Meet i.ko Wilson | Co-founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with i.ko Wilson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi i.ko, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Several years ago, I co-founded a social app called Pen Pals with my friend, Bryan Johnson. We starting seeing the growing trend on social media was altering the way we communicated with each other and wanted to build a platform where meaningful conversations were the “reward,” as opposed to likes and views. In just a few months, we gained one million users exclusively through organic traffic and word-of-mouth.

As time passed, we began to notice the same shortcomings in the business world. At a time where outreach automation and faux-personalization was being normalized, it seemed like everyone was losing the “human touch” in relationship management. That’s when we began to transition away from social media.

We spent a year researching sales trends, conversing with high-level sales executives, and identifying their most significant pain points. All of our research pointed to a single theme: “How can we build deeper relationships with clients and capture insights about the things they most value in their everyday lives?”

We felt that tech should enhance the experience of human relationships, not shortcut it. And that’s how Ravyn was born.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Business is built on relationships. When you ask your clients about what matters to them in their daily lives and actively listen, it means the world to them. It shows you care, and that’s how you build strong relationships. But how do you remember these insights? How is it scalable when you have 100, or 1000 clients? That’s where we come in.

Relationships are the foundation of any successful business. When you ask your clients about what’s personally important to them and they feel like they are being heard, it means the world to them. It shows that you care and that’s how you build strong long-term relationships. The biggest challenge is how are you capturing these insights: on note apps, spreadsheets, or from memory? It’s not scalable when you have to keep track of 100 or 1000 clients. That’s where Ravyn come in.

Ravyn is an AI sales tool for boosting revenue and building deeper client relationships. What separate us from the endless amount of AI tools on the market is that we use AI to humanize the sales process. We make it easy for sales professionals seamlessly capture, organize, and access the insights that matter, when they matter. All you have to do is simply write a note and our AI automatically extracts and categorizes insights from it. And by using our Chrome extension, you can access Ravyn from anywhere on the web which makes it extremely simple to use.

In addition, our engagement product is one of the most distinctive offerings in the market. A “Ravyn” is a hyper-personalized handwritten message with a digital experience you can access by simply tapping your mobile phone to the card. It makes clients feel extra special and it has numerous applications. You can attach a broad range of digital experiences to a Ravyn: send event tickets, schedule meetings, digital gifting, and even NFT drops.

Even though we recently launched, we have already received numerous success stories from our users. It’s a remarkable and fulfilling experience to see users’ eyes light up when they have their “aha” moment using Ravyn. One of my favorite moments while working on Ravyn was witnessing one of our early beta users secure a multi-million dollar deal using our platform. It confirmed that we had a product that felt like magic.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As a foodie and fitness junkie, heres some of the places I would recommend:

Lobos Boxing Club – https://lobosboxingclub.com

The Culver Steps – https://theculversteps.com

Griffith Observatory – https://griffithobservatory.org

Petite Trois – https://petittrois.com

Bao Dim Sum House – https://www.baodimsum.com

Republique – https://republiquela.com

Citizen Public Market – https://www.citizenpublicmarket.com

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have to give huge props to my co-founders, Bryan Johnson and Kevin Masterson. In a startup, you need people around you who provide unwavering support and dedication to the business. We all draw strength from each other to keep everything moving forward.

Website: https://ravyn.app

Instagram: https://twitter.com/ikowilson

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ikowilson/

Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/ikowilson/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp84Z2lrdJQ_2OlEWg-W7hw

Image Credits
Nikki Dalonzo