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<br /> Education start-ups in India seem to be the hottest targets right now, going by the kind of <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword> they are attracting from local and global investors. A couple of days ago, Delhi-based start-up <keyword id="1974964" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Avanti-Learning-Centres">Avanti Learning Centres</keyword> raised an undisclosed amount in <keyword id="948731" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="seed-funding">seed funding</keyword> from <keyword id="1894311" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pearson-Affordable-Learning-Fund">Pearson Affordable Learning Fund</keyword> (<keyword id="1954796" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="PALF">PALF</keyword>). Two more <keyword id="6365770" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="angel-investors">angel investors</keyword> also took part in the round. Avanti will use the <keyword id="1974977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Seed-round">seed round</keyword> to develop an <keyword id="1974975" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-offline-learning">online-offline learning</keyword> &amp; monitoring system, create more <keyword id="755302" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="educational-content">educational content</keyword> and build new <keyword id="68244" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Learning-centres">learning centres</keyword>. Currently, the <keyword id="1044076" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="education-start-up">education start-up</keyword> operates stand-alone and in-school centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kanpur, Roorkee and Puducherry, besides helping the <keyword id="3216" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="students">students</keyword> in three Tibetan schools in Uttarakhand and Karnataka.<br />
 <br />
This is the second investment in India that Pearson has made through PALF, and the third overall since the fund was launched in July 2012.<br />
 <br /> In November this year, <keyword id="1954793" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Global-education-leader">Global education leader</keyword> Pearson’s inaugural <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/These-2-Peer-selected-Start-upsShared-150K-Investment-To-Boost-Low-cost-Education/articleshow/26512179.cms">edupreneur programme</a>, jointly launched by PALF and US-based investor Village Capital, came to a close with <keyword id="1954794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Experifun">Experifun</keyword> and <keyword id="1467859" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sudiksha-Knowledge-Solutions">Sudiksha Knowledge Solutions</keyword> walking off with a seed funding of $75,000 each. The <keyword id="6362476" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investments">investments</keyword> will enable the start-ups to further develop their low-cost education ventures and assist underprivileged school children.<br />
 <br /> Pearson launched PALF in July 2012 with a capital of $15 million. Investments are made into private companies that offer <keyword id="1974987" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Affordable-educational-services">affordable educational services</keyword> and schooling in Asia, <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="80" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword> and Latin America.<br />
 <br /> Set up as a <keyword id="456748" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="non-profit">non-profit</keyword> in March 2010 by <keyword id="258061" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Akshay-Saxena">Akshay Saxena</keyword> and <keyword id="1974967" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Krishna-Ramkumar">Krishna Ramkumar</keyword>, Avanti Learning Centres supports students from low-income families (those with a family income of $5,000 per annum or below) and prepares them for <keyword id="1974989" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="College-entrance-exams">college entrance exams</keyword>, especially the highly competitive engineering and medical entrance tests. Students can study up to 18 hours a week at a centre and need to pay only $20 per month. Costs are kept low as a large network of volunteers and partners, including universities, public schools, policy makers and private sector businesses, help with teaching and administration.<br />
 <br /> Instead of traditional lectures, Avanti follows a comprehensive programme including <keyword id="1951606" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="book-learning">book learning</keyword>, <keyword id="144248" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Videos">videos</keyword>, <keyword id="1974990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Peer-learning">peer learning</keyword> (developed by Dr <keyword id="1974994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Eric-Mazur">Eric Mazur</keyword>, the company’s chief academic advisor and a physics professor at <keyword id="53675" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="harvard">Harvard</keyword>), <keyword id="956032" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Self-study">self study</keyword> &amp; <keyword id="969316" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="group-work">group work</keyword>, <keyword id="1974991" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Recorded-lectures">recorded lectures</keyword>, <keyword id="140811" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="mentoring">mentoring</keyword> and doubt-solving. Students are enrolled after a highly selective two-stage process.<br />
 <br /> “It was the commitment from Akshay and Krishna to focus on improving the <keyword id="1974995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Education-of-low-income-communities">education of low-income communities</keyword>, combined with an <keyword id="1974993" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Innovative-learning-model">innovative learning model</keyword>, which was the most attractive aspect of the <keyword id="718769" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="investment-opportunity">investment opportunity</keyword>,” said PALF executive director, <keyword id="1974962" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Katelyn-Donnelly">Katelyn Donnelly</keyword>.<br />
