Almost two-thirds of consumers ages 18 to 40 say ads are disruptive and annoying, while 54% say they don’t spend any time watching television with advertising, according to a study by Marketing Dive. The survey found that 73% of younger consumers trust product reviews from “a person that seems like them,” while 62% trust the recommendations of people who follow the same creators. This yearning for authenticity makes influencer marketing an important tool for brands that seek to cut through ad clutter.


50 million creators advertise products worldwide and more brands are shifting from hiring big creators with huge audiences, to finding micro and nano influencers to target niche products and advertise their products in a more organic way.

In this episode I sat down with Alessandra Angelini, CEO and cofounder of Influur, a marketplace that makes it easy for brands and influencers to connect and work together,
to talk about influencer marketing, the latest marketing trends and how brands can benefit from working with influencers.


From news to social media entrepreneur

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Alessandra worked at CNN alongside her now cofounder Paola Coleman as part of the breaking news team. They were both used to contacting presidents, heads of state and various public figures without difficulty so that they could be interviewed on CNN programs. However, both were surprised to realize that it was not so easy to contact influencers.

For the duo, it was an "aha!" moment. In the creative world, influencers don't have LinkedIn or a professional platform to monetize their work. This realization led Alessandra to join forces with her cofounders and take the leap to launch a platform that would allow brands and influencers to easily connect and monetize their collaborations.

Listen to this episode of Crossing Borders to find out how the four Influur cofounders met, and how they went from an idea to building a working marketplace for the creator economy.


When your customers become your investors

Fundraising is fundamentally a relationship game, and to Alessandra, a personal one. She is building a community and looks for investors who not only want to generate a financial return, but also add real value to her company. Some of Influur’s own customers - the influencers - became some of their first investors. Talk about the perfect brand ambassadors!

Although Influur is changing the way influencers make money and the way new creators can grow on social media, brands are the ones having their own "aha!" moments with the realization that partnering with influencers has a stronger ROI than paid ads.

Listen to this episode to find out how Alessandra started her fundraising journey from doing a spreadsheet to having top celebrities like Sofia Vergara and Thalia in the investment team.

Outline of this episode

[01:10] - Introduction to Alessandra
[01:29] - About Influur
[02:17] - The world of influencers
[04:36] - Alessandra’s background
[07:06] - Meeting her co founders
[08:04] - Finding a problem
[12:28] - From idea to launching a startup
[13:55] - Fundraising
[19:47] - Why should brands invest in influencer marketing?
[23:10] - Alessandra’s favorites podcasts and books
[24:27] - Advice to a younger Alessandra

Resources and people mentioned:

Alessandra Angelini
Valeria Angelini
Paola Coleman
Fefi Oliveira
Influur
Howard Schultz Masterclass
Bob Iger Masterclass
Sara Blakely Masterclass
Zero to One by Peter Thiel
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson