This winter, Earth Class Mail will be the subject of a new documentary TV series called “Startup Junkies” on the MOJO network.
The eight 22-minute episodes are slated to begin airing in January. The idea behind the series, says Earth Class Mail CEO Ron Wiener, is to give viewers a flavor of how a start-up secures funding, hires people rapidly and “runs at Mach 6 to build an enterprise.”
MOJO was looking for a company that might be “the next Google kind of thing,” says Wiener. The network also wanted entrepreneurs who fit the “Startup Junkie”-type profile. Since Earth Class Mail is Wiener's sixth business, he qualified.
A local Seattle tech blogger suggested the company to the Screaming Flea Productions, which is making the show. “We apparently got to the final two before they even told us [we were in the running,]” Wiener says.
Filming is going on now, and likely will continue through the end of November. Wiener concedes that it's sometimes difficult to allow cameras into company facilities; the main concerns are disrupting employees and giving away proprietary information. “We have the ultimate veto button,” he adds.
The three-and-a-half-year-old company spent two years in development and patenting technology before going live about 15 months ago. Earth Class Mail now has customers in 120 countries and 43 employees working in four buildings in two cities. Wiener says the business is in the process of closing a large funding round that will allow it to expand to 18 U.S. cities.
“By the end of filming, we'll be buying more equipment that'll allow us to produce on a greater scale. We'll no longer be a start-up.”
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