 <br /> “Avanti is particularly exciting because it is a non-traditional pedagogy with very strong initial results. Our investment allows us to partner with a mission-led company to bridge a crucial gap between secondary and <keyword id="6375224" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="higher-education">higher education</keyword> for low-income learners. PALF is enthused to support the Avanti team to successfully grow across India, and we look forward to working with them to deliver on their long-term vision,” she added.<br />
 <br /> Commenting on the funding, Saxena said, “Once we decided that a <keyword id="1975001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="For-profit">for-profit</keyword> model was the best way to reach scale, we knew we would need expert strategic insight and advice. We are incredibly excited to be working with the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund as they bring unrivalled education expertise to the table that can help us achieve our long-term objectives. We look forward to building upon the relationship with Pearson as we improve outcomes for low-income learners in the years to come.”<br />
 <br />
<strong>Recent fundraising by education start-ups</strong><br />
<strong>uFaber: </strong>Mumbai-based <keyword id="1975002" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="uFaber-Edutech">uFaber Edutech</keyword> (http://www.ufaber.com/), which runs an <keyword id="1975003" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Online-education-marketplace">online education marketplace</keyword> for <keyword id="1975006" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Professional-skill-development">professional skill development</keyword>, hobbies, crafts, academics and vocational training, got Rs 37 lakh from <keyword id="1975007" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ah-Seeders">Ah! Seeders</keyword>, the seed funding network of <keyword id="1975008" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Club-Ah">Club Ah!</keyword> It is the network’s maiden investment in India after its launch in the country. Ah! Seeders puts its money into very early stage companies and typically invests in the range of Rs 25-50 lakh.<br />
 <br />
<strong><keyword id="1573710" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Meritnation">Meritnation</keyword>: </strong>Delhi-based <keyword id="1962741" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Applect-Learning-Systems">Applect Learning Systems</keyword>, which runs the online education and assessment site Meritnation.com (http://www.meritnation.com/), secured Rs 10 crore from <keyword id="80004" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Info-Edge">Info Edge</keyword> (India) Ltd, the biggest consumer Internet company in India by market value. With this fresh round, Info Edge has put in a total of Rs 71.5 crore and holds around 55.81% stake in Applect (on a fully diluted and converted basis).<br />
 <br />
<strong><keyword id="900714" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="InOpen-Technologies">InOpen Technologies</keyword>:</strong> Mumbai-based InOpen Technologies (http://inopen.in/), a start-up developing educational content and <keyword id="1975016" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Teachers-training-solutions">teacher’s training solutions</keyword>, received an undisclosed sum in Series A from <keyword id="1975017" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Japanese-education-firm">Japanese education firm</keyword> Benesse Holdings, Inc. In August 2011, the company raised $500,000 in seed funding from <keyword id="1975018" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ventureast-Tenet-Fund-II">Ventureast Tenet Fund II</keyword>.<br />
 <br />
<strong>MangoSense: </strong>The Pune-based edutainment start-up (http://mangosense.com/) got an undisclosed amount from <keyword id="164924" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mumbai-Angels">Mumbai Angels</keyword>. Its products include <keyword id="1975022" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="MangoReader">MangoReader</keyword>, <keyword id="1975023" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="MangoReach">MangoReach</keyword> and <keyword id="1975025" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="MangoSocial">MangoSocial</keyword>, through which users can create a fun and social environment for reading books and sharing them with friends.<br />
 <br />
<strong><keyword id="1975033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="K2-Learning">K2 Learning</keyword>: </strong>Bangalore-based hybrid (online-offline) start-up K2 (http://k2learning.in/) secured Rs 8 crore in angel funding from <keyword id="244269" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Radheshyam-Agarwal">Radheshyam Agarwal</keyword>, founder and director of <keyword id="1975034" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Calcutta-Tube-India">Calcutta Tube India</keyword>. The start-up specialises in <keyword id="1975035" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Commerce-content">commerce content</keyword> and plans to set up <keyword id="1974968" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Tab-Labs">Tab Labs</keyword> in more than 100 <keyword id="37181" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="colleges">colleges</keyword> that will get special tablets with <keyword id="1975036" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Pre-loaded-commerce-data">pre-loaded commerce data</keyword>.<br />
 <br />
<strong><keyword id="1309724" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Simplilearn">Simplilearn</keyword>:</strong> Bangalore-based <keyword id="1974963" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Simplilearn-Solutions">Simplilearn Solutions</keyword> (www.Simplilearn.com), a company offering <keyword id="1309739" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="professional-certification-courses">professional certification courses</keyword> online, secured $10 million in <keyword id="1095983" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Series-B-funding">Series B funding</keyword> from <keyword id="309606" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Helion-Venture-Partners">Helion Venture Partners</keyword> and existing investor <keyword id="1397792" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Kalaari-Capital">Kalaari Capital</keyword>.

