Founders Tim and Sean
CrowdMics co-founders Sean and Tim Holladay. Photo via CrowdMics.

MESA, Ariz. — During a session on Thursday at Phoenix Startup Week, an investor advised entrepreneurs in the crowd that founders within the same family may have a harder time raising money for their company, let alone building a successful business.

Two brothers inside a small garage in Mesa are proving that theory wrong.

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Sean and Tim Holladay are the co-founders of CrowdMics, a two-year-old startup that lets audience members at big events and meetings use their smartphones as wireless microphones.

The CrowdMics app uses an existing Wi-Fi connection inside an auditorium or large meeting room — letting people simply touch their phone’s screen and have their voice amplified via a speaker system. It also includes a polling feature, and lets users text in their questions or comments if they prefer not to speak. The app is free for audience members, but organizers must pay a licensing fee.

The brothers first came up with the idea after they had trouble hearing someone ask a question during a meeting three years ago.

“The presenter started talking about what the person said and we had no clue what was going on,” Sean Holladay said on Friday from inside his brother’s garage — also known as CrowdMics HQ. “How is it that I can FaceTime across the world yet I can’t hear someone that’s in the room with me?”

After doing some market research and pitching their idea to friends, families and advisors, the Holladays developed a working prototype. Their breakthrough moment came at the Launch Festival almost exactly one year ago, when they successfully demoed the app on stage in front of 2,000 people.

Sean Holladay inside the CrowdMics HQ, otherwise known as Tim Holladay's garage.
Sean Holladay inside the CrowdMics HQ, otherwise known as Tim Holladay’s garage.

From there they landed customers like PayPal and Quicken Loans, and the app was used during more than 25 sessions at Dreamforce last year. The company then raised $200,000 from Sand Hill Angels in December and is currently bringing on more cash from investors in Arizona.

This is the first startup for both Tim and Sean, but not the first time they’ve been exposed to the entrepreneurial experience. Their mother has owned a Dairy Queen in the family’s small hometown of Show Low, Ariz., for the past 27 years, and their father has managed air medical service companies.

Sean and Tim Holloday have built CrowdMics from inside Tim's garage in Mesa, Ariz.
Sean and Tim Holloday have built CrowdMics from inside Tim’s garage in Mesa, Ariz.

But even so, taking the startup leap themselves was a life-changing commitment.

“We don’t come from a ton of money and we don’t have a ton of money, but we saw the vision and dream of this thing,” Sean said. “We threw all our savings and sold cars to get to this point.”

Sean, 28, worked in telemarketing and managed a commercial cleaning franchise prior to CrowdMics. He earned a nursing degree last year before focusing full time on CrowdMics.

Tim, 35, the oldest of the family’s five brothers, worked at small tech companies and in commercial real estate around the Phoenix area while DJ-ing on the side, after graduating with an industrial engineering degree from Arizona State University. Tim was out of town for a business meeting when GeekWire visited on Friday, but he wrote in an email that his past careers can’t compare to the startup life.

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“Nothing I’ve ever done has been so intense, difficult, stressful, scary and expensive,” Tim said. “And nothing I’ve ever done has been so exciting, rewarding, gratifying and has as much potential. I can’t wait for Monday mornings.”

The brothers have been close since childhood, and Sean lives a half-block away from Tim. But starting a company together was far different than just hanging out as family.

“We’ve always been open and honest with each other — it’s how our family is,” Sean said. “But we didn’t spend 12-to-14 hours a day together, which is different.”

Sean noted that there’s times when “we’ll drive each other nuts,” but that being sibling founders has proven more beneficial to CrowdMics than perhaps anything else.

“I’ll push him harder than I could maybe comfortably push someone else because I know his breaking point,” he said. “We both know our strengths and weaknesses so well that we just play to each other’s strengths.”

The founders — who say they are building CrowdMics in the Phoenix area because of an “excitement around startups and a true community backing” — have pitched several investors who’ve raised red flags when learning that the entrepreneurs are brothers. That’s OK, Sean said, because they’ve found support from those who are friendly to the idea of siblings running a startup together.

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Tim, meanwhile, said that working on CrowdMics with his brother has been “amazing.”

“When things get really difficult I feel a deep need and desire to make sure we pull through because I feel responsible to be successful not only for my family, but for him and his family,” Tim said. “We make it work by working. We just grind our face off and get the job done. We have both had to learn skills we didn’t have. We’ve both had to find where we fit in. We have to give honest feedback and input. But when it comes time to celebrate, it’s that much more amazing. I can’t imagine a co-founder that isn’t my own blood.”

Editor’s Note: GeekWire has partnered with UP Global and Chase to cover four Startup Week events around the country, starting with Tampa Bay earlier this month, Phoenix from Feb. 23 to 27, and Dallas next week. Tune in to GeekWire for more stories about the activities, and to learn more about these emerging startup hubs.

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