Come visit our new web site

OK this blog has served us well during our start-up days... thank you blogger! A few days ago we launched our new web site which will also host our blogging adventures from here on in. So come on over and check it out!

www.ursamajormen.com

Yahtzee! Making some big decisions

Making some agonizing decisions behind the scenes right now, just so you can experience Ursa Major in all its glory, very soon.

Huge thank-you to the very committed and able team of partners (creative, digital, product development, funding, legal, etc) helping us pull this all together.

The Great Bear is, in spite of some gnarly obstacles along the way, coming together. In a MAJOR way. To a place near you. Soon.

Are industrial chemicals causing a silent pandemic?

Updated: Kid-Safe Chemicals Act: 10 Americans @ Yahoo! Video

We encourage you to watch this video if you're at all concerned about the rampant, largely unchecked use of synthetic chemicals in the U.S. personal care industry.

We're not saying this video is 'the be all and end all', just that it's a worthy contribution to the evolving debate around what defines safe personal care in America today.

If you're skeptical, consider these shocking stats for a minute (all sourced from the video, but variations on similar data we've seen from other credible sources):

• 50% of men will get cancer
• Sperm count in men is declining 1% year
• Infertility in young couples is up 20% over historical norms (7.3 million couples in the US having challenges getting pregnant, notably couples in their 20s & 30s)
• Kids are increasingly born with serious health issues (leukemia, brain cancer, reproductive disorders)

Serious stuff. What's going on? What's causing what some would describe as a "silent pandemic"? 

Elevated stress levels in modern society? Maybe this is part of the answer. We know that stress is a killer (and, conversely, that managing stress properly is a life-saver).

However, this video implicates the build-up of toxins in our bodies after years of exposure to synthetic chemicals in our food, personal care, toys, water, air, etc. as the principal cause.

Our advice: bone up on the subject, learn about what's safe and what isn't and minimize unnecessary exposure to all synthetic chemicals. Why risk your health, the most valuable thing in life?

Slaying Hydras left and right

Oh vast multitudes, please forgive the lack of posting in recent weeks! It's not for lack of productive* activity on our side, I can promise you that! No, just the opposite, in fact: we've been hustling 24/7 with our very able collaborators, slaying Hydras left and right (why do start-ups face so many of them?), so we can bring our awesome brand and products to market. Nothing will deter us from success. NOTHING. Soon - sooner than even our biggest supporters might hope - you'll get a real taste of the Big Bear.

* important modifier

Change in the air for personal care

There's some pretty MAJOR stuff going down in the personal care industry right now.

First up, a bill called The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 has just been introduced in Congress. Here's an excerpt from The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics web site:

For the first time in 70 years, Congress is ready to close the gaping holes in the outdated federal law that allows chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, learning disabilities and other illnesses in the products we use on our bodies every day.

On July 21, Reps. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., introduced the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 (H.R.5786), which gives the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to ensure that personal care products are free of harmful ingredients.

This legislation will affect every American—everyone who puts on moisturizer or uses shampoo or deodorant. More and more people are concerned about unsafe chemicals in our everyday lives, and getting these toxics out of the stuff we rub on our bodies every day is just common sense. It will also help the cosmetics industry by fostering the development of the safer products American consumers are demanding.

 The legislation is waaay overdue in our opinion and is an encouraging sign that the US personal care industry is finally going to be held more accountable to the people it's meant to be serving.

Read more about it here - even better, tell your elected officials to pass this common-sense bill.

Also, this video about the sorry state of affairs in the Cosmetics Industry from The Story of Stuff and The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is creating quite a stir....

Take a few minutes to watch it!

Learn about the toxins in your personal care

Check out this brief video for a good primer on what may be lurking in your personal care. Environmental Working Group has become an awesome resource for consumers and is spearheading the movement towards a healthier, more accountable personal care industry. Bring it on!

