Carly Shamgar: Revolutionising Connection Through Personalised Messaging
Carly Shamgar’s entrepreneurial journey is a testament to the power of adaptability, innovation, and perseverance in the fast-paced world of tech startups. With over a decade of experience in the industry, Shamgar has established herself as a formidable force in the business world, co-founding and leading multiple successful ventures to acquisition. This case study delves deep into Shamgar’s career trajectory, exploring the pivotal moments, challenges, and strategies that have shaped her success as a serial entrepreneur.
Early Career and Transition to Entrepreneurship
Shamgar’s professional journey began in the high-pressure world of advertising. From the outset, she harboured ambitions of becoming a successful businesswoman, drawn to the dynamic and creative nature of the advertising industry. Her early career was marked by notable achievements, as she climbed the corporate ladder and honed her skills in sales, marketing, and client relations. Working with top Australian publishers and major FMCG brands, Shamgar gained invaluable insights into various industries from a marketing perspective.
However, the demanding nature of the advertising world began to take its toll. The turning point came during her maternity leave after the birth of her first child. This pause in her career provided Shamgar with an opportunity for reflection and reevaluation. It was during this time that she was presented with an opportunity to work for a startup, a decision that would alter the course of her professional life.
The transition from the structured corporate world to the unpredictable realm of startups was not without its challenges. Shamgar candidly admits that startups are not necessarily less stressful than advertising, but she found the culture to be a better fit for her personality and aspirations. This move marked the beginning of her journey into the tech startup ecosystem, where she would spend the next decade honing her skills as an entrepreneur, leader, and innovator.
RangeMe: The First Taste of Startup Success
Shamgar’s first major venture in the startup world was as part of the co-founding team of RangeMe. This platform was designed to streamline the product discovery process for retailers and suppliers in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries. RangeMe provided a simple online dashboard that enabled buyers to discover the right product innovations at the right time, while giving suppliers an easier way to reach top retailers in the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
From pre-launch through to acquisition, Shamgar played a crucial role in RangeMe’s success. Her experience in this venture was instrumental in developing her skills in strategic business planning, operational process implementation, and team management and scaling. The journey with RangeMe provided Shamgar with hands-on experience in every aspect of building and growing a tech startup, from initial concept development to navigating the complexities of international expansion and ultimately, acquisition.
The success of RangeMe served as a powerful validation of Shamgar’s abilities as an entrepreneur and laid the groundwork for her future ventures. It also provided her with valuable insights into the startup ecosystem, investor relations, and the intricacies of scaling a business across multiple markets.
Shouta: Innovating in the Gifting Space
Building on the success and lessons learned from RangeMe, Shamgar’s next venture was Shouta, a micro-gifting app that she co-founded with Nick Redwood. The inspiration for Shouta came from a personal pain point that both Shamgar and Redwood experienced as expats living in Australia. They found themselves frustrated by the lack of options for sending affordable, thoughtful gestures to friends and family overseas without incurring exorbitant costs.
This gap in the market led to the creation of Shouta, an innovative app that allows users to “shout” (Australian slang for treating someone) their friends and family with small gifts like coffee, drinks, or other items. The unique selling proposition of Shouta lies in its use of a digital Shouta Mastercard, which recipients can access instantly to redeem their gifts. This approach solved the logistical challenges of cross-border gifting while maintaining the personal touch of a thoughtful gesture.
Shouta’s business model evolved to encompass two main products:
- Shouta App: The consumer-facing platform that enables individual users to send digital gifts to their friends and family.
- Shouta Biz: A web-based version of the app, custom-designed with features and functionality tailored for businesses to reward and incentivise their teams.
The development and launch of Shouta coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a timing that, while challenging, ultimately played in the company’s favour. As social distancing measures and lockdowns became the norm, Shouta provided a much-needed solution for people and businesses to connect and show appreciation without physical proximity. This alignment with the sudden shift in global circumstances contributed significantly to Shouta’s rapid growth and adoption.
