Knowledge as a Service, Inc., or “KaaS”, operates Ringorang®, an app-based software solution designed to disrupt corporate learning. Companies that subscribe to Ringorang will use the technology to ensure employees retain and apply critical information from each learning session. The KaaS team brings high energy to Groover Labs. They walk fast and talk faster.
KaaS is currently raising capital using an equity crowdfunding model. They will host an online event, “What is Equity Crowdfunding,” 5-6 p.m. September 14, 2021, for anyone who wants to learn more. Join the Zoom event here.
Below is a lightly edited conversation with Chief Vision Officer Robert Feeney, Chief Operating Officer B. Wayne “B.W.” Barkley, and Director of Marketing Shae Blevins.
Groover Labs: Congratulations on the launch of your Wefunder campaign and the beginning of your capital raise!
BW Barkley: Thank you! We’re making history in Wichita. To our knowledge, we’re the first to offer an equity crowdfunding campaign here. This means anyone - the average person - can invest in a startup at the micro-level. And startups are no longer limited to just the big dollar venture firms.
Groover Labs: BW, you’re from Wichita. Talk about the moment you and Robert said, “Yes! Wichita! This is it. We’re moving there!
BW: Well, we were at a networking event at Sam Foreman’s law offices. It was a mixer, and we met Tonya Witherspoon from WSU. We really hit it off, and she invited us to dinner with Larisa [Dr. Larisa Genin, Dean of the Wichita State Barton School of Business]. We went to Newport Grill, and we had this phenomenal dinner. We sat near the president of the Kansas Senate. There were other notable business leaders there. And we said, “My gosh!” We realized how accessible Wichita is, so we set up a tour at WSU.
Robert Fenney: That event is also where we met Curt [Curt Gridley, Co-founder of Groover Labs].
BW: Right, there are so many opportunities here.
GL: Robert, we heard you say recently at a ribbon-cutting event with the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce that something unique about Wichita is that the people who live here appreciate Wichita. What do we appreciate, and how did you notice it?
RF: There’s this sense of community here, and I’ve noticed a phrase that keeps getting mentioned over and over again: “We’re a big small town.” And they say it affectionately. When they say it’s a small town, they mean people know each other here, so they look after each other. They actually care about the community.
When I lived in these big cities, sure, they were exciting. You have all these big activities and places to visit and things to do. But what makes Wichita unique is this love of being a Wichitan. It’s like a family; it’s familial. Wichita gives you a sense of ownership in and of the city.
GL: This sense of ownership is interesting, especially because, using an equity crowdfunding model, you’re offering ownership to a group of people who may not have qualified for it in the past because they’re not accredited investors.
BW: Exactly. The SEC passed a law that allows us to open up equity crowdfunding to raise up to $5 million. This capital raise model also works for us as an indirect marketing strategy: We save on our marketing budget - we’re a startup, after all - while at the same time, we see new customer opportunities come through. I like the idea of someone making several times their investment - a waiter or a teacher - this is really exciting to me. And it’s a less expensive way for us to raise money.
And the people who invest in us become marketers for us. They become these marketing mouthpieces for us. Imagine if Wichita had the chance to invest in Pizza Hut!
Shae Blevins: In a way, the more Wichita invests in us, the more we can invest in them.
BW: Exactly.
GL: Shae, recent media reports say KaaS plans to hire as many as 40 Wichitans, with some of that money coming from equity crowdfunding. KaaS is asking Wichitans to fund Wichitans. You’re their first Wichita employee. How exciting is it to be the first manifestation of this vision?
SB: It’s very exciting. One of the reasons I was drawn to KaaS is because it’s so Wichita-growth oriented. I’ve worked in a lot of industries, and I’ve worked with a lot of clients. Several of them weren’t located in Wichita, so I was focused on their communities and constituents. With KaaS, I get to focus on Wichita. They’ve given me an opportunity to engage here, to support other people and businesses doing work here.
BW: She may be the first employee, but she’s not the first hire.
GL: What do you mean?
BW: We’ve hired two local film companies to help us with video production. We hired a local event planner to help us with some of the events we’ve hosted and plan to host. We hired a strategist to help us map our outreach plans. Even WSU Tech! We’re partnering with them to bring four new employees on board to help with customer service and technical support. We’re in talks with potential CTOs [Chief Technology Officers], Syndeo for HR, and an accounting firm to manage our books.
SB: I have this desire to see Wichita grow, and working for KaaS and Ringorang offers something that I think the community can get behind.
GL: Robert, your title is Chief Vision Officer, which sounds an awful lot like Chief Executive Officer. Why not go with CEO?
RF: The CEO title after a while creates this de facto “that’s the person who’s in charge” mantra, and it also doesn’t get very specific about what it is that you’re doing. Being the Chief Vision Officer is about crafting the vision and showing the people you work with what that vision is. I don’t want the day-to-day activities of the business to take over my ability to see where we’re going. We need to always depict the vision clearly so we’re all going in the same direction.
GL: So you’re about the big picture?
RF: Yes, until BW brings me back down to earth. Yes, yes. Galactically I see us planting our roots in Wichita and then broadcasting this transformation about behavioral change and performance enablement out into the world. Think about it, Wichita is transforming [insert name of company]* or [insert name of company]*. That’s a big deal, and this is a Wichita company doing it.
(*Note: Ringorang has large, well-known, and established clients, but they are prevented from naming them publicly at this time.)
GL: BW, your title is Chief Operating Officer. What do you do?
BW: I make sure the machine runs smoothly. I make sure we’re full of fuel and ready to take off every day. What I really want though is an operation that’s local so our teams can communicate better, and I can have easy access to them. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I like the idea of having everybody in the same office.
GL: So you’re about efficiency, BW. Shae, what is your role? What do you do?
SB: My official title is Marketing Director. Right now, there’s obviously a lot going on. My goal is to get our marketing efforts in place so we can broadcast our message. If BW’s job is to make sure the machine runs smoothly internally, then my job is to get things done externally - social, PR, advertising, content.
GL: Have you ever worked for a startup?
SB: Not directly, no. This is one of the reasons it’s so exciting. I’ve worked for an advertising, marketing, and branding agency; and there, I had clients who were startups. They’re always so enthusiastic about the work they’re doing, and they put off this vibe that makes you want to capture that momentum.
GL: Robert and BW: You can tell by watching the two of you together that you’re close friends. Oftentimes friendships form through shared experiences. Is there a “first” shared experience that brought the two of you together?
BW: We met in Los Angeles, where we were both working with the same talent manager. We began working on several projects together and realized we had a lot in common. We also had the same mentor - someone who really taught us how to be human, someone who challenged us to find the one thing you want to do, to find that deep, burning desire, to find that thing that gets you out of bed in the morning but also keeps you awake at night. For us, that thing became Ringorang.
GL: If anyone has seen you present to a crowd before, it’s easy to tell you’re having fun. Fun seems to be at the heart of the idea behind Ringorang. Is fun the underlying theme here?
BW: Inside of the play pattern of the app, when learners least expect it, they get pinged with a notification to play. They don’t know when they’re going to get pinged, so, in a sense, they’re not playing the game as much as the game is playing them. How much fun is that?
And really, it’s 30-seconds of fun because the questions are designed to have some fun built into them. We work with the members of the corporate learning team to help them come up with ways to make the questions fun and engaging. And then the employee wins something. Maybe it’s a gift card, or maybe it’s the top spot on a leaderboard.
GL: Is this why people are obsessed with the badges the Apple Watch gives, like “Exceeded my Move Goal by 400%” or achieved the “Longest Move Streak”?
BW: Absolutely! Do you know what that’s about? It’s about recognition. It’s about someone, or something, telling you you’ve done a good job, that you’re closer to a goal. With the watch, you’re actually engaging with a piece of technology. You want to be recognized. It draws out the emotion that comes from hard work.
BRIEF HISTORY OF EQUITY CROWDFUNDING
Equity Crowdfunding originated as part of the 2012 JOBS Act (Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act). The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new rules in 2015, known collectively as Regulation Crowdfunding. These rules received major updates last year that allow exemptions from some of the rules that govern investment opportunities and have created ways for retail investors to invest in startups.
ABOUT WEFUNDER
Wefunder, a platform that connects founders with investors, is offering the equity crowdfunding opportunity for KaaS. The service was founded in 2012 and counts Andreeseen Horowitz and Y Combinator Founder Paul Graham as investors. See KaaS’s Wefunder page here.
INVESTMENT TIPS FROM WEFUNDER
To read Wefunder’s FAQs and tips about Equity Crowdfunding, click here.