Why Funding Is an Important Moment to Look Back before Moving Forward

I still remember one of the early posts on Townsquared: a business owner in our first launched neighborhood, Noe Valley, in San Francisco, was asking for help finding a new storefront because her rent was skyrocketing , and she was losing her lease.

And Townsquared worked exactly the way my co-founder, our first employee, and I hoped it would: the owner of the beloved neighborhood video rental shop found a shop-sharing arrangement with a nearby candy shop. When it came time to move, the community came out and helped.

It’s not just that a local business owner found a solution to her dilemma—and a natural business pairing—on Townsquared that makes me proud, but also the outpouring of empathy and support for her situation, and the acknowledgement of how much her 20-year-old shop meant to the neighborhood.

It was the scarcity of moments like these that inspired me and my co-founder, Nipul Patel, to found Townsquared—an online community designed to help small businesses connect, share advice, and support each other, just like this case.

Today, we’re excited to announce our Series B round of funding, which comes from seasoned investors who care deeply about the local businesses that power the communities we live in. We are also proud and honored to have the continued support of our early venture investors, August Capital, and FLOODGATE in this round. Tim Guleri and the team at Sierra Ventures were an obvious choice to lead the round for us because they value our mission to shift economic forces in favor of the little guy. Tim will be joining the Townsquared board alongside Nipul, and one of my favorite investors and friend, David Hornik —we have an amazing team! 

Likewise, having Intuit support us, and getting their broad-based knowledge of local businesses around the world, will dramatically increase our ability to help business owners and their staff. (Quick fun fact: Sierra Ventures was the original investor in Intuit back in the early 80’s.) Townsquared is proud to be supported by a group that has the longest track record in technology of supporting local businesses and entrepreneurs.

What I've Learned

Given this milestone, I took some time this week to look back at how Townsquared came to be. One of our first investors was a small business owner, Gene, of Pasta Gina, where Nipul and I “incubated” Townsquared over meatballs and cannoli. Since then, I’ve learned what Gene and Gina surely already knew—that building a meaningful business is hard, and you need to make sure you have the most talented, humble people driving towards your goal with you.

I’ve learned that when local business owners and employees meet even for the first time, they’re able to create an immediate sense of community among themselves—because they all know the risks and sacrifices they’ve made. And in each of the cities we serve, I’ve found incredibly gracious business communities, who are helping us realize the true power of a community.

And, crucially, I’ve learned that in order to provide our members the most value, we need to continue adapting to our users and what they need from the platform. In another of our San Francisco neighborhoods, for example, there was a man harassing tourists and local business owners. Eventually the harassment escalated to threats of physical violence. Townsquared was able to be the bridge between the community and police, giving the neighborhood merchants a place to record the incidents. That record was eventually used in court to successfully obtain a Stay Away order.

Just in the last month, that kind of community organizing has happened again in our own neighborhood in San Francisco, the Mission District. Frustrated and looking for a solution, two neighborhood business associations collaborated to create a channel on Townsquared called Street Reports. It’s a place for business owners and their staff to record the escalating cost to businesses of homeless encampments. Business owners plan to use the data compiled to contribute as the City searches for a long-term solution to the homeless crisis.

Looking Forward

While we are a young business, we're excited about the future, and I'm proud of my compassionate and hardworking team that strives to make local businesses stronger each day. Our funding also means we can keep growing; we plan on expanding our staff significantly over the next year, with hiring happening in engineering, product, and city management. (One of my favorite parts of my job is introducing new hires for their presentation at the end of their first week, introducing themselves and their work to the team.) And I am very excited to launch our next city—Portland—this September.

I have seen what can happen when a business owner or staff member is able to find the support they need from their community—whether it’s a question about what POS system to use, sharing what it takes to run a shop with a disability, or even bringing the small business voice to the table on issues like commercial rent or homelessness. The outpouring of support among business owners for each other no matter what the issue gives me the energy to realize the vision we set out with back in 2013, and keeps me on track towards that goal.

There’s more to come—and if you want to help empower local businesses everywhere, ping me directly at [email protected].