Meet Juliana Meyer, founder of SupaPass
I’m Juliana Meyer, the founder and CEO of SupaPass, and award-winning entrepreneur with over 20 years extensive experience across the music, technology and entertainment industries. I founded SupaPass to enable entrepreneurs like myself to have the tools they need to earn a living from their craft. The transformative technology my team has built gives entrepreneurs ‘a home online’, where they can get paid and share their content via world-class technology, to an audience that’s truly their own.
What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?
I really wanted to create a way for entrepreneurs, no matter how small or bootstrapped, to be able to access the type of technology that Netflix or Spotify have to run their business. Content creators shouldn’t have to give up a share of their revenue, or the direct control of their customer relationship in order to deliver content on the world-class technology that their customers have come to expect.
With the proliferation of Netflix, social media platforms, Apple and other online apps and websites, consumers have come to expect the highest standards. But smaller businesses just cannot compete. The technology required to provide that quality of experience is simply far too expensive for small businesses. Thus, they depend on third party services and platforms where it is not their brand, they cannot monetise (or are losing a share of their revenue), and they are not in control of the relationship with their customers or data.
That’s why I wanted to create a way for any entrepreneur or micro business, no matter how small, to be able to have their own website and mobile apps, where their gorgeous content curation looks and feels like a Netflix or Spotify, and they can keep 100% of their earnings, in an ecosystem they own with their own brand and community.
That’s what we’ve created with SupaPass’ out-the-box website and app software, and it is transforming the lives of many entrepreneurs already, many of whom say they couldn’t have launched these new parts of their business without SupaPass!
I love that every day we help entrepreneurs to educate, entertain, inspire, connect, share, heal, help, earn and grow. The end goal is to help millions of entrepreneurs like this around the world, to become the go-to software for content apps and websites globally, giving entrepreneurs game-changing tools to grow their businesses!
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
The key differentiator is that with SupaPass you get the complete solution. SupaPass is disrupting the website and app market because, for the first time, businesses can have all their content in one place, on a website and apps with their own brand, where businesses own all the data, money and relationship with their customers, and it’s affordable from only $20 as state-of-the-art tech, and UX instantly out-the-box.
We’re excited that no other online toolset offers all these things in one. Our central message to our clients is “Easy, Powerful, Affordable, Yours” - which are values core to our mission!
Current other options available in the market require businesses to rely on social platforms where they don’t control their brand or customer relationships, and can’t keep 100% of the money they earn. Or they require bespoke software which costs 5 or 6 figures and can take a year to build. Then there are website builders, but it is complex to “build a Netflix” with them, or use an SVOD app service which only offers video (not audio or articles).
Our game-changing solution addresses all of these pain-points in one.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
Aim high. Be ambitious and aim for the top, solving a real problem people have, and then you’ll inspire others to join your journey and believe in it too. If you aim for the top, even if you’re most likely to never get there, the place you’ll end up will be somewhere amazing you could never have imagined at the start.
Never give up - so many people along the way would probably have expected me to give up by now, but I never have. Whenever we hit an obstacle I always find another way. I am a fighter, and I love thinking creatively around problems. There is always another route.
Enjoy the journey - entrepreneurship will take every ounce you have to give. If you are too focused on the destination instead of the journey you won’t be able to find the strength to keep going on the marathon. You have to enjoy all the little landmarks on the way, because that’s actually why we’re doing this. I often say, if we never get to where we’re aiming for, I’ll still feel we’ve had success because it’s been such an adventure and we’ve learnt so much along the way.
After all, life is an experience, and this rollercoaster startup journey is certainly providing that!
With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap. How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?
When I first started SupaPass it was because I saw the opportunity for creators to use a micro-subscription from fans to support their work. This was long before Patreon, or even the emergence of the “subscription/membership economy”. Now this has become a huge growth area where 76% of online purchases are actually subscriptions.
We foresaw the power of subscriptions early on, long before much of the market/industry did. This actually made it very hard. A lot of the early years were spent explaining to people why subscriptions are so powerful, and it was often only early adopters who cottoned-on back then.
The problem with doing something innovative is it often requires people to adopt a behaviour change, which is a much higher barrier to entry, so the sales process is much harder. It’s much easier when you are addressing a need which is both keeping people up at night and doesn’t require behaviour change.
What’s interesting about lockdown is that behavioural change has been forced upon everyone, and now a lot of businesses are scrambling to go online. This is now a problem keeping many people up at night. In many cases the tools available to them are not sufficient for what they really need, and they are piecing together solutions using fragmented tools.
So now is the perfect time for them to use what we offer, and we’ve seen a big upsurge in businesses seeking us out to use our tools - to help them transition online and create a new revenue stream for their business!
