A REASON TO Pout
Whether you want to spice up your seasonal style or polish your everyday look, these fashion and beauty app co-founders have got you covered
WALKING THE RED CARPET just got easier. In fact, you can do it from the comfort of your own home (and yoga pants) thanks to the innovation of Riley Donelson and Laura Smith, the gregarious co-founders of Pout.
By downloading their free mobile fashion and beauty app on your iPhone, you can skip the trip to Toronto’s Mink Mile or a binge session of the Kardashians.
Apps like Pout are radically shaking up our schedules and lifestyles. New Waterloo startups like AIRO (founded by Emmanuel DeVries and Naman Kumar) provide a tracking device for sleep quality, nutrition intake and daily activity. Grocera offers online grocery shopping and delivery with a commitment to supporting local farmers and indie retailers. Tripzaar’s founders Andrew Cross and Matt Rae allow users to discover local intel on an area using curated lists from experts and algorithms. Donelson is quick to give Smith credit for the idea of creating the app for fashionistas. Her double degree in software engineering and business administration at Western University in London, Ont., makes her the
brains behind the beauty. When prompted about the misconception of Donelson being the mastermind behind the software development and Smith the lipstick-touting sidekick, they both laugh and shrug it off.
“Yes, it’s a common assumption. I do the product design though,” Donelson says.
With 35,000 users in 145 countries since they launched Pout in November 2014, the gender mix-up doesn’t register as a concern. Boasting a 40-per-cent growth rate each month, their attention to mobile domination is steadfast. They want to reach a million users, pronto.
“Growth is what we are thinking about every single day,” Donelson says.
The rabid preteen market is pushing them fashionably forward toward that goal.
“The 13- to 18-year-old female demographic is our target market,” Donelson
explains. “Of course we’re open to users of all ages, but the content and community is being driven by the pre- and late-teen set.”
Friends since high school, Donelson and Smith both landed coveted four-month internships at technology juggernauts in the United States in 2013. Donelson snagged a design post at Apple while completing a bachelor of science and systems design engineering degree at the University of Waterloo, and Smith took on a mobile engineer Pinterest gig developing apps for iPhones.
After their stints in California, the duo casually compared notes on the couch one night. Smith dropped the idea of collaborating into casual conversation.
“I thought Riley and I could make something awesome,” she says. Donelson finishes her thought, equally energized about their story: “We knew we could build something quickly with our design and programming backgrounds.”
Though their alma mater differed, the two found common ground in creating a curated community for fashion and beauty.
“It’s a social network dedicated to your personal style,” Smith explains.
Pout’s categories cover all the beauty big-hitters — from MAC makeup application to hair half-up style deconstruction to the much-envied “pout of the week,” and seasonal must-haves.
“The ’90s are totally back,” Smith says. “Buns, chokers, Converse, white Adidas sneakers and overalls.”
“Calling it Pout just made sense. It’s the face most girls make when taking a selfie,” Smith says.
“And, it’s cheeky and self-referencing,” Donelson adds.
The site is pure eye candy. Once users create a profile, the app allows you to search by specific categories such as Denim, Black or Stripes. The New and Popular categories in the network feed operate similar to Facebook information grazing. With Pout, users can “favourite” pictures
and follow other users.
“Teens like sharing selfies and are very active with posting,” Smith explains. “Users in their late 20s and older prefer browsing and collecting images they like, scrapbook style. We’re like the counterbalance to Pinterest.”
Smith identified the need for an app like Pout from her own impatience and frustration.
“Trying to find fashion and makeup ideas meant looking through several sites. And even then, the information was so scattered. I wanted to create a site where a user could find it all in one place.”
Pout has evolved so successfully it’s now dominated entirely by user-generated content.
“We need to keep users engaged. Growth is great but we need retention. It’s all about how ‘sticky’ your app is. If people download it and stop using it in a week, we want to know why. We want it to stick,” Donelson says with a confident grin. “We want Pout to be the go-to place for online show and tell.”
The two 24-year-olds have cannonballed into the tech scene at a serendipitous time. In July, the federal government announced it would be infusing up to $9.7 million into the region’s tech sector over the next five years. For startups in Waterloo, such news means the ladder to success and becoming a million-dollar corporation has been replaced by an escalator.
Donelson and Smith have already cashed in. The University of Waterloo’s Velocity program, which supports student startups with funding awards three times a year has given Pout a cash thumbs-up of $25,000. Velocity qualifier prizes start at $5,000 and total $350,000 annually, and are all sunk into Waterloo Region’s startup demographic.
In addition to the handsome Velocity cheque, Pout was awarded $30,000 from AC Jumpstart, Accelerator Centre’s seed-funding program that supports students at the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier
and Conestoga College.
Accelerator Centre is a network of facilities that, through in-house mentorship, are dedicated to developing and incubating startups like Pout. Pout received another $5,000 from Cambridge-based Communitech’s Startup Services Group, which focuses on commercializing products, revenue gain and world-class coaching.
Being part of Velocity’s program means the Pout duo can focus on building their user base and commercializing their brand rent-free at the 7,000-square-foot Velocity Garage in the Tannery District.
Here, they will have the peace of mind of a two-year workspace accessible 24 hours a day. Smith says they currently share the incubation ecosystem with 28 emerging companies.
Donelson likes that the Velocity Garage has open-door access to mentors and successful entrepreneurs.
“There’s also a lot of friendly competition,” Donelson says.
It’s easy to imagine the talk around the espresso machine about how many countries they’ve had hits from in the last 48 hours.
To be part of the garage, one co-founder must be a University of Waterloo alumnus or a current student, and the startup should be generating less than $250,000 a year. The entrepreneurship program provides all the essentials — knowledge, tools, space and networking.
With an on-site Balzac’s Coffee Roasters, mock headquarter offices, a courtyard with a barbecue and funky nooks throughout the building, the garage is designed with collaboration in mind. And there are frequent social events that pull everyone together.
Donelson and Smith agree they genuinely like hanging out where they work. “All of us are putting so much energy into our companies, we have the same focused mindset. It’s good to blow off steam together too and work out similar obstacles,” Donelson says.
“Velocity Garage is rent free, and because Laura and I have very accommodating parents, we still live at home which keeps our living expenses so low. We can focus entirely on the company and all the funding we’ve received goes directly into operating costs like creating YouTube videos and promotions.”
According to App Annie, a web analytic performance site, Pout has been ranked as the No. 9 social networking app in France. “We were recently featured in the Apple App Store in Southeast Asia, and gained a lot of visibility there,” Smith says, glowing.
“We want to grow our community as big as we can,” Donelson says.
Bigger user numbers entice bigger brands and advertising, and Donelson’s mind is buzzing like a beehive with potential. “Maybe, eventually, we will be able to offer online affiliate sales,” he says.
The high school chums are clearly plugged into the scene. They each have 50 to 60 apps on their iPhones.
“I’m always trolling the app store for fashion-related applications,” Donelson says. “It’s about harvesting new ideas for Pout too.”
When asked about the stiff competition or sites they envy, they aren’t intimidated.
“We both like We Heart It a lot. But it’s not about envy; we just like their stuff,” Smith says.
We Heart It is an image-based social network similar to Pout with its sharing community.
In a saturated competitive digital market, Donelson and Smith agree celebrity endorsement can be the golden ticket. When asked about who they’d like to hear bragging about Pout on social media, they answer almost in unison.
“Ariana Grande!” They’re referring to the 22-year-old pop singer who gained fame as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon series Victorious.
As the duo navigate the inundated app market that’s as fickle as fashion itself, let’s hope they don’t have anything to pout about in the near future. #nopoutinghere