Pointy, auto generating webpages for unique products. Mark Cummins, founder interviewed by Niall O Gorman

By Niall O’Gorman, who recently caught up with Mark Cummins. Co-Founder at Pointy an Irish hardware startup that he co-founded with Charles Bibby in 2014, which is helping retailers to win back the high street. 

Founded in 2014 and already over 500 retailers around Ireland like Donnybrook Bikes are using the Pointy device to auto generate search engine friendly web pages for over 500,000 unique products with a view to ultimately driving more in store sales for them. In effect Pointy is helping to take back the high street for retail.

All the ingredients you need to make @endorphinstew chocolate pancakes available on the Pointy app #PancakeTuesday pic.twitter.com/dDamTsLKeD

— Pointy (@getpointy) February 9, 2016

Do you have any co-founders? How did you get the idea?

Co-founder Charles Bibby. The idea came from a very ordinary experience – I was drinking some craft beer at a party. I really liked it, but after the party I had trouble finding it in shops. It was definitely available somewhere locally, but I never found it. It seemed so strange that I could search the entire internet in half a second, but it was a struggle to find something in my local shops. The process hadn’t really changed that much from fifty or a hundred years ago.

This isn’t your first foray into entrepreneurship, what was your previous startup and what happened to it?

The previous startup that I was involved in was Plink. Plink became Google’s first UK acquisition in April 2010. Our visual search engine technology allowed users to simply take a picture of something in order to find out more about it. Our first product, PlinkArt, recognized famous paintings and was a winner of the ADC2 and a featured app on the Android market.

Where is your startup located and how many people work there?

We’re based in Dublin, Ireland. We’re 7 people full-time, plus a few additional part time.

How was your startup originally funded, how are you funded now and how does your startup make money?

We initially worked on the idea unpaid until we had a working demo. We then raised a seed round of $1.2M from some well know angel investors and VC funds. Our revenue comes from a small monthly fee we charge to shops on the system. There are some additional things in pipeline.

Were you ever close to failure, how close, how did you recover?

I failed my driving test quite a few times :-). But in professional life there’s never been anything really close to failure so far. Perhaps after Pointy I’ll have some stories of hair-raising moments to tell.

What’s the biggest challenge your startup/business faces today?

Reaching small retailers. Our product has proven very popular with retailers once they learn about it, but reaching small retailers at scale is a hard thing to do. There’s no real shortcuts, just a lot of different channels and lots of hard work.

pic.twitter.com/8W6Pbqh8I2

— Mark Cummins (@mark_cummins) January 26, 2016

What is your background? 

I studied Engineering and Computer Science at Oxford, and then went on to do a PhD in robotics and computer vision (as did my co-founder Charles). After Oxford I started a previous company (Plink) which Google acquired in 2010. I then spent three years at Google before leaving to start Pointy. I’m actually a little surprised to find myself founding start-ups, it’s not something I ever thought about growing up.

What gets you up in the morning keeps you up at night?

Honestly, the thing that actually gets me up in the morning is curiosity about what’s happened in the world overnight – normally in the form of checking our dashboards, emails, etc. At night, I often lie awake for an hour or more thinking about what to do next – it’s something I’ve done all my life. So, I guess the answer is: everything.

What is your best and worst character trait?

I like playing with ideas and questioning things – if you question enough things sometimes you have an idea for something new and interesting. On the other side, I sometimes over-research and read a lot of background material on things, when a bit of direct trial-and-error or even just focused thought might get me there quicker.

Are you striking a work / life balance? If so, what’s your secret?

It can be long hours during the week, but I always take the weekends off. That works for me.

When things are going crazy, how do you unwind?

Cycling in the Wicklow mountains.

You reference Donnybrook bikes on your site, have you ever used Pointy yourself to find and buy parts there yourself?

Yes, have got plenty of small bits and pieces off Donnybrook Bikes, the guys are great and have a great selection – last thing I think was a new Bontrager bottle cage.

I just checked on Pointy and they are showing in stock, thats cool!

Bontrager RL Cage (Black) available at Donnybrook Bikes

What’s the last book or movie that you’ve read or seen?

Last movie was Star Wars, in common with half the world! Last book was The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi.

What’s the most played song in your itunes or spotify playlist?

Bonxie by Stornoway

What’s your favourite gadget and why?

I use a projector at home instead of a screen. I love it.

What’s the one thing you wish you had known before you created your business/startup?

One of the trickiest things was where to draw the line between business and non-business life. e.g. Friends and family who wanted to invest and/or work in the business, etc. I think we mostly got it right, but more by luck than judgement.

What’s next for Pointy?

We’re just about to launch in a new country, which is very exciting!

What question would you like me to ask the next founder?

I’d be interested to know how much of their time people spend the different aspects of the job – e.g. working on product, hiring, raising money, sales, media, etc.

How would you answer your own question? 🙂

Nicely done! The majority of my time is on product – quite a lot of actual coding. There’s also a lot of time on high level decision making – which features should we prioritise, which city should we launch in next, etc. The other major part of it is establishing and maintaining relationships with investors, keys partners, etc. There are periods of a month or more when fund raising is 100% of my time. Hiring is also a big one which happens in short bursts.

Privilege to catch up with @getpointy in #Dublin earlier. If in retail check them out now! #impulse #commerce #ropo pic.twitter.com/cJRL9F70XK

— Niall OGorman (@Niall_OGorman) August 20, 2015

Are you an Irish retailer wanting to learn more about Pointy and the opportunity to join them on their mission to help win back the high street for retail? then click here

#FounderStories simply a series of conversations with founders that I meet on my travels, have worked with in the past or simply find what they do interesting. These posts do not represent the views of any employer or any business that I am affiliated with.

See Niall’s previous interview with Rory O’Connr from Scurri  here 

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking