Thingtesting x For Starters
How For Starters Founder and Brand Spotter Danny Giacopelli Finds New Things
Have you ever dreamed of starting your own brand? For Starters is a weekly newsletter all about people doing just that. We asked founder Danny Giacopelli to share the brands currently on his radar, as well as some ideas for where to spot new ones before they get big.
Photo: Danny Giacopelli
Hey Danny! Please introduce yourself.
I’m Danny Giacopelli, the founder of For Starters, an independent weekly newsletter for the next generation of small business owners. I send small biz inspiration, ideas, tips and tools every Friday morning to thousands of subscribers around the world. Previously, I was editorial director of Courier magazine and host of Monocle’s business podcast The Entrepreneurs. New York raised, London based.
Can you tell us about some under-the-radar brands, and where you spotted them?
Matsu-Cha – At London Coffee Festival last year. They had, by far, the most beautiful stand and packaging.
Thames Carpets – They’ve had a few stories in national media about them, and I also included it in For Starters. A father-daughter operation, such a good story.
MTTR – Instagram, maybe? I’ve followed Bob Shankly as he built this brand, and I receive his incredibly thoughtful, well-crafted catalogs in the post. All about the details.
Seed Folk – At Salad Days, a small business brand pop-up market at Battersea Power Station a few months ago. I bought a seed kit.
Squarehood – I’m a photographer and have been a customer for a while. Designed in Sweden and run by photographer Thomas Mansell. If you own a Fuji camera, you probably know Squarehood.
Grandpa's Shirts – I met the founder at a market!
Marou – Visited their delicious shop on a trip to Vietnam.
Where do you go when you want to find out about new things?
When creating For Starters each week, I go through a pretty enormous research process of manually searching a few hundred websites, newsletters, etc. So that helps. But I also constantly talk to friends in industries and cities around the world who have vantage points on local brands and trends. I also follow people like Caroline Weaver, whose project The Locavore Guide is a directory of 14,000 NYC small businesses. She also now has a store.
What makes you stop and take notice of a brand?
Attention to detail. The little details tell the bigger story.