<b>Another Education Start-up From India Gets Seed
Round From Pearson Affordable Learning Fund</b>

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/hBuwVLcYTnA">Christin Hume/Unsplash</a></span></p><p class="caption">Time is an entrepreneur's most valuable resource - besides money, of course.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Time is money - and nothing saves you time when running a business like stellar tools and apps.</li><li>Business Insider tapped founders from 19 companies to share their favorite resources for keeping their businesses running effectively and efficiently.</li><li>These entrepreneurs delivered on the best tools for managing your inbox, organizing tasks and deadlines, handling customer service requests, keeping on top of sales and inventory, and more.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories. </a></li></ul><p>Time is an entrepreneur's most valuable resource (besides money, of course), and some of the most successful startups count on outside help to manage their time in the best way possible.</p><p>"The best advice I received as an entrepreneur starting my first company is to follow the two-by-two rule, which is [that] it's going to take twice as long to achieve whatever I want, and it's going to cost twice as much," entrepreneur, angel investor, national bestselling author, and tech CEO <a href="https://www.kimperell.com/about/">Kim Perell</a> told Business Insider. Her advice? "Focus on three areas of the business where you could invest a little bit of money and earn a significant return in a short period of time."</p><p>For business owners looking for assistance in organizing their inboxes, keeping track of sales, and responding to customer service requests (and then some), we tapped founders from 19 brands to share the cost-effective and time-saving tools that help keep their businesses running effectively and efficiently.</p><h1>The best tools for email </h1><p>"The only thing I wish I did, looking back, is keep organized from the very beginning," Zachary Quinn, the president and cofounder of mission-driven apparel brand <a href="https://loveyourmelon.com/">Love Your Melon</a>, told Business Insider about starting his business.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Zachary Quinn</span></p><p class="caption">Zachary Quinn, president and cofounder of Love Your Melon.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"Something that's helped me with this is an app called <a href="https://superhuman.com/">Superhuman</a>, which has done a really good job of reorganizing my inbox. You can schedule emails [and] follow-ups, and quickly and easily remove the clutter of messages that pile up by 'snoozing' messages that don't require an immediate response. It keeps you focused on completing tasks that come in and then moving to the next one in the most efficient way possible." </p><p>On the other hand, Luigi Picarazzi, president and CEO of <a href="https://digitalmediamanagement.com/">Digital Media Management</a>, a full-service agency dedicated to managing high-profile individuals, brands, and theatrical movies across digital platforms, loves to keep things simple with the classic Gmail app.</p><p>"I love <a href="https://www.boomeranggmail.com/">Boomerang</a> for Gmail because it allows me to send [an] email so that the recipient receives it at a later date," said Picarazzi. Also, he added, "it allows me to spend some time in the evening clearing my inbox without flooding other people's inboxes in the process."</p><h1>The best tools for staying organized</h1><p>"We have used dozens of digital tools for project management, communication, and lead management, but nothing has had all of the features and flow that we need," said Scott Wilson, former Nike creative director and Cooper-Hewitt Design Award recipient and now the founder and CEO of CBD-based wellness brand <a href="https://www.well-beings.com/inhalers/">WellBeings</a>. "Many of them have caused more headaches than help. <a href="https://www.10000ft.com/">10,000ft</a>, however, has worked well for our project planning, resource management, and time-tracking."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Holly Thaggard</span></p><p class="caption">Holly Thaggard, founder of Supergoop!.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>While less of an app and more of a device, <a href="https://supergoop.com/">Supergoop!</a> Founder Holly Thaggard, who helped lead the suncare brand to over $40 million in revenue in 2018, can't live without her <a href="https://www.apple.com/watch/">Apple Watch</a>. It's "the perfect tool to make sure I don't miss any of the important stuff," she said. "It keeps texts from my daughter, flight info, and meeting reminders all in one place. Plus, the UV index on the home screen is the perfect reminder to reapply sunscreen all day!"</p><h1>The best tools for time management</h1><p>"It's important for me to stay connected with my team, but it's equally as important to make time to unplug," said Jordana Kier, cofounder of the feminine care subscription service <a href="https://www.mylola.com/">LOLA</a>. "Now that I also have a baby at home, I've had to figure out how to best manage my attention day-to-day." Kier relies on tools like <a href="https://calendar.google.com">Google Calendar</a> and the snooze feature on <a href="https://slack.com/">Slack</a> to organize her time and set boundaries. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Jordana Kier</span></p><p class="caption">Jordana Kier, cofounder of LOLA.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Christiane Lemieux sold her company DwellStudio to Wayfair in 2013 and is now the cofounder and CEO of direct-to-consumer home furnishings brand <a href="https://www.theinside.com/">The Inside</a>. Her go-to productivity tool to manage her time effectively? <a href="https://trello.com/en-US">Trello</a>. </p><p>"It houses my daily brain dump of everything that needs to get done that day, where I can then visually stack-rank in order of priority and timelines. My team loves it because it's a super non-invasive way for them to get urgent priorities in front of me. Every night, I stack-rank based on importance and due date, which allows me to hit the ground running the next morning and create efficiencies for my team and myself," she said.</p><h1>The best tools for digital marketing and customer service</h1><p>Trisha Roy, founder and CEO of window-covering company <a href="https://barnandwillow.com/">Barn &amp; Willow,</a> uses <a href="https://www.klaviyo.com/">Klaviyo</a> for email segmentation management. "Email is one of the most powerful tools to convert your site traffic into customers. We love Klaviyo's segmentation, and the kind of insights we get about our different customer groups is absolutely crucial." </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Trisha Roy</span></p><p class="caption">Trisha Roy, founder and CEO of Barn &amp; Willow.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Bhupi Singh, founder of Spanish-made shoe brand <a href="https://thespanishsandalco.com/">The Spanish Sandal Company</a>, loves <a href="https://returnly.com/">Returnly</a> for handling customer service issues. Because the return rate in the shoe business is high, Returnly "allows customers to manage their return online without having to talk to customer service," said Bhupi Singh. "Customer emails and phone calls have dropped dramatically" since he adopted the platform.</p><p>Jenn Kapahi, cofounder of <a href="https://www.trestique.com/">trèStiQue</a> makeup, is also a big fan of <a href="https://www.zendesk.com/">Zendesk</a>. "As a small brand, it's extremely important to us to hear feedback from our customers to make sure we are always giving them what they need. Zendesk allows us to communicate with them seamlessly," she added.</p><p>Claire Mazur and Erica Cerulo, cofounders of fashion retailer <a href="https://www.ofakind.com/">Of a Kind</a>, count on <a href="https://www.helpscout.com/lp/help-desk-software-hs/">Help Scout</a> for customer service support and <a href="https://www.loomly.com/">Loomly</a> for social media marketing. And <a href="https://health-ade.com/">Health-Ade Kombucha</a> Cofounder Vanessa Dew, who has raised $7 million in venture funding for the tea drink, loves <a href="https://www.domo.com/solution/the-power-of-the-platform">Domo</a> for tracking data. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Vanessa Dew</span></p><p class="caption">Vanessa Dew, cofounder of Health-Ade Kombucha.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"Now that we have a lot of people, customers, and data flying around, it's easy to have analysis paralysis," said Dew. "The Domo interface helps dashboard and benchmark all of those metrics and data in one place so that I can access from the web or through the phone app anywhere in the world."</p><h1>The best tools for design </h1><p>"When I first opened my studio in 2005, my biggest investment was <a href="https://www.studiodesigner.com/">Studio Designer</a> software," said decorator Christine Markatos Lowe, principal of <a href="https://www.markatosdesign.com/">Christine Markatos Design</a>. "It is an indispensable tool specifically designed for the interior design industry to help in managing budgets, expediting, client billing, and job profitability. It's organized in a logical manner by client and room and has many features, such as the ability to add notes throughout the tracking process. We use it daily to keep our projects moving along!"</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Christina Samatas and Renee DiSanto</span></p><p class="caption">Christina Samatas and Renee DiSanto, cofounders of Park &amp; Oak.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Christina Samatas and Renee DiSanto, cofounders of interior design firm <a href="http://parkandoak.com/">Park &amp; Oak</a>, said that <a href="https://www.ivy.co/">Ivy</a> is invaluable in helping them stay organized and aligned. "This cloud-based business management software made for designers has accounting features that help us when creating proposals, crafting invoices, and organizing payments. It also has a project tracking tool, which is incredibly helpful for managing deadlines and for keeping project-related information aligned and organized," they added.</p><p>Interior designer Bria Hammel, founder of <a href="https://briahammelinteriors.com/">Bria Hammel Interiors</a> and of home furnishings brand <a href="https://brookeandlou.com/">Brooke &amp; Lou</a>, credits <a href="https://designmanager.com/">Design Manager</a> for helping her build her business. "DM has so many features that we use on a daily basis, like project management, creating purchase orders and tracking shipments, accounting, pulling reports, and checking inventory. We use this tool to log and track hours for billing our clients as well. This software was created for interior designers, so it has everything you need to run your own firm," she said.</p><p>Betsy Vohs, founder of design agency <a href="https://www.studio-b-v.com/">Studio BV</a>, loves the sketching tool <a href="https://www.morpholioapps.com/trace/">Trace</a>. "I use it with my <a href="https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/">iPad Pro</a>, and it's the best collaboration tool to share design ideas quickly and digitally," she said. "We were previously using 'Trace Paper' as designers to sketch on drawings. With Trace, we can now do this seamlessly in a digital format. It makes our lives easier and our clients love it, so it's a win-win."</p><h1>The best tools for ecommerce and sales</h1><p>"We rely heavily on a handful of tools to help us systematize various aspects of our ecommerce business," said Mazur and Cerulo of Of a Kind. The founders use <a href="https://www.stitchlabs.com/">Stitch Labs</a> for inventory management and <a href="https://www.streak.com/">Streak</a> for Gmail-based project management - and are big fans of <a href="https://www.google.com/drive/">Google Drive</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Jordan Jones</span></p><p class="caption">Jordan Jones, founder of Packed Party.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Jordan Jones, founder of lifestyle gifting company <a href="https://www.packedparty.com/">Packed Party</a>, which just announced a partnership with Whole Foods, also uses Stitch Labs internally to manage their physical inventory and ever-growing customer list on the wholesale side of the business, "and it has been a lifesaver for me," said Jones. "We scaled the wholesale side of our business really quickly, so connecting these customers to what we had in stock was important to our business, and Stitch Labs made this easy for us to do."</p><p>Lori Coulter, president and cofounder of the direct-to-consumer fashion brand <a href="https://www.summersalt.com/">Summersalt</a>, finds <a href="https://www.shopify.com/">Shopify</a> and <a href="https://glew.io/">Glew</a> vital for ecommerce success. "Shopify makes it easy to customize your virtual store, no matter how big or small your business, from browsing to check-out, while GLEW helps manage the analytics behind the operation. We're able to get reports and capture customer insights in the form of real-life data so our team can streamline the experience for future shoppers," she explained.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Lori Coulter</span></p><p class="caption">Lori Coulter, president and cofounder of Summersalt.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Emily Jackson, founder of activewear company <a href="https://ivlcollective.com/">IVL Collective</a>, said the industry-specific tool <a href="https://about.rewardstyle.com/">rewardStyle</a> has been crucial for her success. "It has not only been a place to link and share our products, but has also allowed our influencers to make money and be incentivized to share the brand, too."  </p><p>Jeanne Kneen, founder and CEO of luxury home decor brand <a href="https://www.kneenandco.com/">Kneen &amp; Co</a>, uses <a href="https://www.lightspeedhq.com/">Lightspeed</a> to organize inventory, pull quotes, generate sales reports, and more. "Our comprehensive POS software is absolutely invaluable to our team," said Kneen. "Everything from product information to client purchase history is at our fingertips. The more you can do with one platform versus spreading information across many applications, the better."</p><p>Wilson of WellBeings also uses <a href="https://www.pipedrive.com/">Pipedrive</a> for tracking leads and new business opportunities. "The desktop and mobile interfaces are very similar and easy to use," said Wilson. "The visual drag-and-drop cards allow you to organize all the deals in your pipeline to track workflow and progress, and it also integrates with email."</p><p><em>Allison Duncan is a freelance journalist based in Minneapolis, MN. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue, Fast Company, and the Cut, among others. Read more of her work <a href="https://www.allisonpduncan.com/">here</a>, and follow her on social media at <a href="https://twitter.com/allisonpduncan">@allisonpduncan</a>.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-larry-page-sergey-brin-eric-schmidt-burning-man-stealing-fire-flow-state-2017-4">Here's why Google's co-founders went to Burning Man to find former CEO Eric Schmidt</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The 26 most essential apps and devices every entrepreneur needs in their toolbox, according to founders and CEOs

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Jemal Countess/Getty and Flickr/@paleoetic</span></p><p class="caption">Sean Parker was ousted from not one, but two companies before becoming Facebook's first president.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Comcast is officially pulling the plug on an online address book called Plaxo on December 31. </strong></li><li><strong>Plaxo isn't well known these days but it is a startup founded by famed Valley entrepreneur and investor Sean Parker.</strong></li><li><strong>Parker's experience at Plaxo greatly influenced the early days of Facebook and is one inspiration for why CEO Mark Zuckerberg locked down his control of Facebook.</strong></li></ul><p><br />Comcast is officially pulling the plug on Plaxo on December 31, 2017. </p><p>Thus ends the long and uniquely Silicon Valley history of this online address book service founded by famed Valley entrepreneur and investor Sean Parker.</p><p>Comcast bought the service in 2008 for somewhere between $150 and $170 million, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2008/05/14/confirmed-comcast-bought-plaxo-deal-closed-today/">TechCrunch reported at the time.</a></p><p>Parker is perhaps best known for his early involvement with Facebook and as a founder of Napster, the music file-sharing network that <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/10/sean-parker-201010">collected tens of millions of users</a> in its first year, but suffered a painful death at the hands of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on copyright infringement charges.</p><p>Plaxo was Parker's other startup. Although it never became as well-known as other now-dead social networks like LiveJournal or MySpace, it may have been even more influential in paving the way for Facebook than Napster, its co-founder, Todd Masonis, told us back in 2015. </p><p>Here's the long strange story of Plaxo, Parker and Facebook, according to Masonis and <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/10/sean-parker-201010">a 2010 article in Vanity Fair about Parker.</a> <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Plaxo</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Parker created Plaxo as his redemption</h2><p>In 2001, the same year Napster got the axe, Parker dreamt up a piece of software that auto-updated users' email address books when one of their contacts moved, changed companies, or got a new phone number. Users could choose to sync their information with friends. "It was the precursor to social networking," Masonis tells Business Insider.</p><p>Parker shared his vision with two recently graduated Stanford grads, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring, a friend from high school. They signed on as co-founders and chief architects and built the product.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20030402213709/http://plaxo.com/downloadsw">Wayback Machine</a></span></p><p class="caption">The home page of Plaxo in 2002, when the service launched.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Despite a slow start, Plaxo was gaining 10,000 to 12,000 members a day <a href="http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Courses/StratTech09/Lectures/Networks/Articles/05plaxo.html">by April 2004</a>. But it gained a reputation as being obnoxious because it sent incessant email-requests to web users, prompting them to update their entries in their friends' address books.</p><p>With success came trouble. Parker, who often slept on Masonis' couch during Plaxo's rough patches, <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/10/sean-parker-201010">began showing up to work less often</a>. His unreliability gnawed away at the company's investors, Vanity Fair reported and Masonis confirmed to us. "He was more interested in the fun part of [building a] startup," Masonis says. "He had been at Napster where they got to go backstage at concerts and spend money on concert tours."</p><p>In 2004, the board pushed Parker out from his own company, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/global/2011/1010/feature-sean-parker-agent-disruption-napster-facebook-plaxo-steven-bertoni.html#d1280d07c28e">as was widely reported,</a> citing his erratic schedule. There were also rumors, which Parker had refuted and called "ludicrous," that he had provided drugs to some employees. Parker said he was the subject of a "a smear campaign," and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/global/2011/1010/feature-sean-parker-agent-disruption-napster-facebook-plaxo-steven-bertoni.html">accused board member</a> Ram Shriram of scheming to throw him out and strip him of his stock. </p><p><span>Parker slipped into a depression, Masonis says, but it didn't last long. "He got kicked out and then immediately ran into Mark Zuckerberg. That's how it all went down," Masonis laughs.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Eric Risberg/AP</span></p><p class="caption">Todd Masonis, co-founder of Plaxo, poses for a portrait by a computer showing his company's home page at his offices in Mountain View, California, in 2006.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Parker only lasted as Facebook's president for about a year, although he stayed on for some time after that in an unofficial capacity. While he was there, he used a lot of what he learned at Plaxo to help shape the social network into the behemoth it is today. For instance:</p><p><strong>Parker understood viral marketing.</strong> One of the biggest hurdles in creating a social network is that the value only exists for users if their friends are already on it. At Plaxo, Parker conceived of viral marketing campaigns, and had no moral qualms in pinging the hell out of members' contacts until they downloaded the service, too.</p><p>By the time Parker linked up with four-month-old Facebook, he had three years' experience figuring out how to get users to join out of the blue.</p><p><strong>Parker helped Zuckerberg maintain control of Facebook. </strong>At Facebook, Parker <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/01/zuck-power-play/">negotiated an unusual deal with some of the company's most powerful shareholders</a> - including cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, Peter Thiel, Accel Partners, and other major firms and investors - so that they ceded their voting rights to Zuckerberg, SEC <a href="https://venturebeat.com/2012/02/01/zuck-power-play/">documents revealed</a>. This corporate structure was intended to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/global/2011/1010/feature-sean-parker-agent-disruption-napster-facebook-plaxo-steven-bertoni.html">give Zuckerberg permanent control of the company he founded</a>, so that he can't be jettisoned the way Plaxo booted Parker.</p><p><strong>Parker sought revenge on one of Plaxo's most esteemed VC firms.</strong> In 2004, Zuckerberg began taking meetings with venture capitalists about raising money for his other startup idea, Wirehog, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/26/wirehog/">a peer-to-peer file-sharing service that linked with Facebook</a>. Sequoia Capital reached out.</p><p>There was bad blood between Parker and the firm. Sequoia's Michael Moritz was Plaxo's first major investor, and three short years later, he <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/17/sean-parker-billionaire/">supported the board's decision to fire Parker</a> as its president. So when the chance for revenge surfaced, Parker seized it.</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-sequoia-made-on-whatsapp-2014-2">Zuckerberg took the meeting with Sequoia, but purposely blew it, as we previously reported</a>. He showed up late and wearing pajamas. His PowerPoint deck, titled "The Top Ten Reasons You Should Not Invest," listed off snarky reasons such as "We have no revenue," "We will probably get sued by the music industry," and "Because Sean Parker is involved."</p><p>Needless to say, Sequoia did not invest in Wirehog or Facebook.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty</span></p><p class="caption">Mark Zuckerberg, rapper Snoop Dogg, and Sean Parker pose backstage at Parker's Celebration of Music on September 22, 2011 in San Francisco.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>After Parker left, Plaxo faded from sight. Masonis and Ring, the third co-founder, sold Plaxo to Comcast. Comcast continued to operate <a href="http://www.plaxo.com/">the service</a> for years, but it wasn't very high-profile.</p><p>Meanwhile, the duo <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dandelion-chocolate-founders-2015-2">used their exit money to open Dandelion Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate-making factory</a> in San Francisco's Mission District.</p><p>And Parker continues to be one of the most interesting characters in the startup world. In the last few years, he was formerly on Spotify's board <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2013/12/04/why-sean-parker-is-obsessed-with-his-spotify-playlist/">helping it lock down deals</a> with US record labels; he also launched and quietly shut down the <a href="https://gigaom.com/2014/09/19/airtime-is-dead/">video chat startup Airtime</a>, and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/12/17/why-sean-parker-gave-24-million-to-build-a-stanford-allergy-research-center/">donated $24 million to Stanford University</a> School of Medicine to build the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research, dedicated to finding a cure for allergies.</p><p>Parker continues to invest and advise startups as well. He has backed Moskovitz's current company Asana, Arianna Huffington's latest company Thrive Global, <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/person/sean-parker">and others</a>. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bethany-mota-youtube-fans-video-reviews-2014-12">Why Bethany Mota Has A Legion Of 10 Million Fans Waiting For Her Next YouTube Video</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

Sean Parker's other notorious startup, Plaxo, is finally dead - here's how it influenced Facebook

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div>Before he convinced Mark Zuckerberg to drop the "the" and signed on as Facebook's first president, Sean Parker helped launch two other big startups: Napster and Plaxo.</p>
<p>Napster is the one you've probably heard of. The music file-sharing network <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/10/sean-parker-201010">collected tens of millions of users</a> in its first year, but suffered a slow and painful death at the hands of the Recording Industry Association of America on copyright infringement charges.</p>
<p>Parker's other startup, Plaxo, you may not remember.</p>
<p>The online address book service never found its way into technology lore in the way that LiveJournal, MySpace, and other long-gone social networks have. But its other co-founder, Todd Masonis, says Plaxo paved the way for Facebook.</p>
<p>We recently spoke with Masonis on Parker's and Plaxo's influence.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/10/sean-parker-201010">According to a 2010 article in Vanity Fair</a>, Parker created Plaxo as his redemption. In 2001, the same year Napster got the axe, he dreamt up a software that auto-updated users' email address books when one of their contacts moved, changed companies, or got a new phone number. Users could choose to sync their information with friends.</p>
<p>Plaxo removed the hassle of editing a contact entry, so people could stay better connected. "It was the precursor to social networking," Masonis tells Business Insider.</p>
<p>Parker shared his vision with two recently graduated Stanford grads, Todd Masonis and Cameron Ring, a friend from high school. They signed on as co-founders and chief architects and built the product.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Despite a slow start, Plaxo was gaining 10,000 to 12,000 members a day <a href="http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/Courses/StratTech09/Lectures/Networks/Articles/05plaxo.html">by April of 2004</a>. But it gained a reputation as being obnoxious, thanks to the incessant email-requests sent to web users, prompting them to update their entries in their friends' address books.</p>
<p>With success came trouble. Parker, who often slept on Masonis' couch during Plaxo's rough patches, <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/10/sean-parker-201010">began showing up to work less</a>. His unreliability gnawed away at the company's investors. "He was more interested in the fun part of [building a] startup," Masonis says. "He had been at Napster where they got to go backstage at concerts and spend money on concert tours."</p>
<p>In 2004, the board fired Parker from his own company, citing his erratic schedule and rumors that he had provided drugs to some employees. Parker called these claims "ludicrous" and "a smear campaign," and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/global/2011/1010/feature-sean-parker-agent-disruption-napster-facebook-plaxo-steven-bertoni.html">accused board member</a> Ram Shriram of scheming to throw him out and strip him of his stock. </p>
<p><span>Parker slipped into a depression, Masonis says, but it didn't last long. "He got kicked out and then immediately ran into Mark Zuckerberg. That's how it all went down," Masonis laughs.</span></p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Parker only lasted as Facebook's president for about a year, although he stayed on for some time after that in an unofficial capacity. But while he was there, he used a lot of what he learned at Plaxo to help shape the social network into the behemoth it is today. For instance:</p>
<p><strong>Parker understood viral marketing.</strong> One of the biggest hurdles in creating a social network is that the value only exists for users if their friends are already on it. At Plaxo, Parker conceived of viral marketing campaigns, and had no moral qualms in pinging the hell out of members' contacts until they downloaded the service, too.</p>
<p>By the time Parker linked up with four-month-old Facebook, he had three years' experience figuring out how to get users to join out of the blue.</p>
<p><strong>Parker helped Zuckerberg maintain control of Facebook. </strong>At Facebook, Parker <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2012/02/01/zuck-power-play/">negotiated an unusual deal with the company's most powerful shareholders</a> - including cofounder Dustin Moskovitz, Peter Thiel, Accel Partners, and other major firms and investors - so that they ceded their voting rights to Zuckerberg. This corporate structure <a href="http://www.forbes.com/global/2011/1010/feature-sean-parker-agent-disruption-napster-facebook-plaxo-steven-bertoni.html">gives Zuckerberg complete and permanent control of the company he founded</a>, so that he can't be jettisoned the way Plaxo booted Parker.</p>
<p><strong>Parker sought a $3 billion revenge on one of the most esteemed VC firms.</strong> In 2004, Zuckerberg began taking meetings with venture capitalists about raising money for his other startup idea, Wirehog, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2010/05/26/wirehog/">a peer-to-peer file-sharing service that linked with Facebook</a>. Sequoia Capital reached out.</p>
<p>There was bad blood between Parker and the firm. Sequoia's Michael Moritz was Plaxo's first major investor, and three short years later, he <a href="http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/17/sean-parker-billionaire/">supported the board's decision to fire Parker</a> as its president. So when the chance for revenge surfaced, Parker seized it.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-sequoia-made-on-whatsapp-2014-2">Zuckerberg took the meeting with Sequoia, but purposely blew it</a>. He showed up late and wearing pajamas. His PowerPoint deck, titled "The Top Ten Reasons You Should Not Invest," listed off snarky reasons such as "We have no revenue," "We will probably get sued by the music industry," and "Because Sean Parker is involved."</p>
<p>Needless to say, Sequoia did not invest in Wirehog or Facebook.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>After Parker left, Plaxo faded from sight. Masonis and Ring, the third co-founder, sold the company to Comcast in 2008 for somewhere between $150 and $170 million, <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2008/05/14/confirmed-comcast-bought-plaxo-deal-closed-today/">according to TechCrunch</a>. Comcast still operates <a href="http://www.plaxo.com/">the service</a> today, but it doesn't have a very high profile.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the duo <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dandelion-chocolate-founders-2015-2">used their exit money to open Dandelion Chocolate, a bean-to-bar chocolate-making factory</a> in San Francisco's Mission District.</p>
<p>And Parker continues to be one of the most interesting characters in the startup world. In the last couple of years, he <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2013/12/04/why-sean-parker-is-obsessed-with-his-spotify-playlist/">helped Spotify lock down deals</a> with US record labels, launched and quietly shut down the <a href="https://gigaom.com/2014/09/19/airtime-is-dead/">video chat startup Airtime</a>, and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/12/17/why-sean-parker-gave-24-million-to-build-a-stanford-allergy-research-center/">donated $24 million to Stanford University</a> School of Medicine to build the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research, dedicated to finding a cure for allergies.</p>
<p>Despite the variety of his entrepreneurial interests, Parker continues to serve as an industry catalyst. <span style="line-height: 1.5em;">He spots potential in other people's fledgling companies and turns them to gold, even if they sometimes turn on him later.</span></p>

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