use it all. Listen to the story it's trying to tell.  

• For marketplace businesses, focus on both sides. We have two primary customers: parents who rent gear, and the Quality Providers who supply the gear. We work hard to make each side satisfied and every new initiative must be assessed on the impact on both sides. Happy to say, we have a world class NPS of 94 from customers, and our Quality Providers are generally satisfied with the extra income and experience they get from BabyQuip.

• Don’t get depleted. Lots can bring you down any day. Don’t surround yourself with people who deplete you. Get rid of the negative talk even if it's just in your head. When I’m down, I spend some time in the BabyQuip private community and it almost always inspires me.

I also have to remind myself the importance of self-care and of course spending time with friends and family and vacations too. Start-ups can be a black hole and I won’t allow that now.

Another big challenge especially for a travel-related company was the pandemic.  We were on Shark Tank on March 6, 2020, expecting our business to really accelerate, instead within days we had massive cancellations and few new orders. We persevered. Cut spending. Launched BabyQuip cleaning. Got government money (for me, a first). Kept social media going. Launched new cleaning and delivery protocols. By early 2021, the business started to grow. We ended 2021 with GMV (a measure of gross revenue through our platform) 2x 2019. And 2022 is even stronger!   We just debuted on a16z’s list of Top 100 Marketplaces (private, consumer focused) at #89.

Adam: How did you come up with your business ideas? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?

Fran: I had left TrustArc in early 2012 and was serving on non-profit boards, also on a bank board, and advising start-up founders.

I was serving as board chair for a non-profit and making things happen. A friend on the board said to me one day, “Why aren’t you putting your skills toward building another company?”

By mid 2012, I was an early host on Airbnb, making a great side-gig income renting two rooms on the third floor of my San Francisco home. Because of my Airbnb side hustle as well as the emerging ride-sharing marketplaces, like Uber and Lyft, I began to think about how travel and work were rapidly changing. Change is always a great catalyst for a startup. What new companies could emerge and take advantage of these changes?

When I came across a mom earning good money with a baby gear rental business in Santa Fe, it immediately clicked for me. Like most parents, I remember how difficult it was to travel with my sons when they were small. Trudging through crowded airports with small children and all the equipment you need to have a safe and comfortable experience at your destination is almost impossible. At the same time parents know that gear and toys that help children sleep well at night and stay happily engaged during the day can be a gamechanger on a family vacation.

And with the emerging gig economy, I was confident that we’d find people who would be eager to rent gear and help families enjoy a better vacation.

This was a problem waiting for a marketplace solution. 

Adam: How did you know your business ideas were worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?

Fran: First off, you’ve got to like business or start-ups or technology. You’re not going to be a successful entrepreneur if you aren’t already a student of the sector or curious about trends in technology and society.    

For BabyQuip, the ah-ha moment came because as an Airbnb host I was already thinking about this new kind of business, both as a traveler and as a host. So when I saw what ultimately became BabyQuip, it made sense to me. And I knew my experience building trusted brands could make the difference.

There are countless ways to test a product or service and the best way to proceed depends on so many factors. For marketplaces, the key is to try to match supply with demand. After we formed BabyQuip in May, 2016, I wanted to know how hard it would be to build supply and to generate demand. Immediately we started to recruit Quality Providers (the independent contractors who rent and deliver gear that they own). And we started to spend on marketing too, to get the flywheel growing. Good news, we found that as we placed Quality Providers in a market, demand followed.  We had tapped into an unmet need!

We are building a trusted brand to address a very large market of traveling families.  Our approach is right for these times in that millennial parents want to travel with their children, value experiences, are comfortable with marketplace and gig economy services, expect clean and safe, and appreciate the sustainability aspects of what we do.

Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your businesses? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?

Fran: You have to start with knowing what you want. Before you quit your steady, full time job and jump into entrepreneurship, be clear on what you want. (Note that being your own boss is not a sufficient reason).  

Be crystal clear on what kind of business it is and how it can succeed. Figure out what it will take to launch. Consider the myriad of ways it can be financed. (Not all companies are venture backable, and that’s fine!) A good small business that throws off profits every year is a success!

Try to get early validation  I often recommend that companies apply to start-up accelerator programs to develop their idea or product.

Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?

Fran: These are more general related to start-ups:

1. Don’t solve tomorrow’s problem today. It's easy to get overwhelmed and foresee all the potential issues. This can take you off track. Don’t let it.

2. A good idea today is better than a good one tomorrow. The sooner you have something working the better!

3. Understand your value proposition. It's not the same for everyone. The more specific you can get with the target market and the value proposition the better. For parents’ we say “Pack Light. Travel Happy” that’s based on understanding that parents hate lugging all that baby gear and really want a restful vacation. For Quality Providers, we understand that they want a gratifying side hustle, which is beyond the money they make and includes the community they join.

4. Form alliances and partnerships. It’ll take time and you’ll get plenty of no’s at first, but good partnerships strengthen your credibility and brand. Go after these as soon as you can. Our early and ongoing partnership with Destination by Hyatt and most recent one with VRBO, really strengthen our brand, in addition to driving orders. 

Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader? How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?

Fran: In my mind, leadership is about inspiration and follow-through. Setting the vision isn’t enough. You have to work with the team on the more specific goals and strategy so that they are engaged and also accountable. And follow-through means that you as the leader are also accountable. You need to make and meet your commitments.   It's helpful, again, to have company and brand values, because these can be the touchstones for the tough decisions.

Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading and managing teams?

Fran: Not surprisingly, my team is mostly women and completely remote. Up until this year, we’ve been a small team of 8. Five of our team members actually started out as Quality Providers which really helps because they know the ins and outs of the service. 

I’d say that our family focus extends to the team. Nearly all of them had children at home during the pandemic. We all know how hard that was. My approach was to keep steady, focus on what needed to, and could be done, and to ready the business for the time the pandemic recedes. We emerged a much stronger company and team.

Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives and civic leaders?

Fran: 

1. Listen to your constituents/customers and understand their needs

2. Don’t think you know it all

3. Make an impact!

Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?

Fran: The number one thing I’ll share is to have confidence. As I share with women founders, you know your market and you know your solution. Believe that you can do what you are setting out to do. That’s more than half the battle. With confidence you are more likely to ask for help, persevere, and continue to take risks. That will ultimately lead to success.

Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?

Fran: As noted earlier, this is my fifth startup, and I’ve benefited from an extensive network of investors and others, so I’ve been able to raise the needed capital. When we started Match.com, back in the mid ’90’s, there was not the support for women entrepreneurs. Now, there is much more of a commitment to back women as well as more women writing checks. However, women entrepreneurs only get 2% of venture capital investment. This is not good enough.


Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.

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