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Please tell us about yourselves and your business.
Amanda huh: Our company is called Amaze. It is a white-label, self-service platform that creates memberships for brands. I’m the co-founder, CMO, and my husband Stephen George He is the co-founder and CEO. Our partner Keith Hoerling He is CTO. Simply put, our platform allows brands to create digital membership cards that reside in members’ Apple and Google Wallets, allowing them to offer great perks, build their community, and capture powerful data. We are a very lightweight tool and create a frictionless experience for our customers and their members.
What inspired the work?
Amanda huh: During the pandemic, we noticed a lot of businesses closing. Stephen has a strong background in customer loyalty, and we wanted to build something that businesses could truly rely on to generate sustainable revenue and connect with their customers in a more meaningful way.
Stephen George: I’ve been on Groupon so I’ve been in this loyalty and reward space for a long time. We started building our platform in 2023 and brought it online to our first customers in December. We started by talking to small businesses in food and beverage, health and wellness, and fashion. But as with Groupon, every business in the world can benefit from using our platform. This is not just a rewards card where customers collect stars or points. These loyalty programs are passive – half the time you don’t even remember you’re signed up – and they are purely transactional. When a company has a membership, it creates a sense of belonging and community.
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How it works?
Stephen George: Most of our customers have a virtual card located in the member’s Apple or Google Wallet. We chose to leverage the existing infrastructure and appeal of these wallets – they have two and a half billion users – rather than create an entirely new application. We also have some customers who decide to get a physical card printed on the metal with a QR code on the back. Either way, the idea is that this card is something people will show off, as a sort of humble brag. This could be for your favorite sports team, a non-profit you support, a great barbershop, or an upscale nightclub or restaurant. The card gives you a sense of belonging and also allows businesses to provide access to things the member actually wants. For example, we have a restaurant group that wanted to give its investors the feeling that they are part of something. So they gave each of them an investor card that gave them priority booking and a free bottle of wine once a month. Now, a high-end restaurant can take this concept and monetize it by having a VIP pay a thousand dollars a month for a membership card that offers them a $500 drink credit or some other cool perk.
What is your work background?
Amanda huh: My family is in the seafood industry. Our company is called Pacific American Fish Company, and we are one of the largest import/export manufacturers and distributors in the United States. I built our DTC pipeline and then my brother and I created a family office focused on technology investments. I came from the investor side and now wear the founder hat. So it’s a unique experience coming from both sides.
Stephen George: I started at Groupon as an intern. There were only four engineers in the company at the time and that was before it was called Groupon. I stayed with them until the IPO. It was a great learning experience for me, as I was only 20 years old and became head of global operations within three years. I have continued to invest in startups and have built a few companies over the past decade. I made my way to Los Angeles from Chicago, where I met Amanda. We now have two children and run our business from our home in the city where Amanda grew up.
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How has your experience as investors helped in the fundraising process?
Amanda huh: It’s a big help because I understand what investors are really looking for. When I was an investor, it was really about how I connected with the founders as people. In essence, you are investing in someone who will do the right thing. So, on the founder’s side, you want to show investors that you are a compassionate person, that you are solution-oriented and that you have the perseverance to bring this concept to fruition.
Stephen George: Amanda and I come from different business backgrounds. I believe her family business has been profitable for over 40 years. They never took outside money. No debts. nothing. I come from Groupon where we raised $1 billion and relied on that outside funding. It was growth at all costs. So with Amaze, we try to balance that. We’ve had a few customers who wanted to put in some small checks over the course of building the product, but it didn’t actually take a lot of funding. Now that we have a product, customers signing up, and a clear go-to-market strategy, we’re raising money. I think this gives us the advantage of not having a significant loss in upfront revenue and upfront product.
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Any advice for someone looking for financing?
Stephen George: For early-stage founders, the more you can prove that this business is viable before you get funding will put you in a better position. I think taking some money is good, but make sure you don’t let fundraising take over your interest. Allowing yourself to focus on work is really important. Invest your energy in the problem you’re solving and build the right solution.
What does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
Amanda huh: For me, being an entrepreneur is connected to my father’s immigration story. They came from South Korea in 1969 and built their business. So it’s really about being self-starters and creating a legacy for our kids and building something of value for our community. And that’s what Amaze is focused on: We give businesses the power to build better relationships with their customers.
Stephen George: When you talk about success as a founder, we define that as having customers from year one that will still be able to really benefit from our platform in year ten. My big advice to entrepreneurs reading this is to be patient. No matter what you do, it will always take longer than expected. Although you may need to turn, change direction, or regroup, you cannot give up.
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