Thriday (Formerly Thrive)
Throngs of time-poor business owners jumped at the chance to invest in Thriday's platform, with AI to automate bookkeeping, banking, accounting and tax. But the crowd has delivered more than just money in their remarkable road to success.
When Thriday approached Birchal to raise funds for their venture, they already had a buzz around their product. The only problem? It didn’t exist – yet.
Still, 2,000 potential customers had already signed up to their email list, hungry to use the product when it launched.
Automating the tedium of financial management was an attractive prospect for time poor business owners. But would it prove attractive enough to investors?
The Thriday team decided to ask by sending a callout to their growing community. The response was healthy: 60 people put their hands up, eager to share in Thriday’s future.
While it wasn’t quite enough to launch, it was encouraging – and a sign of things to come.
When Thriday was ready to complete a crowd sourced funding raise with Birchal, their ambition was clear: to get their platform off the ground. Reaching their $3 million max target in record time marked the raise as one for the Australian equity crowdfunding history books.
The following year, they went on to complete a $6m round led by NAB Ventures and have now launched their product to much acclaim.
But the power of the crowd has gone far beyond the financial benefits of having a community behind them, and become a significant driving force behind Thriday’s incredible success.
Harnessing the crowd has resulted in clients turning into investors, investors turning into employees, clients becoming advisors and a 10x growth in demand for their product over just six months.
Engaging people was something they believed in from the start. Before CEO Michael Nuciforo and his co-founders registered Thriday in 2020, they sought to gain input from 42 small-business owners.
Thriday wanted to know: What were their financial pain points? How would simpler finance management impact them? What did they need?
Setting the stage for its community-driven ethos, Thriday used the answers to refine its business model – shaping the startup into what it is today.
In this GOOD COMPANY profile, Michael shares the highlights, and advice on how to get the most out crowd-sourced investment.
Powered by the crowd
Long after the raise
- Thriday recruited a Customer Advisory Board: a team of 12 customers who meet formally with Thriday every month
- The board gives Thriday detailed user feedback from a customer perspective. It’s a continuation – and an evolution of their community focus
- The raise exposed Thriday to vast audiences of investors and customers – increasing its community tenfold.
Thriday's advice and insights
"Having set a record with the the largest, fastest Birchal campaign at the time, here, Michael shares his insights and tips for other businesses to draw the most benefit from their Birchal experience."
MICHAEL NUCIFORO – THRIDAY CEO
Be authentic – it’s more compelling
Thriday understood– because they feel the same – that business owners get into the game because they’re passionate, but not about spreadsheets and admin. Through its campaign pitch video and Offer Document, Thriday shared its ethos and story with potential investors. The team’s candour and authenticity struck a deep, personal chord.
Leverage your community
Before the campaign, Thriday spread the word to its email list of potential investors. They jumped on board in no time, leading to an initial boom in funds. Thriday raised $1.5 million on day one. In Michael’s eyes, this added instant credibility to the Thriday brand. After that, a domino effect had the startup speeding to the finish line.
Don’t underestimate the power of the crowd
Thriday set a campaign threshold of $3 million. They reached it with time to spare, but public interest continued at pace. Though Thriday couldn’t accept the additional funding that poured through, Michael learned a key lesson: never underestimate the crowd. His advice? Set your threshold high. If your campaign is well designed – and with Birchal, it will be – there’s every chance you’ll reach it.
