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    Mod Merch on Demand
    Who Are These Startups

    Mod Merch on Demand

    Mod Merch on Demand, offering a unique platform that bridges the gap between creators and their fans by enabling the co-creation of merchandise.

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    Meet Mod Merch Team

    Mod Merch

    Joseph Pinho is the co-founder of Mod Merch on Demand. He discusses building a platform that lets fans collaborate with creators on officially approved merchandise.

    Company website

    Key takeaways

    • The platform gives fans a way to submit designs for official creator merchandise.
    • Creators can review, approve or revise submitted designs before they are sold.
    • Joseph describes bootstrapping the company and pursuing growth through partnerships.

    Who Are These Startups? Featuring Joseph Pinho, Co-Founder of Mod Merch on Demand

    In this episode of “Who Are These Startups?”, The Startup Coach interviews Joseph Pinho, the Co-Founder of Mod Merch on Demand, during the Collision conference in Toronto. Mod Merch on Demand is an innovative platform within the creator economy that empowers creators, communities, and businesses to collaborate with their fans in producing custom merchandise. This episode delves into the origins of the company, the challenges faced by independent creators, and how Mod Merch on Demand is revolutionizing the way fan art is commercialized.

    Episode Overview

    Joseph Pinho recounts the inspiration behind Mod Merch on Demand, highlighting how the company emerged from a need to support independent music artists struggling to launch their merchandise. Recognizing a broader opportunity within the creator economy, Mod Merch on Demand expanded its focus to include fan art, providing a legitimate channel for fans to collaborate with creators. The company offers a B2B SaaS platform that enables fans to upload their designs, which creators can then approve and sell as official merchandise. This process not only legitimizes fan art but also opens up new revenue streams for creators while strengthening their connection with their community.

    Key Takeaways

    • The Genesis of Mod Merch on Demand: Joseph shares that the idea for the company came from observing the difficulties independent music artists faced in setting up their merchandise. Mod Merch on Demand evolved to address a significant gap in the market by allowing fan art to be formally recognized and monetized within the entertainment industry.
    • How the Platform Works: Mod Merch on Demand integrates with existing websites, merch stores, or marketplaces, offering a licensing system where fans can submit their designs. These designs are then reviewed, approved, or revised by the creators, making the entire process collaborative. The platform is a tool that facilitates seamless interaction between creators, their businesses, and their fans.
    • Funding and Growth: Mod Merch on Demand has been bootstrapped from the start, with a focus on organic growth through strategic partnerships and collaborations. Joseph discusses the company’s current funding situation and its plans for scaling through innovative collaborations within the creator community.
    • Collision Conference Insights: Joseph attended Collision to connect with other startups, creators, and companies. He reflects on the valuable experiences and connections made during the event, particularly in the context of Toronto’s vibrant tech ecosystem.
    • Who Should Reach Out to Mod Merch on Demand?: The platform is ideal for businesses, community leaders, and creators looking to enhance their merchandise offerings by incorporating fan-generated content. Whether you’re an artist, influencer, or part of a larger community, Mod Merch on Demand provides the tools to monetize fan art while fostering deeper engagement with your audience.

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    Tune in to “Who Are These Startups?” for more founder stories and insights from the Canadian startup ecosystem. Don’t forget to check out our upcoming live events and workshops designed to empower entrepreneurs and foster growth within the startup community.

    This episode is essential listening for anyone involved in the creator economy, fan engagement, or the future of merchandise in the digital age. Whether you’re an artist seeking to monetize your fan base or a business exploring new revenue streams, Joseph Pinho’s insights offer valuable guidance on how to leverage fan art in a meaningful and profitable way.

    Download transcript (.txt)

    Welcome to Who Are These Startups?

    podcast shorts featuring founder interviews of Canadian startups.

    It's a startup coach here and I'm down at Collision and I ran into my good friend Joseph from Mod.

    How are you doing Joseph?

    Good Craig, how's it going?

    Doing great.

    Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us about Mod.

    For sure.

    My name is Joseph Penna.

    I'm the CEO of Mod Merchand demand.

    What we do is we help creators, communities and businesses within the creator economy to turn their fan ideas into dream merchandise.

    So what that is is we enable the fans to upload their fan art directly to the creators.

    Creators can approve of it, once approved.

    It's now listed as official merchandise on the store.

    A way to co-create, to sell and market with the fans, with the community.

    What inspired you to start this company?

    Originally we saw a huge issue with music artists, independent music artists and particularly and having troubles with getting their merchandise up and running.

    So we started tackling the merch problem and we soon found out that fan art is a big thing in the world of entertainment with influencers, creators, artists.

    But there's no way to actually go directly and get approval to sell your fan art.

    Most of the sales are done online or done illegally.

    So we worked on creating a system that legitimizes all of that.

    Bridges the creator with their fans to now have those ideas actually come to life.

    Can you give us an overview of your product now it works?

    Yeah, so essentially we are B2B SaaS.

    So we integrate into existing platforms like your own website, merch store or marketplace or we deploy a brand new one for you.

    And built into that is our licensing system.

    So where fans can upload their designs, it gets sent to creators as a license or a request.

    Creators can review everything, approve or deny and actually work on revisions as well.

    So it's a collaboration tool between the creators, the businesses and their fans and their community members.

    And what's your funding situation?

    We are pretty seed.

    We haven't been funding, we've completed Bootstrap so far.

    And what brings you to Collision?

    Collision is just here to meet other companies, creators, startups that we can potentially work and partner with as well as just seeing what's out there in the Toronto tech world right now.

    It's been really great just getting a sense of all this new buddy technology too, right?

    Have you had any memorable experience or met any interesting people so far?

    So far, mainly just a few of the talks I've been to were interesting and I've been able to meet with a few different startup founders, right, that have been really cool.

    Who should reach out to you?

    So if you are a business or a community leader, you know, or you are a creator of any level really and you are looking to now leverage merchandise, e-commerce, integrate that sort of thing that you are offering as well as potentially leverage the co-creation with the fans, right, then definitely reach out to us.

    And where should people go to find out more?

    So you can find us at modink.ca, m-o-d-i-n-c.ca or even mod-ink.ca.

    That's our website.

    You can reach out to me at joseph, j-o-s-e-p-h at modink.ca as well.

    Thank you Joseph for taking the time out of Collision to speak to us.

    Thanks so much Craig.

    Thank you.

    This has been Who Are These Startups?

    Find out more at WhoAreTheStartups.com and check out our live events at TorontoStartups.com/events. events. (upbeat music)

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