Mason

Delivered April 27th, 2019. Contributors: Lu J., Michael B., Josh T., Olatunji Otuniyi and

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Mason

Five of Mason's largest competitors, including each company's website, overview, location, size, key customers, and geography served, have been compiled in the attached spreadsheet. 
MethodologyMason is the world's first front-end-as-a-service platform that "lets you plan, design, build, and deploy fully-function front-end experiences without writing a single line of code." Therefore, Mason operates in relatively new industry of front-end-as-a-service platforms. The industry is small and consists of mainly start-ups, which is why we were able to identify almost, if not all, the companies currently visible in the FAAS space. Our approach was to first identify all the companies that are publicly stating they operate in the FAAS industry, and then sort them by their revenue (if available) as a primary criterion, and funding (if available) as a secondary criterion. If neither of the criteria could be met, the company would not qualify as one of Mason's largest competitors.
Five of Mason's largest competitorsThe companies which are advertising their work as front-end-as-a-service platform are as follows:
1. FRONTASTIC
 Frontastic is the Frontend as a Service provider for the API-First eCommerce and headless CMS.
Frontastic does not have any net revenue yet but has raised over $100,000 in funding. 

2. MOBIFY
Mobify is a Front-end as a Service (FaaS) for building "modern, customer-first shopping experiences through Progressive Web Apps (PWA), Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), and native apps."
Mobify does not have any revenue yet but has raised $27.7 million in funding. 

3. WALMART LABS
 Walmart Labs is Walmart's spin-off Front-end as a Service platform that is responsible for Walmart’s global e-Commerce initiatives.
Walmart Labs has a revenue of $50 million with the funding amount not disclosed as it's part of the larger Walmart Corporation.

4. 3VOT
 3VOT is a Front-End as a Service that allows companies to build apps five time faster with "reusable NPM components and the best of the modern collaborative models."
Neither funding nor revenue data is available to the public.

5. NUWEBA
Nuweba is a FaaS platform that offers a one-click migration from AWS Lambda, Azure Functions, IBM Cloud Functions, and Google Cloud Functions, and "claims to offer a tenfold speed increase with 8-40ms invocation latency without container reuse." 
Nuweba raised $4.3 million and has $1 million in revenue.

6. EXTEND
 Extend is a now-retired platform that operated as a SaaS turned FaaS provider.
Neither funding nor revenue data is available to the public.

7. SWIFT LABS
Swift Labs is a "Wireless & IoT Product Development and Testing Services" platform.
Swift Labs raised $500,000 in funding.

Out of the seven companies, five had published data for revenue and/or funding. Therefore, five of the largest Mason competitors based on revenue and/or funding for Mason are:
Walmart Labs	
Mobify	
Nuweba	
Swift Labs	
Frontastic

A competitive analysis for Mason's five of the largest competitors has been compiled in the attached spreadsheet. 

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Odeko

Based on publicly published information, we have identified Presto, Avero, Compeat, Sicom, and Restaurant365 as the five top competitors with Odeko in the space of smart restaurant inventory solutions. Other competitors in this space include BevSpot, TabSquare, and ChefHero. Below is a deep dive into our selection process and an overview of each company and their platform.
METHODOLOGY
As we studied the project criteria, we realized that there was room for interpretation. For example, Square and Toast are offered as an example of a competitor to Odeko, but while Square and Toast do offer some AI-based solutions to, for example, inventory management (Odeko’s primary selling point), we soon found that Square and Toast primarily focus on offering their own POS systems, and partner with other companies to provide said smart inventory solutions. We, therefore, focused on those partnerships rather than on the larger clients.

Identifying top players in an industry segment dominated by startups and small, private companies is always difficult, as credible revenue estimates are not always available and/or may not be indicative of the company’s overall size and importance in the case of VC-funded startups. Therefore, we used the more readily-available data point of each company’s employee count. While not ideal, this provides us with the ability to at least make an apples-to-apples comparison across several companies in very different stages of development.
 PRESTO
 Presto, formerly known as E la Carte and located in Redwood City, CA (just south of San Fransisco), provides a machine learning platform which not only allows restaurateurs to "capture the ordering habits of customers in real-time," enabling them to anticipate inventory needs based on trending items and food & drink pairings, but also to optimize staffing based on historical sales volume data. Their solution is used by Denny's, Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse, and Applebees, indicating that they have a nationwide reach. (We recognize that these chains are larger than Odeko's preferred targets, but were the only partnerships publicized by Presto.) While its revenue is not publicly available, Presto is reported to have $97.5 million in total funding and 330 employees, and the platform has a reported 30 million monthly users.
 AVERO
While Toast was suggested as a likely competitor to Odeko in the project criteria, our research found that Toast's inventory analysis software is actually licensed through a partnership with Avero. Avero, based in New York City, was founded in 1999, is believed to have between 101-250 employees (LinkedIn suggests less than 200) and annual revenue estimated at about $6.3 million. How Avero's partnership with Toast has affected its employee count and/or revenue is not yet publicly known. 

Avero's signature product is called Slingshot, "a cloud-based, SaaS analytics platform that turns mounds of data into clear, simple, actionable insights." The tool includes "a variety of with restaurant business intelligence software modules" and "is intelligent enough to give you only the insights you need in a way that is clear, simple and actionable." The company's clients include Clyde's, MK, Javelina, Luma, and Terroir, as well as Toast. We find no evidence that Avero is focused on a particular geographic area.
 COMPEAT
Compeat, headquartered in Austin, TX, is another long-term competitor in the restaurant management software sector, having been in business since 2000. The company offers a complete restaurant system that includes an inventory solution. The platform's features include making suggestions on orders and bids, forecasting food costs, recipe analysis, "and actual vs. theoretical inventory analytics." 

We were unable to pin down Compeat's employee count precisely, but between them, Crunchbase and LinkedIn suggest that the count is between 100 and 200 people, which fits with Compeat's estimated $12 million in revenue. Compeat's current clients include Acme Oyster House, Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro, and Kerbey Lane Cafe. We find no evidence that they are focused on a particular geographic area.
 SICOM
 Established in 1987, Sicom is among the best-established players in the field and is headquartered in Lansdale, PA. The company reportedly employs 308 people. As a private company, Sicom is not required to disclose its financials, but is estimated to generate $30 million in annual revenue. Sicom's Inventory Management platform analyzes historical inventory usage to "accurately predict inventory needs" and allows the user to "dynamically manage the entire inventory process--from transfers to ordering, receiving and waste procedures." They operate in several restaurant industry sectors, with their fast casual clients including Subway, Malibu Poke, Bryn & Dane's Healthy Fast Food, and BurgerFi. They do not appear to limit themselves geographically.
 RESTAURANT365
Restaurant365 is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, where it was founded in 2011. The company provides an "all-in-one" restaurant management platform, which includes inventory alongside AP automation, scheduling, and accounting. It provides "smart, predictive forecasting" based on not only past history, but even factors such as the weather. The system expressly uses AI for its "shelf-to-shelf inventory" solution, which not only tracks ingredients in real time, but also offers suggestions when ordering. The platform integrates with several POS vendors (including, again, Toast), but also directly with restaurant customers, including Y Hata & Company, Twisted Root Burger Co., and Alpha Baking Co. 

Restaurant365 has raised a total of $39.5 million, including $19.5 million in its latest funding round in December 2018, and reportedly has 206 employees. As a private company, it does not report its revenue, and the only existing estimate (of $2 million) seems too small and likely out-of-date given its partnerships and employee count, even taking into account its recent venture capital infusion.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
In addition to the above top five companies, we found three more which were either smaller, headquartered out of the US, whose product is not as perfect a fit for the criteria, or some combination thereof.

 BEVSPOT 
In addition to its partnership with Avero, we also found news that Toast has recently partnered with BevSpot to take advantage of the latter's automation of tracking inventory, order status, and even for "calculating things like pour costs." The combined solution will make it easier for businesses "to see exact numbers on what goes into the kitchen, what goes out, spillage, customer complaints, theft, and a whole bunch of other factors that affect inventory."

BevSpot, which was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in Somerville, MA (just outside of Boston) has raised a total of $17.1 million in funding, but keeps its costs down with just 34 employees (the only reason it did not make our top five). Its current revenue is not known, but was last estimated at just $1.5 million. We were unable to determine from public records whether this estimate was made before or after BevSpot's deal with Toast, but we hypothesize from the low amount that it was before. BevSpot's clients include Cafe Du Pays, Alibi Bar & Lounge, the Cape Club, and Morningside Kitchen. They do not appear to be localized geographically, having clients from New England to the Midwest.

 TABSQUARE 
Tabsquare is a Singapore-based company that produces Aiden, an AI engine, which is capable of collecting and processing over a million data points per day. Aiden is built for both the front and back end of the restaurant, customizing diners' experiences based on "over 60 factors" as well as providing forecasting for inventory management. TabSquare has not yet made a debut in the US (hence why it lacks a place in our top five), instead being focused in the Asia Pacific region, working with companies such as Minor Food Group, Sushi Tei, and Paradise Food Group. The company is also smaller than our top five, having only 57 employees at present. Even so, its all-encompassing AI solution otherwise so perfectly fit the criteria that it demanded at least an honorable mention.

 CHEFHERO 
At first glance, ChefHero (based in Toronto, but recently having expanded to Chicago, IL) simply provides an ordering app for restaurateurs, and so seems to be outside of our criteria. However, the company appeared in a recent Techvibes article that highlighted the platform's smart capabilities, including that it "acts like a procurement team in digital form," securing "more competitive pricing" by streamlining the procurement process and adding transparency. While certainly an edge case to our criteria in terms of the solution and company's scope (the company only has 59 employees at present), nevertheless we judge ChefHero to be a likely up-and-coming competitor in Odeko's arena. ChefHero's clients include Fresh, Strangelove, and Well Juice.
CONCLUSION
Based on product lines and company size, Odeko's top five competitors are Presto, Avero, Compeat, Sicom, and Restaurant365, with BevSpot, TabSquare, and ChefHero in the place of possible future threats. However, this is a rapidly-changing arena, with multiple startups entering the field, and so this report might look very different if reworked next year.

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Supporting Female Executives

Six large companies offering coaching and development services to female executives in the U.S. are the Institute for Women's Leadership, Women Igniting Change, Bonnie Marcus's Women's Success Coaching, Berdéo Group, EWF International, and The Impact Center. Below are our research findings about those companies. In each company's section, we have explained why we determined each company to be a large company in the female executive coaching sector. 
six large companies offering coaching & development services to female executives in the u.s.1. INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP
The Institute for Women's Leadership is among the largest companies offering coaching and development services to female executives in the U.S. because it has 19 Fortune 100 companies as clients. The company provides coaching/development/learning services to women across numerous industries and company sizes. The company has a significant effort focused specifically on female executives, as it is specifically dedicated to serving female executives. 

The Institute for Women's Leadership provides an array of coaching, development, and learning services to primarily female leaders/executives and companies across industries. With specific regard to the company's executive coaching/development/learning services, the company focuses on the following four areas: (1) "Diagnostics and Problem-Solving," (2) Gender Coaching, (3) Breakthrough Coaching, and (4) "Mastering Large-Scale Change." The company has 21 staff members. The company's pricing is $4,500 for the Women Leading Change course (12 participant minimum), which translates to a cost of $375 per woman (assuming the 12 participant minimum, as 4,500 divided by 12 equals 375). 
2. WOMEN IGNITING CHANGE
 Women Igniting Change is a large company offering coaching and development services to female executives in the U.S. because it has numerous, major U.S. corporations as clients, including Deloitte, Microsoft, GE, Oracle, and Cisco. The company provides coaching/development/learning services to women across numerous industry and company sizes. Thus, the company has a significant effort focused specifically on female executives.