Challenges and Adaptations
Launching and scaling Shouta during a global pandemic presented unique challenges that required innovative solutions and rapid adaptations. One of the most significant hurdles was the need to pitch to investors and secure funding in a completely virtual environment. Shamgar had to quickly adapt her pitching strategies to be effective over video calls, a stark contrast to the face-to-face interactions that typically characterise investor relations in the startup world.
Managing a remote team and maintaining company culture in a distributed work environment was another challenge that Shamgar had to navigate. This required a rethinking of communication strategies, team-building activities, and operational processes to ensure that the company could maintain its agility and innovative spirit while working remotely.
Technical challenges also arose, particularly in the early days of Shouta’s launch. Issues with payment providers and other technical aspects of the app required swift problem-solving and iteration. Shamgar’s experience from previous ventures proved invaluable in addressing these challenges efficiently, minimising disruption to users and maintaining the momentum of the company’s growth.
On a personal level, Shamgar faced the additional challenge of balancing her roles as an entrepreneur and a mother of two young children. The pandemic brought the added complexity of homeschooling, requiring her to juggle business leadership with supporting her children’s education. This experience underscored the unique challenges faced by parent-entrepreneurs and highlighted Shamgar’s resilience and ability to manage multiple high-stakes responsibilities simultaneously.
Shouta Biz: Expanding the Vision
The rapid success of the Shouta app led to an unexpected opportunity in the B2B space. As news of Shouta spread through professional networks, Shamgar began receiving inquiries from businesses interested in using the platform for employee rewards and incentives. Recognising the potential of this market, Shamgar and her team accelerated the development of Shouta Biz, a web-based version of the app tailored for corporate use.
Shouta Biz became more than just a business expansion; it evolved into a passion project for Shamgar. Drawing from her own experiences in the corporate world, where rewards were often limited to sales teams achieving high monetary goals, Shamgar saw an opportunity to create a more inclusive and accessible reward system. Shouta Biz provided companies with a tool to recognise and incentivise employees across all departments and levels, fostering a more equitable and motivating work environment.
The development and launch of Shouta Biz demonstrated Shamgar’s ability to identify and capitalise on market opportunities quickly. It also showcased her commitment to creating products that not only drive business success but also contribute positively to workplace culture and employee well-being.
Key Lessons and Entrepreneurial Insights
Shamgar’s journey as a serial entrepreneur offers several valuable insights for aspiring business leaders:
- Identify and Solve Real Problems: Both RangeMe and Shouta were born out of real-world challenges that Shamgar and her co-founders personally experienced. This underscores the importance of creating solutions to genuine pain points in the market.
- Embrace Adaptability: Shamgar’s successful transition from advertising to tech startups, and her ability to pivot strategies during the pandemic, highlight the crucial role of adaptability in entrepreneurship.
- Rapid Iteration and Market Responsiveness: The quick development of Shouta Biz in response to market demand demonstrates the value of being attuned to customer needs and able to iterate products rapidly.
- Balance Passion with Pragmatism: While Shouta Biz became a passion project for Shamgar, it was also a strategic business decision. This balance of personal motivation and market opportunity is often a key factor in startup success.
- Leverage Personal Experiences: Shamgar’s understanding of corporate reward systems, gained from her own experiences, informed the development of Shouta Biz. This illustrates how entrepreneurs can turn personal insights into marketable solutions.
- Navigate Work-Life Integration: As a mother and entrepreneur, Shamgar’s experience highlights the challenges and possibilities of integrating personal and professional responsibilities.
- Build on Past Successes: The lessons and networks gained from RangeMe played a crucial role in the rapid success of Shouta, demonstrating the compounding benefits of serial entrepreneurship.
Carly Shamgar’s journey from advertising executive to serial entrepreneur is a compelling narrative of innovation, adaptability, and perseverance. Her success with multiple ventures, culminating in the rapid growth and acquisition of Shouta, stands as a testament to her business acumen and leadership skills.
Shamgar’s story is particularly inspiring for women in business and parent-entrepreneurs, showing that it’s possible to build successful ventures while balancing personal responsibilities. Her ability to identify market gaps, rapidly develop and iterate products, and navigate the challenges of startup life – including the unprecedented circumstances of a global pandemic – offers valuable lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs across industries.
