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MUMZY founder Catherine Merritt is a relatively new parent of two sons, but her marketing work and persistent networking got her in touch years ago with the internet's tight and thriving community of moms.
“Before I even became a mom, I felt like I was one of the tribe,” Merritt said. “But it wasn't until I became a mom that I opened my eyes to how innovative the journey of motherhood is.”
[ibimage==42772==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-left]Merritt's journey of maternal entrepreneurship began with an attempt to create a custom diaper bag, which led to expensive run-ins with contractors and patent agencies. "Needless to say, there's still no diaper bag,” she said. “What it did do is give me the idea for this company. Why aren't there more resources out there to bring these ideas to life?"
Her own struggles, combined with her interest in peer-to-peer crowdfunding, gave birth to MUMZY, a platform for moms and their projects. Unlike Kickstarter, on which success depends largely on how aggressively a seller can solicit funds from personal networks, MUMZY draws from the web's existing parent community to give creative types a built-in audience.
[ibimage==42773==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-right]Merritt said that MUMZY is designed to help successful crowdfunders even after they've reached their goals. "If someone has an idea and they need to raise $10,000, we want to give them the resources to make sure they reach that funding goal. We also want to make sure that, once they reach their funding goal, that we connect the dots for them. We want to have a team in place to say, "'You've reached your funding goal. That's fabulous! Congratulations! Here are some small businesses in your backyard that you probably want to reach out to.'”
So far, MUMZY has received support from Merritt's own rich personal network and from her full-time employer, Olson Engage. "They have supported this entrepreneurial drive that I have,” said Merritt.
A year from now, Merritt said she hopes to have a “robust alumni network” that has gone through the MUMZY process and can help bring in new blood. "As we've been getting closer to launch, we've been on a parallel path. We want to get everything done that needs to get done now. But my brain doesn't stop working on, 'how will this look one year from now? Two years from now?'”
