7 minute read
DueT Technology: A Cut Above
Thomas White
Photo by Logan Kirkland
Tyler Anthony
Photo by Logan Kirkland
Vicki Jordan
Photo by Logan Kirkland
DueT Technology: A Cut Above
By James Carskadon and Sharon Oswald
Every year, more than 200 budding entrepreneurs grace the doors of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach (E-Center) in the College of Business searching for guidance to transform their business ideas into real ventures. These students, faculty, staff and alumni come from all colleges at MSU – some with full-blown ideas or prototypes, others with concepts perhaps merely scribbled on the back of a napkin. But they all dream of owning their own businesses, and sometimes they are in search of that missing component – someone who possesses a needed expertise. Not every business is a success, but some have the potential for greatness. One such example is DueT Technology, a company on track to revolutionize the barber clipper industry.
When Mississippi State agricultural engineering alumnus Thomas White started cutting hair as a hobby, he came across a problem that has frustrated barbers for decades – his electric clippers kept getting uncomfortably hot. Like most barbers, White started buying multiple pairs so he could cut with one set while the others cooled down. But conversations with former classmate Tyler Anthony led to the idea of trying to make clippers in a better way.
With the help of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, White and Anthony have engineered clippers that do not overheat and have simultaneously created a business, DueT Technology, LLC (DueTT).
The company has been working with the E-Center for more than two years and recently received more than $130,000 in investment funding from the Bulldog Angel Network, an independent group of venture capitalists who focus on start-ups founded by MSU students, faculty, staff and alumni.
The clippers have a patent-pending design that uses an autonomous system to cool the device. DueTT expects to formally launch the product next year. Because barbers who cut the hair of African American and Latino customers primarily use clippers, this determined the company’s target market.
However, before they launch the product, the team has spent the last year building a brand that connects with amateur and professional barbers, as well as anyone else interested in hair. The company’s YouTube page, Barber Style Directory, contains in-house tutorial videos that have received millions of views.
“We try to put out content that’s up to date,” says White, the COO and a DeKalb, MS, native. “We don’t want to be doing [styles] that nobody cares about anymore. Professional barbers and amateurs look at the videos. We’re getting the best of both worlds, so we’ll have two different markets that will buy our product.”
Vicki Jordan, a Meridian native who studied psychology at MSU, serves as DueTT’s Vice President of Marketing and Operations. She has managed the company’s social media, YouTube channel and website.
“Studying psychology has prepared me to try and really understand who our customers are,” Jordan comments. “What do they need and want? We’re building our brand by getting them to trust us.”
In their research, the entrepreneurs reached out to barbers across the country to get feedback for the design of the clippers, helping to ensure it would be a product with national appeal. In addition to targeting barbers with African American and Latino clientele, they plan to target new and millennial barbers.
“There’s been a lot of unrest growing in the barber industry from the poor quality of cutting that current brands are doing,” Anthony remarks. “There’s really a need for a new company, a new product. We want to capture that next generation of barbers who are used to having new devices coming out every year for phones and things like that – not having to just settle for what is out there. They’re used to having products that meet their needs.”
The DueTT team works in the Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, where the VentureCatalyst TM program helped them build a solid foundation and secure funding.
Photo by Logan Kirkland
Before pitching to the Bulldog Angel Network, the company moved through the E-Center’s VentureCatalyst TM program, which guides companies through the initial stages of launching a start-up.
VentureCatalyst is a trademarked program developed by E-Center Director Eric Hill with the help of entrepreneur and MSU alumnus Wade Patterson. Companies can pursue one of two tracks – the new product track or the retail, service and lifestyle track. DueTT followed the new product track. VentureCatalyst is a four-stage process, with opportunities to obtain funding at the completion of each phase. This co-curricular program is designed to help entrepreneurs better formulate their business ideas and determine their levels of commitment to seeing the ideas through to fruition. Throughout the process the E-Center staff provide mentorship and guidance.
The goal of stage one is to help the budding entrepreneur better articulate the business idea and develop focus. It includes passing an online training course with a minimum score of 85 percent. After completing a short pitch deck, the potential start-up pitches to the E-Center’s Peer Review Entrepreneurship Panel (PREP) for the chance to receive a $500 Spark Grant. PREP is composed of entrepreneurs whose companies have more than $25,000 in annual sales or who have raised $75,000 in capital investment.
The second stage focuses on determining the customer, the value proposition and the market opportunity. It involves talking to potential customers, constructing a proof of concept and completing a unit financial analysis. Before pitching a second time, a complete team capable of executing the business must be in place. With a new pitch deck in hand, the potential business may present before the Entrepreneurship Center Advisory Board for a chance to receive up to $2,000. The board is composed of local entrepreneurs and of faculty from across campus.
After completing the first two steps, a startup like DueTT enters a critical phase – refining the market offerings, crafting a business plan, completing a 48-month financial projection and determining the business’ investment opportunity. During this phase, the business works with a successful business mentor and cannot make the pitch for additional funding without the endorsement of that mentor. The Investment Review Council focuses on the financial viability of the venture. Serving on the Council are successful business people throughout the country who evaluate the potential business and its sustainability. The maximum funding at this level is $5,000.
The final stage of VentureCatalyst is the launch. To reach this stage, a new venture must have raised additional funding to reach 18-months of runway. External opportunities exist through channels such as Innovate Mississippi, an organization whose purpose is to accelerate startups and drive entrepreneurship throughout the state. A business can apply to Innovate Mississippi for seed money of up to a $100,000 convertible note. The new business must also secure an attorney to establish a legal structure and address any intellectual property issues. When the company is deemed ready, the management team can go before the Bulldog Angel Network in search of possible investors and funding of up to $1 million. DueTT found success when it reached this stage. The Network’s investors were able to see the potential in this revolutionary product.
“The Bulldog Angel Network is excited about DueTT’s product idea and business plan and happy to have helped enable their company launch,” says Patterson, who serves as Bulldog Angel Network President. “With the help of Mississippi State’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Outreach, we have invested in five student companies since we started and are in the process on three more investments.”
White said that while he may not use the specifics of agricultural engineering with the company, the critical thinking and perseverance capabilities he learned in his classes have helped him run a company. Now that DueTT is receiving funding, he is glad it is coming from fellow Bulldogs.
He states, “Just knowing that they’re alumni or they have associations with Mississippi State makes you feel more comfortable about everything and have trust in the process.”
