Ido Leffler | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1977 Israel |
| Nationality | Australian and Israeli |
| Alma mater | University of Technology Sydney |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, Advisor, Investor |
| Years active | 1999 - Present |
| Organization(s) | Emeritus Council Member United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Young Presidents Organization |
| Television | Quit Your Day Job |
| Board member of | Spark New Zealand Non Executive Director Asia Society Board of trustees and Co-chair Center for Global Education Obvious Ventures, Advisor |
Ido Leffler is an Israeli-Australian entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He is the co-founder of Yoobi, Yes To Inc., Cheeky, Brandless, and Beach House Group.[1][2][3]
Each of the companies Leffler has founded and co-founded incorporate a social mission; Yoobi donates school supplies to children;[4] Yes To Inc. provides nutrition resources for children in Africa; Cheeky and Brandless donate meals through Feeding America;[5][6] and Beach House Group supports charities including KaBOOM, which funds children's playgrounds.[7][1][2]
Leffler is the co-author of Get Big Fast and Do More Good: Start Your Business, Make It Huge, and Change the World, a guide to entrepreneurship and brand-building based on "principles, meaningful business relationships, and giving back to the community." [8] He has invested in or advised companies including Birchbox, Dollar Shave Club, and RangeMe.[9]
Early life, education and early career
editLeffler was born in Israel to Dan Leffler, an engineer and entrepreneur, and Yaffa Leffler, a school teacher.[10] When he was five, the family emigrated to Sydney, where his father built a property development company. In 1993, as Australia hit a major recession, the residential market collapsed and the company failed. The Lefflers lost their life savings and their home.[11][12]
Able to afford only the essentials, if Leffler "wanted to do anything -- go to the movies, travel, buy something -- it was up to him to figure out how to pay for it." In order to do so, he got a job at a grocery store, and then Psycho Chicken, a restaurant. At 18, he started his first business with his best friend, Evan Lever. Called the Roving Bakery, it was a home delivery service for breads and bagels.[13][9][12][14]
To help make ends meet, while working full-time as a teacher, Yaffa Leffler began a successful Herbalife distributorship; Dan Leffler joined her as the business grew. In 1996 Ido Leffler attended the University of Technology Sydney. He graduated with a bachelor of business degree in marketing and international business in 1999. He then decided to join his parents and became an Herbalife distributor in Indonesia and then in India.[13][15] [16]
Career
editTrendtrade International, Yes To Inc., SOMA Water
editAfter returning from India, Leffler launched a business with Lance Kalish, an alumni of UTS whom Leffler met in 1997 through playing soccer. The company, Trendtrade International focused on international business development, export management, and negotiating and facilitating distribution agreements. In 2006, they founded Yes To Inc., then known as Yes To Carrots. Based in Tel Aviv, the company produced and marketed organic products for the hair, face and body developed to maximize the benefits of its natural ingredients.[16] "When we looked around at the natural beauty space as consumers, nothing caught our eye," Leffler said in an interview. "The products were so dull and serious...Lance and I saw a need for a product line that represented natural, green, organic choices, but without compromising on style or a fun, friendly attitude.” Leffler used the title CEO and Chief Carrot Lover. To stand out, he often wore orange. The company name was derived from Leffler's philosophy: "Say yes to positivity."[17][11] As of 2017, Yes To Inc. was the #2 natural beauty brand in the United States, selling in over 25,000 stores in the United States, Canada, and the UK.[15]
In founding Yes To Inc., Leffler and Kalish established the Yes To Carrots Seed Fund, a non-profit organization that provided under-served communities with the resources to develop and sustain organic food sources and access to healthy nutrition. In 2012, the company partnered with Mama Hope to create Yes To Hope, which supplements the daily lunches of children across Africa by by providing schools with funding for year-round organic gardens.[18][15] Yes To Inc. also founded Yes To Happiness to support women and girls through diverse charities.[19]
Leffler co-founded SOMA Water in 2012 and served as the chairman of its board until May 2017. A water filtration system composed of carafes and biodegradable filtration systems, SOMA donated clean drinking water to people in need through a philanthropic partner, charity: water.[20]
