ASK ME ANYTHING: Jenene Crossan
What would she do about Roger Sutton-style behaviour in her office? What's the secret of her success landing VC money? The entrepreneur anwers readers' questions.
What would she do about Roger Sutton-style behaviour in her office? What's the secret of her success landing VC money? The entrepreneur anwers readers' questions.
Jenene Crossan founded online magazine NZGirl.co.nz at age 20, working from a second-hand PC in her bedroom.
Just a couple of years later, the young entrepreneur won the backing of one of New Zealand's top private investors, the late Lloyd Morrison, which led to starting her second business, youth research company 18 Ltd (later sold to Research International).
Her next venture, a female-masthead ad network, won backing from high-profile venture capital outfit MOVAC. A post-global financial crisis push across the Tasman saw the new venture merged with a tech company, creating Actual Dialogue – the first ad-driven email platform. In 2013, Ms Crossan invested in the development of Bloggersclub.com (a content creation, curation and amplification platform representing 400+ bloggers).
Her latest venture, Flossie.com, first launched as a "quiet-time" hair and beauty appointments website in early 2012. Today it boasts thousands of customers and hundreds of businesses, plus investors including the co-founders of Hell Pizza, the team behind Sonar6 and Rob Campbell. And her latest project is Flossie Concierge, an app where women can book hair and beauty services via their mobile. She describes it as an Uber for beauty.
Along the way, Ms Crossan has become a regular speaker at events and conferences. She was a finalist for the Westpac Women of Influence Award 2014, and a finalist for NEXT Women of the Year 2014.
She answered reader questions on Monday November 24.