{"id":39318,"date":"2018-12-10T03:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T08:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/?p=39318"},"modified":"2021-04-23T00:07:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T04:07:06","slug":"shes-raised-200m-venture-capital-rhinestone-cicada-helped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/shes-raised-200m-venture-capital-rhinestone-cicada-helped\/","title":{"rendered":"She\u2019s Raised Over $200 Million In Venture Capital. A Rhinestone Cicada May Have Helped"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"iframewrap\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Cd2TL-LOrKo\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>I recently\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/pam-marrone-marronebio-natural-pest-control-company\/\">spoke<\/a>\u00a0with Pam Marrone, one of the rare women leading a public company. Her <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/entrepreneur-stories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">startup<\/a>, Marrone Bio Innovations, develops natural alternatives to dangerous pesticides.<\/p>\n<p>Marrone is an entomologist by training &#8212; and to say she is an insect enthusiast is putting it lightly. Growing up, \u201cI loved bugs,\u201d she recalls. After graduating from Cornell and North Carolina State universities, Marrone went to work for agro-giant Monsanto in the 1980s &#8212; until the company pivoted into genetically modified seeds. She left. \u201cI wanted to continue my passion for [discovering] a holistic way to control pests, rather than knock \u2018em dead with a toxic chemical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With her background in bugs, Marrone started her first natural-pest-control company, Agro-Quest, which was ultimately sold to Bayer. In 2006, she launched Marrone Bio. Like many entrepreneurs, she\u2019s endured a host of highs and lows &#8212; including an employee accounting scandal that nearly sunk the company &#8212; but believes her timing is finally right. \u201cPeople are concerned about where their food comes from,\u201d she says. \u201cThey want it to be grown in a safe way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>[Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/how-to-market-your-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">10 Tips for How to Market Your Business on the Cheap<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Marrone, whose company now makes more than $18 million in annual revenue, is not the only entrepreneur in the hot biologicals space. But one way she has always stood out is by wearing insect-themed jewelry. Quite literally, \u201cI wear my profession,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s also a great conversation starter wherever I go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Favorite pieces include a pearl-studded horsefly pin, a blue-and-white praying mantis, and a cicada pin with rhinestone wings and a purple-glass body. (Indeed, when we interviewed her for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?time_continue=240&amp;v=Cd2TL-LOrKo\">this video<\/a>, she was wearing a ladybug necklace and matching earrings). She prefers more unusual bugs to the standard-issue dragonfly or butterfly jewelry. And ever the bootstrapper, these aren\u2019t Harry Winston or Van Cleef &amp; Arpels. \u201cNone of the pieces are expensive, and I have a relatively low upper limit for spending,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Does she really get a lot of comments on the jewelry? \u201cYes. In business, always someone comments on them,\u201d she says. Considering she\u2019s raised more than $200 million in venture capital, it\u2019s quite possible the\u00a0quirky pieces have helped. \u00a0\u201cBut also wherever I am in the world &#8212; flight attendants, gate agents, airport security screeners, Starbucks servers\u201d &#8212; somebody always remarks about them, she says.<\/p>\n<p>The jewelry is more than a conversation piece. Wearing things like a rhinestone cicada is a tangible reminder of her vision and the importance of her work. \u201cBelief in the mission \u2026 is why we are here today,\u201d she says. \u201cI would do anything to keep this company going.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>[Related:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/unusual-item-inspired-science-entrepreneurs-career-path\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Unusual Item That Inspired This Science Entrepreneur\u2019s Career Path<\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pam Marrone of Marrone Bio Innovations has a unique way to stand out. It&#8217;s a clever small business marketing strategy, too. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":38473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"autoblue_enabled":false,"autoblue_custom_message":"","autoblue_shares":[],"autoblue_post_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7962,35],"tags":[19466,20432,20404,19731],"class_list":["post-39318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-branding-marketing-advice-tips","category-startup-tips","tag-pharmaceuticals-biotechnology","tag-natural-pest-control","tag-sustainable-agriculture","tag-women-entrepreneurs"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Here&#039;s a Clever Small Business Marketing Strategy: Wear Insect Jewelry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pam Marrone of Marrone Bio Innovations has a unique way to stand out. It&#039;s a clever small business marketing strategy, too.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/shes-raised-200m-venture-capital-rhinestone-cicada-helped\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"She\u2019s Raised Over $200 Million In Venture Capital. A Rhinestone Cicada May Have Helped\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pam Marrone of Marrone Bio Innovations has a unique way to stand out. It&#039;s a clever small business marketing strategy, too.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thestoryexchange.org\/shes-raised-200m-venture-capital-rhinestone-cicada-helped\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Story Exchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheStoryExchange\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-10T08:00:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-23T04:07:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdn1.thestoryexchange.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/22215058\/PamMarrone_marqueenoplay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"657\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Colleen DeBaise\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@TheStoryXchange\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Colleen DeBaise\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Here's a Clever Small Business Marketing Strategy: Wear Insect Jewelry","description":"Pam Marrone of Marrone Bio Innovations has a unique way to stand out. 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Her most recent book is \u201cStart a Successful Business.\u201d She has also written about the rewards and challenges of entrepreneurship for Inc., Entrepreneur and BusinessWeek, among others. She has been interviewed on MSNBC, Fox, CNBC, CBS and NPR. Colleen has a master\u2019s in journalism from Northwestern University. 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