Luck is Made: How Repeat Founders Minimize Failure Serial entrepreneur Jennifer Mellon has built three successful startups while raising five children and spending countless hours on charitable work. In this candid talk, Jen will discuss how successful repeat founders can minimize failure by treating their craft as a real discipline requiring more ""science"" and less ""art."" From taking a data- and evidence-based approach to decision-making, to avoiding the ego-driven vanity pitfalls (PR can wait!), to the critical importance of co-founder dynamics, to understanding that doing good is good for business, to how hiring can make or break your startup, this is a deep dive into the hard truths of entrepreneurship. It may not be sexy, but a ruthless insistence on proof, the mitigation of death threats—and some slick regulatory environment Jiu-Jitsuing that turns a seemingly insurmountable hurdle into a defensive moat—can be the difference between generating massive returns and returning to the workforce of the masses.

2. About Me

3. Jen Mellon
- 5 Kids
- Founder & President, Trustify
- 2 Previous Startups
- 10 + years in child welfare field
- Women & Diversity in Tech
- Goldman Sachs “100 Most
Intriguing Entrepreneurs” Builders
and Innovators Award
- Women in Technology Award
- Forbes Communications Council
- B.A. International Relations,
Mandarin (Bucknell University)
- M.E.d., Counseling & Development
(George Mason University)
- M.B.A., Entrepreneurship
(Temple University, Fox School)

4. About Trustify

6. “According to the data, trust peaked in
1967–1968, when roughly 56% of survey
respondents agreed that “most people
can be trusted.” From there, trust began
to decline, and the trend has
continued ever since.”
“Practically all researchers studying trust
have concluded that it improves the
human experience.”
SOURCES:
Today, trust & honesty are at their
lowest points in decades.

7. “The typical organization loses 5% of
revenues each year due to fraud. On a
global scale, this translates to losses of
approximately $3.7 trillion. In addition to
lost revenue, there are also indirect
costs, such as low employee morale,
decreased productivity, ruined
reputations and tarnished brand
images.”
“US retailers lose $60 Billion a year due
to theft. Overall the biggest area of
store loss remains employee theft.”
“Conservatively, fraud steals $80 billion
a year across all lines of insurance.”
“An estimated 10.8 percent of U.S.
adults – 25.6 million people – were
victims of one or more types of fraud
according to the latest FTC Consumer
Fraud Survey. There are an estimated
total of 37.8 million incidents of fraud
per year in the U.S.”
FTC
We lose trillions each year due to
fraud, dishonesty, and broken trust.

10. A New Trust & Safety Layer.
Businesses Households

11. $
$
$
$$
Forensics Services
Industry
Research Services
Industry
Private Detective
Industry
Security Services
Industry
$40B+
U.S. ALONE
“No clear industry leader & a large pool of underutilized
assets looking for work; ripe for land grab
opportunity.”
$ $ Background
Screening Industry
E-Discovery
Industry
Enormous, Yet Fragmented, Market.

12. Attorneys
Insurers
Security Officers
Consumers
Families
C-Suite
HR Execs
Lobbying & Gov
Relations
Risk Managers
Special Interest Groups
80% of our customers had never used an investigator or done a background check before finding Trustify
Redefining & Expanding that Market.

13. Collections
&
Skip Tracing
Lawsuits &
Fraud
Insurance
Claims
Caregiver
Vetting
70% of our use cases can be considered new to the industry.
Employee
Screening
Child
Safety
Data
BreachesAdoptees &
Birthparents
Divorce & Infidelity
Loss
Prevention
Solving Fundamental Problems For
Businesses & Consumers.

14. Investigators
Disparate &
underutilized
investigator
supply.
Customers
Underserved &
unrealized
customer
demand.
Highly
fragmented
with no clear
winner
Everyday use
cases for any
customer profile
Complete lack of
technology &
innovation
Intimidating to find
and judge the
quality of PIs
Average pay of
$21.99 per hour
Concerns over
ease of use,
anonymity and
security
Locally focused,
Stodgy detective
agencies taking
huge cuts
Most do not
currently utilize
because of cost
and stigma
An Ideal Supply & Demand Scenario.

15. Customers Save Money, Investigators Make
More Money
$0 UPFRONT
$79 PER HOUR
$3K+ UPFRONT
$100+ PER HOUR
Detective Agency

16. Well-Funded By “Who’s Who” List Of
Investors.

17. While Staying True To Our Beliefs & Values.

18. Lessons Learned

20. Act I

21. Do People Want This?

22. Evidence-Based Decision Making

23. Validate Your Riskiest Assumptions

24. Do Enough People Want This?

25. Startups vs Small Business

26. Act II

27. Is This Illegal?

28. Regulatory Affairs Can Be Sexy

29. What are the Death Threats to your idea?

30. Co-Founder Dynamics

31. “You open my doors
at your own peril. My
ghosts are in there!”

32. Act III

33. Is This Going To Be Easy or Hard?

34. For Reals Though, Is This Going To Be Easy or Hard?

35. Hire Slow, Fire Fast
“I Must Insist On Handing
You Your Walking
Papers! I say Good
Day!”
- Donald J. Trump

36. Who Are You Taking Money From & When?

37. Act IV

38. Why Are We Doing This?

39. “What a fool I’ve been -
What a fool…”

40. Trough of Sorrows

41. Avoid Ego Driven Pitfalls

42. PR Can Wait

44. How Are We Doing This?

45. “Be the change you want
to see in the World.”

47. “Doing good is good
for business.”

48. Doing Good is Good Business

49. You Can Have It All

50. “Can’t I stay a little
longer? I’m so
happy here.”

51. You Can Have It All

52. You Can Have It All

53. You Can Have It All