We're incredibly excited to be working in this field right now, creating a robust natural alternative for people who know better and are actively rejecting impersonal, chemical-intensive "personal care". Pretty soon you'll be able to buy our initial products via our web site and at selected retailers nationwide :)

Brand awareness in Iceland

So Iceland was great... every time we travel we notice little brands we've never seen before, or see familiar ones in a new light. Here are some snaps from the trip. (The first one means Fish King and is a popular fish shop in Reykjavik - they were just closing when we pulled in but they stayed open for a few minutes when they heard I came all the way from Vermont to try their halibut :)

A few of these designs are inspirations for Ursa Major; we'll let you decide which!

No toxic deodorant for me thx

One half of the Great Bear team is traveling in Iceland at the moment (visiting a good friend and doing some consulting for a local natural body care company seeking to enter the US market) and I forgot our natural deodorant prototype back home in Vermont. Damn! (It's the only natural deo stick I've tried that actually works - I swear.) There don't appear to be ANY natural deodorant sticks in this country, so I'm going without, making sure I shower twice a day. Not ideal but - knowing what's in mass-marketed deodorants/antiperspirants - there's no way I'm going to resort to that crap. Actually, it's easy to stay super-clean here because every neighborhood has spotless, geothermal public swimming pools fed by clean, warm water and showers, etc. Good opportunity to get some swimming in. Btw, my host sent me this photo earlier this year - awesome scenery around here.

Kicking off "stability testing"

This is what 50 blank tubes look like when they arrive at your front door.

Now that we've started to approve our formulas for production, we'll be using these tubes for "stability testing", a mandatory 90-day test our labs run on each formula to make sure it holds up over time and doesn't react adversely with the packaging material we plan to use (in this case, mono-layer medium-density polyethylene (MDPE) with 50% post-consumer recycled waste (PCR) - what a mouthful!).

Basically, the lab fills 50 tubes with the formula in question, stores them into an insulated room, turns up the heat, and tests a handful of tubes every few weeks to see how they're holding up under duress. If, after 90 days, a product comes out the other end intact, it's deemed stable and ready for production. 90 days under heat is meant to replicate a 2-3 year shelf-life.

Natural products are inherently less stable/more volatile than their chemical/conventional counterparts because they aren't packed with bomb-proof chemical preservatives. That said, the best formulators are figuring out how to use natural (plant-derived) preservative systems with good results. In some cases, small doses of inert/safe chemicals are necessary.

Obviously, we're hoping we get the green light on all of our products so we can move straight into production.

Decamping for the weekend

We went on a small tour this past weekend... destination was a place called Parker Pie in West Glover, Vermont, about 50 miles north of here on some of the most beautiful back-roads you'll find anywhere. If you like country-style pizza joints with friendly service and delicious beer, then this place is for you!

One might wonder what this blog entry has to do with Ursa Major... well, actually, not very much at all! Except for the fact that we believe it's essential for entrepreneurs to get away from their desks on weekends and do what they love. In our case, we love exploring on bikes and skis.

Americans skeptical of 'green' marketing claims

Recent article on National Geographic's NatGeo Newswatch column highlights the challenges of marketing 'green products' to Americans, as well as the importance of being transparent and honest about so-called 'green' claims:

"Compared to the attitude of the average consumer in other countries surveyed, Americans express less concern about environmental problems, and they increasingly consider the seriousness of environmental issues to be exaggerated (31 percent, up from 25 percent). American consumers' behavior still ranks least sustainable among all countries polled...

Those polled listed suspicion of "green-washing" - companies making false or exaggerated claims about the environmental benefits of their products - as the most significant deterrent to making more sustainable choices, followed by the sense that individual behavior couldn't do much good if corporations and governments didn't also adopt and enforce sustainable practices."

Rampant "green-washing" in our market is one of the reasons we started this company, so you won't be seeing any of that from Ursa Major. Hold us to it!

Btw, we snapped these very green photos locally over the past few days.... Now it's time to get some work done before hitting the trails dipping into some delicious Trapp's Vienna lager. Have a good one!

Thanks for the feedback everyone

So, we got 22 folks (out of 25 or so) giving us detailed feedback on the shave cream label (see post below). Overall, very helpful. Thanks everyone!

Now we have to figure out which advice to take and which to ignore :) One of our informal advisers summed it up like this:

"... you have to sift through all the "mother-in-law" feedback and ultimately trust your gut as an experienced marketer to know what is best for your brand given the marketplace.  That's the art, the hard part, and the fun of what you guys are trying to create!"

Trust your gut. Yes, that's what Ursa Major's all about!

So, here's where we ended up (the colors look much better printed... also, the ingredient call-outs are not final). If anyone has any final comments, please use the Comment section here on this blog, or just send us an email.

In the meantime, we're working hard on our web site, collateral, products, packaging, etc, in preparation for our launch this fall... & trying to get outside for a bike or hike in the afternoons to keep it real!

Btw, we plan to move this blog to our new web site in June - stay tuned for the switch.

Peek at label design for Ursa Major Shave Cream

So it's been a while coming but here's a look at the shave cream label we have in development. Now if there was ever a time to comment on this blog, this is it! We would love to hear from you. What do you think? Do you love it? Hate it? Indifferent? Let it fly!

In the meantime, we're off for a bike ride before hitting the pub for well-earned Trapp's lager!

Awareness re: rampant use of toxins on the rise

In case you missed it, one of the most popular articles on the NY Times web site this week, New Alarm Bells About Chemicals and Cancer, cites a new report by the President's Cancer Panel linking the widespread use of suspect toxins in personal care and other industries to the alarming rise in cancer rates, notably among children. A few sobering excerpts:

“Only a few hundred of the more than 80,000 chemicals in use in the United States have been tested for safety,” the report says. It adds: “Many known or suspected carcinogens are completely unregulated.”...

Some 41 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, and they include Democrats and Republicans alike. Protecting ourselves and our children from toxins should be an effort that both parties can get behind — if enough members of Congress are willing to put the public interest ahead of corporate interests...

One reason for concern is that some cancers are becoming more common, particularly in children. We don’t know why that is, but the proliferation of chemicals in water, foods, air and household products is widely suspected as a factor.

Can't wait to get our products and brand out there. Pretty soon we'll have lab samples ready to send out if you're curious to try our products. Email us if you're interested.

Help wanted: bright part-timer for summer '10

We're looking for a smart whippersnapper summer intern/staffer to help out with some important projects Jun - Aug. Work will span from the cerebral to the rather mundane: online research to develop our wholesale account target list, competitive analysis for future product development, runs to the post office, seeding our brand in the appropriate online communities, local guerilla bear marketing, etc. 10-20 hours a week, on a project basis.

This will be a paid internship which could lead to a full-time position. Low hourly wages will be supplemented with generous quantities of robust natural premium skin care for men. Gig is probably ideal for someone - male or female - finishing up high school or an undergrad. Will require at least one visit/week to our global HQ here in Stowe, as well as runs to local stores, post office, etc, so having a car or a bike with a trailer and strong legs will help.

Please note: we're only interested in exceptionally motivated, bright and responsible people who have a genuine interest in sales and marketing, premium products and sustainable entrepreneurship. Dead-beats need not apply. Drop us a line - oliver dot sweatman at gmail dot com - if you're interested; otherwise, please pass this along to other folks if you have any good ideas. Thank you!

(We took this photo but can't recall the artist. Pretty sure he/she is local/VT-based. Anyone have any ideas? Let us know and we'll list the artist here. Thanks.)

Not letting perfection become the enemy of good

We just got back from our weekly trip to Burlington. This time to visit with a local artist who is working on a bear logo for us (promising) and also to meet with a couple of local entrepreneurs who've expressed an interest in investing in our company. Overall, very productive!

One of the entrepreneurs passed along some advice we've heard before, but this time it really stuck: "don't let perfection become the enemy of good". That's good advice, and very timely for us as we finish up our product offering, packaging, etc. It's a natural tendency for entrepreneurs to try and "perfect" their offering before going to market, but that can be a fatal mistake and we're not going to fall for that trap! 

Separately, this wine label has caught our attention... literally, meaning "The Big Black" or Black Sheep, there are obvious parrallels with Ursa Major ("Great Bear"). We like the big black iconic illustrated sheep, the texture in the background, the typography, the uncluttered layout, the translation tip-off for those of us who aren't Francophiles and - most of all - the golden glint in the sheep's eye! The spirited copy on the back label doesn't disappoint either. Finally, the wine is tasty and reasonably priced.

What's your company's story?

This company makes fantastic coffee. Try their Darkest Roast if you like it strong. Biking through a town north of here this past weekend, I noticed this poster by the cash wrap. Caught my eye because we're writing copy now for our packaging and web site, including the inevitable "about us" page.

The poster - or story - is effective because it's simple, earnest and memorable. Passionate coffee expert travels around world to find the best beans and then roasts them lovingly just around the corner in Vermont. What's not to get? Or like? Really, the coffee's awesome. Try it.

Sorry the photo's not clearer - there's a lot of caffeine in this stuff!

Burgeoning 'Lohas' marketplace

"The first Earth Day was 40 years ago and the green marketplace was just taking shape. Today, a majority of consumers are incorporating environmental considerations into their day-to-day lives — not just attitudinally, but by voting behaviorally with their dollars by spending $290 billion on goods and services that are environmentally-friendly, socially responsible and/or healthy." NMI LOHAS Business Director, Gwynne Rogers

Yes the Big Bear plans to get a small share of that them there $290 billion pie...

Inspired by good beer on a Friday

Some weeks we're firing on all pistons and things just seem to go our way. This week was one of them, so this weekend it's going to feel great to put the 'Big Bear ' aside and get outside into the woods, even if it's meant to start snowing again!

Btw, we've started sharpening the pencil on a not-too official URSA MAJOR web site which we plan to launch in 2-3 phases starting with a lightly branded version this spring. It's time for a more pulled-together online presence so retailers and investors start taking us for real :)

It's Friday at 5.30pm so it's about that time - to head off and get a cold tasty beer! I think the URSA MAJOR guy is the one who appreciates tasty, well-made beer... and coffee... and chocolate... and cheese... and spirits too (although we go light on that stuff around here)!

Speaking of beer, there's a LOT of good beer in Vermont and that's good because Vermonters like the stuff. A lot. Pioneers like Sam Adams and Anchor Steam did a lot to help wean American guys off Bud and Coors light and we take inspiration from that. Big time. In a MAJOR way.

Chomping at the bit to get live

We're chomping at the bit to get out there and start talking to retailers in earnest about the 'Big Bear' but we're not quite ready to do so and it's agonizing!!!

Retailers want to see (pretty) final product, packaging, web site, collateral, etc. and, while we're working over-time on all of these items, we're just not ready for show time.

Good stuff takes time to develop. Hopefully it'll show when we finally take the Big Bear out for a walk!

Thank God for the UPS Guy

We're in that weird place right now, waiting for products to be finished up, waiting for costing info, waiting for retailer feedback, waiting to hear back from investors...

At times like this you can drive yourself nuts by second-guessing things you can't control, pushing too hard, or you can re-focus on the business and keep building, moving things forward one piece at a time.

Then, later, just when you're totally immersed in the moment, working, creating, the call or email will come in, or the package will arrive, and the waiting's over, the answer has arrived.

That's often how it goes...

This very thing happened a few days ago, when the UPS truck rolled up, interrupting a working lunch, to deliver five samples of a 100%-natural deodorant we absolutely love. It's the first natural one we've found that works. Really well. Stay tuned.

Life's too short to use toxic shave cream

We signed up a strong adviser yesterday so we hit American Flatbread in Burlington to unwind and celebrate a bit, two easy things to do at "Flatbread" as locals call it.

We arrived at opening time (4.30pm) and within 15 minutes the place was seething with locals eager to get in on an event billed as "Enter the Smutty: An Evening With Smuttynose Brewery".

Beer was flowing, left and right. This fellow's shirt caught our attention... This is exactly how we feel about men's personal care, so we started kicking around some ideas for Ursa Major:

"Life's too short to use toxic shave cream."
"Life's too short to to put crap on your face."

You get the idea... We have some others too (good ones!), but we gotta keep those under wraps until we're a little further along with 'the biz'!

75% of "natural" personal care not so natural

Some telling snippets from CGI's recent article, Naturals Market Maintains Strong Global Growth:

... Nearly 75% of so-called natural personal care products are not so natural after all. The overwhelming majority are considered “natural-inspired,” comprised mostly of synthetics with just enough natural ingredients thrown in to take advantage of low consumer differentiation.

Unfortunately, the lack of explicit standards that define the degree of naturalness in most markets makes it possible for manufacturers in some countries to call their products “natural” just by adding a flowery label to the package.

... In the United States, consumer demand for naturals is growing, but so is the skepticism that should incite marketers to develop truly natural products that deliver more than marketing hype.

This is one of the reasons why we're adhering to - and plan to use - the relatively stringent Natural Product Association's Natural Product Standard seal.

What's your reverse elevator pitch?

We've been "pitching" quite a bit lately so this video clip re: the "reverse elevator" pitch is interesting... worth 30 seconds. She's talking about the insurance industry but I think it works for any sector:

 
Maria Umbach - The Reverse Elevator Speech from Maddock Douglas, Inc. on Vimeo.

So, what's your reverse elevator pitch? What do folks say about you/your brand when you walk out the door?

It seems to us the goal is to close the gap between the elevator pitch (the desired outcome) and the reverse elevator pitch, between what you want your brand to be and what it actually is.

Right now, our elevator pitch is: the spirited natural alternative to toxic men's personal care
Our reverse elevator pitch, if we get things right, might be: effective natural skin care for men

Time will tell...

Thanks for the encouragement

Good morning everyone! We've had some encouraging comments on the blog in recent weeks, so we thought we should recycle that positive energy here for our collective benefit:

“I truly believe in the need for your product and would venture to say you'll be very successful.”

“This is fantastic. Thank you for chronicling your brand journey so beautifully.”

“I love the Big Bear!”

“I feel an immediate attraction to Ursa Major and think the rugged VT-esque tie in is perfect…”

Not every day is jolly around here, so it really helps to get this kind of encouragement to help power through the darker days. Thank you! Muchas gracias! Danke schön! Siyabonga!

(Photo above taken at the Open Arms Cafe, a truly bright spot up here in the Vermont food scene... and one of our favorite places for breakfast meetings.)

Spring is in the air

On days like yesterday, there's no excuse NOT to get outside. Ranch Valley cruise.

Pretty soon the bears will be coming out of hibernation...

It's only you

In case you're wondering what we're working on:

1. Finalizing our launch products (base formulas, fragrances, packaging, costing, etc)
2. Finalizing our brand / packaging (good things take time!)
3. Raising our second round of financing (always fun ;)
4. Getting ready to talk to customers (as soon as #1 and #2 above are complete)

We're getting lots of help from various talented collaborators (thank God!)...

But, as Smokey reminded us a few days back, when out on trail, it's "only you".

Not much wiggle room for 'fair trade'

Ben and Jerry's announced this week that all their products will be "fair trade" by 2013. Co-Founder Jerry Greenfield said,

“Fair Trade is about making sure people get their fair share of the pie. The whole concept of Fair Trade goes to the heart of our values and sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else.” (See full article).

Sourcing certified "fair trade" ingredients is something we believe in strongly and we're pushing our suppliers to incorporate fair trade (and organic) as much as possible.

The rub for us is that we're trying to keep our retail prices reasonable AND we don't yet have any economies of scale to make purchasing a high % of fair trade/organic ingredients viable, so we have to compromise.

For now, to get in the game, we plan to incorporate as much fair trade and organic as we can afford to (e.g. maintain a sensible margin), and as we grow and gain purchasing economies, we'll increase the % of fair trade/organic in our products.

Hopefully, as more p.c. brands seek out these ingredients, reliable supply chains will emerge and prices will start coming down, helping "green" the personal care supply chain, and mirroring what's happening in the food arena.

Either way, it's great to see Ben and Jerrys, now a global player, take the lead on being a responsible business, again.

Signs of vitality in naturals

Just picked this up in the Natural Foods Merchandiser:

Jay Jacobowitz, president and founder of Retail Insights, a professional consulting service for natural products retailers in Brattleboro, Vt., said independent retailers in the natural products industry as a whole have not suffered as much as conventional retailers, averaging about 7 percent growth over last year. Naturals and organics continue to be a lifestyle choice, not a fad, he said.

We haven't met Jay yet but he sounds like someone we should get to know as we start taking the Big Bear to market this spring/summer.

Men: be aware of what's in your personal care

Here's a sobering snippet re: the potential harmful effects of certain ingredients on men's health from the January 2009 edition of Not Just a Pretty Face - The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry by Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics:

"Harvard School of Public Health researchers Dr. Russ Hauser and Susan Duty studied men in an infertility clinic and found that men who had higher levels of DBP [a pthalate used in the manufacture of cosmetics] in their bodies had lower sperm quality and lower sperm motility. In a separate study of 379 men from an infertility clinic, the Harvard researchers correlated diethyl phthalate (DEP) with DNA damage in the men's sperm, a condition that can lead to infertility and miscarriage. DEP is the pthalate used most widely in cosmetics. The chemical appears to be getting into people's bodies from the products... Men who used cologne or aftershave within 48 hours before urine collection had more than twice the levels of DEP in their bodies as men who did not use cologne or aftershave... For each additional type of personal care product used, the DEP metabolite in their bodies increased by 33%."

It's important to point out that pthalates are not listed on the ingredient lists of personal care products; if they're there they're usually buried in the term "fragrance". Fragrance is considered a "trade secret" so manufacturers are not required to disclose the ingredients that make up "fragrance".

A 2007 study conducted by Consumer Reports "found phthalates in 72% of personal care products, including fragrance-containing shampoos, deodorants and hair gels. None of the products listed pthalates on the label."

This is a good example of how opaque and toxic the incumbent personal care industry has become over the years... But the tide is turning, with concerned consumers gaining the upper hand, thanks in large part to greater transparency ushered in by the web.

We're doing our best to understand these issues without sensationalizing them, and we'll share key learnings here as we go... Please let us know if you come across any insightful articles or news on the matter.

The day after: Peak Pitch report

We would be remiss not to post the results of 'Peak Pitch' after Tuesday's bluster:

Fortunately, our prep paid off early in the day with Emily picking up 5 investor votes (2nd place in a field of about 20-25 entrepreneurs) and Oliver sneaking through with 4 votes (tied for 3rd).

This respectable performance was sufficient to win URSA MAJOR pole position for the 'finals', a grueling pitch-off between the morning's top 3 qualifiers to the event's 50+ attendees, over lunch.

Peak Pitch being a professional and scientific venture fair hosted in Vermont, scoring of the three finalists was to be determined by nothing less than the volume of the crowd's response.

Emily kicked off the proceedings, stepping up to the podium in her ski boots and delivering a fine pitch indeed, even with her right thigh shaking uncontrollably, no doubt from the morning's vigorous skiing. 

The two other eager entrepreneurs then did their best to out-pitch Emily, with #2 doing a decent job IMO and #3 demonstrating rampant abuse of the format by waffling on for 10+ minutes.

The event's mediator then stepped up to podium to poll the audience on who the winner might be, with vocal cheering and cat-calling following after each entrepreneur's name was read out aloud.

Surprisingly - at least to those of us favoring Emily's pitch - the crowd's applause appeared to be pretty much even for all three contestants, leaving the arbiter in a quandary: was this to be a three-way tie?

Apparently not. At that moment, an iPod-toting member of the crowd volunteered his "decibel counter" iPhone app to help determine who the swag-bound winner might be.

So the the three finalist's names were called out again, in succession, and the crowd cheered (or jeered!) for each one, while the scientific reading was taken.

Measured this way, the Big Bear took bronze!

Overall, an excellent day. We had a chance to 'pitch' URSA MAJOR to over a dozen potential investors, gaining valuable feedback and enjoying some laughs along the way.

Thank you again to the event's organizers and sponsors.