Women Igniting Change provides numerous female executive coaching services, including strategic planning, strategic development, interviews with key stakeholders, focus groups, "Women’s ERG/BRG Strategy & Coaching," customized training/workshops, assessment tools, creates curriculum, executive coaching, team coaching, women's initiatives within corporate social responsibility, "purpose[-]driven experiences for . . . [high] potential women leaders," and keynote speeches. The company provides the following statement about who it serves: "Forward-thinking Fortune 500, mid-market organizations and educational institutions committed to fully leveraging the strategic potential of their women leaders in order to positively impact the bottom line." The company has 13 employees. The price charged per woman is not available because the company instead directs those interested in its services to contact them directly and provide information about services sought, plus information about the client, such as company size. 
3. BONNIE MARCUS'S WOMEN'S SUCCESS COACHING
 Women's Success Coaching by Bonnie Marcus is a large company offering coaching and development services to female executives in the U.S. because (1) it has major U.S. corporations (such as Citi, Prudential, and Chubb Insurance) and universities (such as MIT, Harvard Business School, and NYU) as clients; (2) Bonnie has been consecutively named to the "Global Top 30 Gurus [for] Coaching" from 2015 through 2018; and (3) Bonnie has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Entrepreneur Magazine. Bonnie Marcus provides coaching/development/learning services to women across numerous industry and company sizes. The company has a significant effort focused specifically on female executives, as it is exclusively dedicating to coaching and developing female executives/leaders. 

 Bonnie Marcus provides both executive coaching and corporate coaching services designed for women and to advance the role of women, including top executives, in the workplace. Bonnie Marcus serves female senior executives and female middle managers, plus corporations and educational institutions "to support women’s leadership efforts in the workplace." Though Bonnie Marcus is a team of one, she has a vast reach and influence among female executives and within female leadership circles. This is demonstrated through her numerous and prominent clientele list, which is why we included her company as among the largest due to its reach nationwide. Bonnie Marcus's coaching programs cost $750 each, but whether that is the cost per person or per group is not stated. 
4.BERDÉO GROUP
 This link is to Berdéo Group's website. Berdéo Group is among the largest companies offering coaching and development services to female executives in the U.S. because (1) it "has been engaged by . . . [major US. companies] or their leaders"  including AON, ADP, The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Leo Burnett, PwC, and Volvo, among others, plus (2) the company has been featured by news outlets such as CNBC and U.S. News & World Report. Berdéo Group provides coaching/development/learning services to women across numerous industry and company sizes. 
The company has a significant effort focused specifically on female executives, as "Women's leadership development" is one of the company's four segments. 

"Berdéo Group is an executive coaching, women’s leadership development, change management and project management consulting company serving professional services, media and advertising companies globally." The company's services include "executive presence; power, influence & charisma; corporate politics; and decision-making." Though the company is comprised of two individuals, it has a vast reach and influence among female executives and within female leadership circles, as is demonstrated through her numerous and prominent clientele list, which is why we included it as a large company due to its nationwide reach. Neither pricing nor the price per woman is stated, but the company instead directs people to contact them via online form, email, or phone. 
5. EWF INTERNATIONAL
 This link is to EWF International's website. EWF International is among the largest companies offering coaching and development services to female executives in the U.S. because "[s]ince its . . . [founding], EWF International has grown to include 51 [female] business owners and executives on its roster. The group started with eight." The company provides coaching/development/learning services to women across numerous industry and company sizes. EWF International has a significant effort focused specifically on female executives, as the company offers executive forums for female leaders, plus "brings together women CEOs, women executives, and women-owned business leaders to meet real-world challenges."

The company "focus[es] on increasing the representation of women in senior leadership and business ownership by providing resources, community, and support throughout women’s leadership lifecycle." The services are categorized as executive coaching, workshops, and speaking engagements. The company serves female executives, female business owners, and emerging female leaders. EWF International has 13 employees, which we determined by counting the number of people in the staff picture. The company does not provide any pricing information, but instead includes a contact form for people to indicate which services they are interested in and information about themselves or their company for pricing purposes. 
6. THE IMPACT CENTER
 This link is to The Impact Center's website. The Impact Center is among the largest companies offering coaching and development services to female executives in the U.S. because many of the women who have participated in its annual Women’s Executive Leadership Program Class have come from major U.S. corporations such as Bain Capital and Theranos, thereby demonstrating the organization's large reach across the U.S. The Impact Center provides coaching/development/learning services to women across numerous industry and company sizes.  
The company has a significant effort focused specifically on female executives, as it is specifically focused on serving female executives. 

"The Impact Center is a premier leadership development organization for high-impact individuals and institutions." The company "give[s] emerging and accomplished leaders the knowledge, skills and network they need to expand their impact on their organizations, their communities and our society." The company's services include its Women's Executive Leadership Program, "executive coaching, assessments, and forums" for female leaders, workshops for female leaders, and keynote speaking. The company "works with CEOs, senior executives, and management teams in the areas of [female] leadership development and high-performance team development." The company has five employees and six members on its board of directors. The organization does not provide any pricing information, but instead directs people to contact them directly, likely because it customizes its workshops and services for each client.

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US Female Executive Market Size

Based on our calculations, the number of female executives holding either the chief executive position, the chief financial officer, or the next three highest-paid executive position in their respective companies is 261,062. Below we have detailed our research approach, explaining why precompiled data on the number of female executives in the United States is not publicly available. Our calculations, assumptions, and limitations of the calculations have also been explained below. 
MethodologyWe commenced this research into the number of female executives in the United States by searching through the Bureau of Labor Statistics portal for data on the subject matter. While we found data on the number of executives in the United States, this figure was not broken down by sex. We then proceeded to the American FactFinder website of the Census Bureau to see if data from the American Community Survey (ACS). While the American FactFinder contained data on the occupation of adults in the United States, it was only broken down by male and female and not by their hierarchy at work. 

Our next approach was to check for reports, surveys, and studies by reputable research and consulting firms such as Pew Research, McKinsey, and Catalyst.org. This strategy proved successful as it provided us with many insights into the overall trends concerning female executives in the United States. However, we observed a trend with the available data. All available data from Pew Research, McKinsey's "Women in the Workplace" report, and other similar studies limit their studies to either Fortune 500 companies, S&P 500 companies, or the S&P 1,500 companies. 

We posit that this is so because determining the number of female executives in the United States companies will require a very resource-intensive undertaking. Using Fortune 500 companies, S&P 500 companies, or the S&P 1,500 companies is an easier route because these companies are more likely to be public companies that are required to publish details of their executives to the public. While this step allowed us to garner useful data points, it did not reveal a direct figure for the number of female executives in the United States. 

We then conducted a press search on the premise that news reports, press releases, and interviews can provide insight into the subject matter. Regrettably, sources we found did not provide any tangible data points that directly answer our question nor provided data points we could use to triangulate an answer. 

That said, using data garnered during the course of our research, we were able to provide a rough estimate of the number of female executives in the United States. 
CalculationsAccording to a Pew Research Study, 10% of top executive positions in the United States are held by women according to a study of all companies in the benchmark Standard & Poor’s Composite 1,500 stock index. 
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2016, there were 2,572,000 top executives jobs with an average growth rate of 8% expected between 2016 and 2026 and 193,100 new jobs added within that time.

If 193,100 new jobs were created in ten years, then the average job created per year is 19,310 (193,100/10).
Therefore, by 2018, the number of top executives job will have grown by 38,620 (19,310*2). The number of executives in 2018 will be 2,610,620 (2,572,000 + 38,620)

If women occupy 10% of top executive positions in the United States, then the total number of women in top executive positions is:

10% of 2,610,620 = 261,062 females

Limitation: 
According to Pew Research, the top executive position is defined as "chief executive officers, chief financial officers and the next three highest-paid executives at United States companies." This means that the data above only covers the top five C-suite executives.
Assumption:
The assumption is that the other companies outside the S&P 1,500 reflect the same female leadership rate as the companies listed in the S&P 1,500 as at the time of the study. 