What are your thoughts on failure?
I am grateful for failure. Running an innovative disruptive business is a series of micro-failures. Otherwise it would be easy and everyone would have already solved the market gap.
Failure is essential - it makes you stronger. Everything is a learning opportunity. Every week there will be challenges with successes and failures - that’s the nature of entrepreneurship.
The key is finding a way to not let failure knock you down far enough to give up, but to let each one be a learning opportunity to work out how to do it differently, or better next time.
It is also important to acknowledge how hard failure is. It’s important to be kind to yourself and let the feelings surface so you can process them, before you can learn from them and move on. Each one is hard to deal with, and that’s something that can often get glossed over when entrepreneurs typically talk about their successes or are optimists by nature. But openly sharing with the entrepreneur community how failure is more common than success, that it is ok, and that it will hit you like a 10-ton vehicle is normal. Be prepared for that, and then also be ready to know that the next corner will hold something different, exciting and exhilarating, so pick yourself up and go for that.
If you could be in a room with 4 entrepreneurs, who would they be and why?
My grandmother, because she was an entrepreneur who taught me that anything is possible if you dream big and work hard. She was awarded an MBE for her work and a huge inspiration to me. She also showed me that gender doesn’t matter.
Grammy-award winning music artist and technologist Imogen Heap, because she is a visionary who sees the world the way she wants it to be, and then inspires others to pursue that dream with her and make it a reality. She’s also an awesome working mum who has found a way to include her daughter within her demanding work. We are proud to work with her as one of our Clients at SupaPass.
Derek Sivers (founder of CD Baby), because he figured out early on how to keep things simple, so that you can grow big, solving a real problem for those around him. He also knew when to sell and then focus on the other things in life that are important to him, like his son.
David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried (founders at Basecamp), because they focus on how to build and nurture a great team and work environment, alongside a profitable successful business, where team wellbeing and enjoyment is a priority and core value.
What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?
I always say “just start”. You could have the best idea in the world, but unless you start it will never become more than that. I always say get feedback from customers as early as possible!
That’s one of the real strengths of the SupaPass technology. We have entrepreneurs coming to us all the time with amazing plans, who think it will take them months to be ready. But with our tools they can go live with those plans in as little as a week. They can then get early crucial feedback from real customers to improve and iterate, before they invest too much or try to grow. Some have used our tech to show a persuasive proof of concept to investors, that was setup easily within a week. We’ve helped many entrepreneurs get off the ground in this way.
What plans do you have for SupaPass over the next two years?
We’re delighted to see the current growth. We are now supporting entrepreneurs from across so many different areas including Podcasting, eLearning, Fitness & Wellbeing, TV & Film, Archives, Membership Organisations, Music, Sport, Charities, Conferences, Consultancies and more.
Our plans over the next two years is to continue accelerating and try to help as many entrepreneurs as we can.
Our long-term ambition is to enable every business and content creator on the planet to be able launch the type of technology that Netflix or Spotify offer, branded within their own mobile apps/website.
We also want to help them transition their physical customer interactions online so they can survive the unfolding recession.
What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?
We’ve always been agile, fluid and evolved to stay ahead of the market curve and continue to spot opportunities and emerging trends. I’m always trying to solve problems and make systems more efficient. That’s how we spotted the gap in the market and huge opportunity to give us first-mover-advantage. This has been core to our innovation and product direction.
I would also add that the most important key to success is to hire amazing smart people, and really learn to delegate by entrusting your team with a shared mission and vision to create something powerful together. Always give people the “why” and context behind every project or activity, because then we’re each empowered to make the right micro-decisions independently, to make it achieve so much more together.
How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?
The team. We have an amazing team. None of this would have happened without them. We really are a family, and it’s so motivating every day knowing that the 16-hour days I work are giving people jobs, and creating an enjoyable and rewarding place for us all to work.
As an entrepreneur, the hard days are really really hard. Let’s not sugar-coat it. It is extremely challenging. But knowing that it is meaningful work, transforming the lives of the entrepreneurs that use our product, and bringing joy to so many of their customers is a truly inspiring and motivating feeling.
There are many things that keep me awake at night, but knowing that we are doing something with meaning, and supporting each other on the journey, is what makes it fun and what makes those 16-hour work days pass in a flash.
I love my job. It feels like the most natural thing in the world for me. And despite those dark moments, this is still the thing I want to do most in the world!
Any moments where you thought you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?
Definitely! But I actually love being thrown in the deep end. I love the challenges, and I probably would be bored if they weren’t there. I think I probably like things to be hard, which is maybe why I’m still doing this! Maybe that makes me a little crazy, but maybe one needs that kind of drive to give so much and keep going no matter what curve-balls come along. That’s all part of the adventure!