Yoobi, Cheeky, Beach House Group, Brandless
editIn 2014, Leffler co-founded Cheeky Home, a line paper and plastic tableware. The company donated a meal to Americans facing hunger through the nonprofit organization, Feeding America for every product sold.[21] He also co-founded Beach House Group, a brand and product development, design, licensing and procurement services company. Beach House Group supports Clean the World, Girl Up, Kaboom and Starlight Children’s Foundation.[22]
Leffler and Kalish founded Yoobi in June 2014. A school and office supply brand, the idea for Yoobi was based on Leffler's experience shopping for school supplies for his children. He saw a "distinct lack of vision and creativity" in the products available, and remembered that as a child, he thought of buying school supplies as an "adventure." He also discovered while visiting elementary schools that almost every teacher bought necessities for their classrooms. As he researched the situation, he found a report from the National School Supply and Equipment Association which stated that nearly 100% of U.S. elementary school teachers paid for classroom supplies out of their own pocket, with the average teacher spending $495 a year. Inspired by the data, Leffler and Kalish built Yoobi on a one-for-one system; each time a Yoobi product was purchased, an item was added to a pack of school supplies which contained 1000 products such as crayons, pens, and rulers. Yoobi worked with the Kids In Need Foundation to determine what students needed. As of 2017, Yoobi has donated supplies to 2.4 million children in the United States.[15]
Leffler founded Brandless with Tina Sharkey in early 2014. Described by Fortune as the "Procter and Gamble for milenials," the company creates and sells organic and natural "brandless" products. For every order placed at Brandless.com a meal is donated through Feeding America.[23][24]
Other ventures
editIn 2016, with Sarah Prevette, Lauren Maillian, and Randi Zuckerberg, Leffler appeared as a judge on the Oxygen television series Quit Your Day Job, A reality show which allows entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas to the panel of entrepreneurs and investors, Quit Your Day Job focused on women and minority entrepreneurs.[25]
Leffler and Kalish wrote the guide to modern entrepreneurship, Get Big Fast and Do More Good, published by Harcourt in 2014. Kalish and Leffler described the book as "very simply, operating a business in an ethical, moral way with equal regard to our consumers, our partners, the environment and the well-being of everyone involved in the production of our products."[8]
He is an investor in and advisor for a wide variety of startups and established companies, and serves on the board of directors for Spark New Zealand.[26]
Personal life, philanthropy, and recognition
editLeffler lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and their three children. He is a member of the Melbourne branch of the Young Presidents Organization, and serves as a trustee for the Asia Society and as a co-chair of their Center for Global Education.[17]
Leffler received the 2017 Retail Innovator Award from Retail Touch Points[27] and the UTS Alumni Award for Excellence by the UTS Business School. He won the 2015 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence,[28] and the Starlight Foundation's 2015 Innovator Award, which recognizes individuals and corporations who have made significant contributions to communities with the goal of promoting positive social impact.[29] WWD included him on their 2012 list of 12 Beauty Industry Leaders Under 40.[citation needed]He was also named one of Fast Company's "Most Creative People."[30]
Companies founded
edit| Years | Company | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 — 2016 | Trendtrade International | Co-founder Managing director (until 2008) Board member (until 2016) |
| 2006 — present | Yes To Inc. | Co-founder |
| 2012 — 2017 | SOMA Water | Co-founder, chairman |
| 2014 — present | Cheeky Home | Co-founder, Advisor |
| 2014 — present | Beach House Group | Co-founder, chairman |
| 2014 — present | Yoobi | Co-founder, CEO |
| 2014 — present | Brandless | Co-founder, chairman |
Advisory roles, boards, and affiliations
edit| Years | Company | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 — 2016 | Levo League | Advisor |
| 2012 — present | Birchbox, Inc | Advisor |
| 2013 — present | United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs |
Emeritus council member |
| 2013 — 2015 | Ruby Ribbon, Inc. | Board member, advisor |
| 2013 — 2017 | Joyus Inc,. | Board of Directors |
| 2014 — present | Spark New Zealand | Non-executive director |
| 2014 — present | Obvious Ventures | Advisor |
| 2014 — present | Asia Society | Board of Trustees |
| 2014 — 2016 | Dollar Shave Club | Advisor |
| 2015 — 2017 | RangeMe | Chairman (US) non-executive director |
| 2016 — present | YPO, Melbourne Chapter | Member |
| 2016 — present | Center for Global Education (Asia Society) | Co-chair |
References
edit- ^ a b Pitt, Sofia (October 11, 2015). "Businesses that give back: A new school of thought". CNBC. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- ^ a b Fox, MeiMei (August 8, 2016). "5 Reasons Why Social Entrepreneurship Is The New Business Model". Forbes. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ Greenfield, Rebecca (June 3, 2014). "Yoobi Launches Eye-Catching School Supplies with a Social Mission". Fast Company. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^ Brody, Leslie (November 14, 2016). "School-Supplies Firm Plans Gift to NYC Classrooms". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Bright, Marshall (July 11, 2017). "Nothing (Yes, Nothing) From This New Online Grocery Store Is More Than $3". Refinery 29. Refinery 29. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Decker, Viviane (September 1, 2015). "Paper Plates Go Highbrow And Feed America With Cheeky x Molly Hatch". Forbes. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ "Antsy Pants Releases New Playkit to Benefit KaBoom". Engage for Good. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ a b Fox, Mei Mei (January 25, 2014). "How to Get Big Fast and Do More Good". Huffington Post. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ^ a b Miller, Gerri (March 29, 2016). "Inside the mind of a reality show judge". From the Grapevine. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
- ^ "Home Business Developers". wix.com. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- ^ a b Warner, Andrew (December 4, 2013). "How To Get A Product Into 25,000 Stores". Mixergy. Retrieved 23 May 2017.
- ^ a b Marinova, Paulina (April 11, 2016). "One Investor's Advice to Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Don't Hide Your Accent". Fortune. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- ^ a b Leffler, Ido, and, Kalish, Lance (2013). Get big fast and do more good : start your business, make it huge, and change the world. Boston: New Harvest/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 224. ISBN 9780544114487. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Friedman, Lindsay (March 30, 2016). "Top Lessons From the Judges of a New Female-Focused 'Shark Tank'-Like Show". Entrepreneur. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- ^ a b c d Bertoni, Steven (June 27, 2014). "Why Yes To's Ido Leffler Is Jumping Into the Office Supply Business". Forbes. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- ^ a b Kaufman, David (March 7, 2009). "Dead Sea brings life to skincare". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- ^ a b Fox, MeiMei (September 22, 2011). "The Life Out Loud: Just Say Yes!". Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 May 2017.
- ^ "Yes to Hope". youtube.com. via YouTube. April 3, 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ "Our Cause". yesto.com. Yes To website.
- ^ Schwartz, Ariel (December 10, 2012). "Forget Brita: Building a Better Water Filter". Fast Company. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ Levitt, Shelley (June 5, 2016). "How This Guy's Racing to End Hunger by Selling Paper Plates and Cups". Success. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- ^ "Founders". beachhousegrp.com. Beach House Group. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ Rao, Leena (December 16, 2017). "Exclusive: Investors Bet on Brandless as the Next Procter and Gamble for Millennials". Fortune. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
- ^ Lawler, Ryan (July 11, 2017). "With $50 million in funding, Brandless sells everyday essentials for $3 each". TechCrunch. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Tulshyan, Ruchika (March 31, 2016). "Watch 'Quit Your Day Job': 'Shark Tank' For Women And Minority Entrepreneurs". Forbes. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Inc tvwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Retail TouchPoints Announces 2017 Retail Innovator Award Winners". Globe Newswire (NASDAQ). May 12, 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- ^ UTS (January 27, 2016). "Just say Yes: Ido Leffler & Lance Kalish". UTS. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Gard, Cassidy (October 23, 2014). "Ido Leffler "Say Yes to Carrots Founder" Interview 2014 Starlight Awards". MSN. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
- ^ Staff. "Most Creative People". Fast Company. Retrieved 5 July 2017.