On March 25th, 2015 history was made. The entire team at Angel Investors Network had the opportunity to attend a pre-launch party in West Hollywood, California for StarShop, a phone-based app that will sell branded products (more later). It was electrifying! We were with celebrities, Hollywood execs, investors and the recently assembled management team of StarShop, including their new spokesperson Paula Abdul.
My business partner Ed Bracken and I have been involved with StarShop since the summer of 2014, the day Sprint, a fortune 100 company, signed on. We were having breakfast with Kevin Harrington – one of the original Sharks – in San Diego where we were both speaking at the same event. Kevin was eager to share his vision for StarShop. He announced the signed agreement with Sprint. Needless to say, I was super happy for Kevin and very excited about his vision for StarShop. I knew right then that StarShop was a going to be a big deal.
Kevin is a visionary with a been-there, done-that track record – something investors love. Sprint agreed to come on board with StarShop and market the new mobile App to their 55 million customers. Itâs apparent that Kevin has a tiger by the tail!
At this point Kevin had already been involved with Angel Investors Network (AIN) and this newsletter, as a shareholder and investor. I asked Kevin to let our team introduce StarShop to our network of investors so that we could be a part of helping market StarShop. After some discussion, Kevin agreed to give us an exclusive opportunity to buy in for a short period of time, to help benefit Angel Investors Network. Normally, when deals like this come along, itâs big Venture Capital firms and/or investment banks that scoop them up and only people in their good olâ boys networks get a chance to invest.
Thanks to our relationship with Kevin, he graciously gave us the opportunity to share this opportunity with our good olâ boys network.
So what IS StarShop and why are we so excited?
StarShop is the newest app for smartphones. It is being designed as the first 100% mobile optimized âMobile Shopping Networkâ. Itâs like Home Shopping Network for mobile devices. The super cool twist about it is that itâs celebrity and entertainment video-driven – think of Entertainment Tonight meets Home Shopping Network only 100% optimized for mobile devices! A celebrity-driven social engagement mobile shopping marketplace, the first one of its kind.
StarShopâs celebrities and their app stores will be used to sell branded products targeted primarily to an under age 50 audience. Celebrities are filmed in 30-120 second âselling videosâ where they pitch, demonstrate, use and describe the various products being sold. Itâs a simple model, utilizing celebrities to sell merchandise from millions of phones on a daily basis.
Because of Kevinâs extensive background in the industry, the team has gone to great lengths eliminating the expensive overhead driven model of QVC and HSN. Theyâve created a lean, streamlined business model that is poised to make history in the mobile e-commerce space. This business model includes NO inventory, warehousing, multimillion dollar video production studios, expensive airtime or media buys. This model seems to have eliminated all the major costs of a proven TV based market. All that, combined with the muscle of Sprint and celebrity-driven branding, Kevin has assembled a world-class management team with an amazing strategic advisory board and some incredible joint venture partners. They are already planning to launch in 5 different countries and predict a global market within the next 36 months. This is a very aggressive plan that seems obtainable when considering the worldwide reach of Sprint and its parent company, Softbank.
Truly, this is the American dream in action. One of those rare deals with more risk reducers than we can count, and the probability for a huge financial upside.
Consider this one fact, when was the last time you saw a fortune 100 company involved in a startup? Do you think for a minute they would play at the level they are in StarShop to make just a few hundred million dollars? My guess is that Sprint is betting StarShop will become a 10 figure business. Anything less wonât move their financial needle. Stay tuned for the rest of this story…
